Proverbs 8:30

30 then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

Proverbs 8:30 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 8:30

Then I was by him, [as] one brought up [with him]
He was then, and from all eternity, "by him", or "with him" F17; which denotes his co-existence with God, and his relation to him as his Father; his nearness to him, his equality with him, and his distinction from him: he was by him when the names of God's elect were put down in the book of life; he was by him and with him in the council and covenant of grace and peace; and so in the creation of all things, and has been ever since; not as a onlooker, but as a party concerned; and not as subordinate and inferior to his Father, but equal with him. The word (Nwma) , translated "brought up", is differently rendered; Symmachus and Theodotion render it "strengthened"; as Christ was set up in his mediatorial office, he was strengthened in it by his Father; and was in his view, council, and covenant, the man of his right hand, made strong for himself: the Targum renders it "faithful", so the Tigurine version; as Christ was to him that appointed him, faithful to all he promised and was intrusted with. Many translate it an "artificer" or "workman" {r}, as (Nma) in ( Song of Solomon 7:1 ) ; and so Christ was a co-worker, a worker with God in the making of all things, the heavens, earth, and sea, and all in there; not as an instrument, but as a co-efficient cause of them; which is a proof of his proper deity, and equality with God. But others think the word has the sense of nursing, or being nursed, educated, or brought up. Some F19 take it actively, as in ( Ruth 4:16 ) ( Esther 2:7 ) ( Isaiah 49:23 ) ; and interpret it of Christ's nursing the creation, or cherishing, supporting, and preserving all creatures in their being when made; particularly of his nourishing and cherishing the church and people of God committed to his care. Others F20 passively, of his being "brought up", as our version; and so the Latin interpreter of the Targum renders it "nursed up at his side"; which expresses the tender regard of his Father to him, as his begotten Son; in whose bosom he lay and was bore, as a nursing father bears his son in his bosom, ( Numbers 11:12 ) ; and by whom, as Mediator, he was trained up in the performance of his office; and I was daily his delight;
or "delights" F21; exceeding delightful to him. The Father loved the Son from all eternity, with a love of complacency and delight, ( John 17:24 ) ( Matthew 3:17 ) ; this delight was founded in relation to him, in sonship; and in likeness, he being the express image of his person; in sameness of nature, he being of the same nature and perfections with his Father: and he delighted in him as a workman, in the works which he did, being the same he saw him do; and in him as Mediator, in his constitution as such, and in engaging as a surety, to obey and suffer in the stead of his people, ( Isaiah 42:1 ) ; he not only delighted in him day by day, throughout the six days of the creation, when he was by him as a workman, but before, and even from the days of eternity; from the date of his commencement as Mediator; in the foreviews of his human nature, obeying and suffering in it; and of the salvation of the elect by him, and of his own glory in it; rejoicing always before him;
being always in his presence, and acceptable to him; rejoicing in having the same nature and perfections with him, and in the relation he stood in to him; and also in the view of the works of creation and redemption he would be jointly concerned in with him; which joy always did and ever will continue. There is a mutual pleasure and delight which the Father and Son have in each other, and in all that they are concerned; and especially in what respects the salvation of the chosen people. The allusion in the word used in this clause is to children's playing in the presence of their parents; which is a diversion to the one, and a pleasure to the other.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 (wlua) "cum eo", V. L. "apud eum", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator
F18 (Nwma) (armazousa) , Sept. "cuneta componens", V. L. "artifex vel opifex", Gejerus; so Schindler, col. 90.
F19 "Nutritius", Montanus, Pagninus, Baynus; "educans", Junius & Tremellius.
F20 "Alumnus", Vatablus, Piscator, Mercerus; "alumna", Schultens; "in sinu gestatus filius", Cocceius; so Gussetius, p. 77. and Noldius, p. 379. No. 1884. and Stockins, p. 71.
F21 (Myewvev) "deliciae", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis; "obleclationes", Schultens.

Proverbs 8:30 In-Context

28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.
32 "And now, my children, listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Another reading is [little child]
  • [b]. Gk: Heb lacks [his]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.