Who (or what) is the Wisdom of Proverbs 8

The personification of the substance or essential nature of an individual is called "hypostasis", and this segment of scripture does this very thing. Here, Wisdom is, or appears to be, a powerful personification. But of what? Similar personifications are found in Psalms 85:10–13 and Psalms 89:14, and Israel and Judah are personified in Ezekiel 23. It is true that Proverbs 8 is a considerably more developed, extended personification than found in some of the above texts, but that does not mean that Proverbs 8 is fundamentally different.

In the beginning of this chapter, Wisdom is personified as a woman, but what does she personify? Does she represent an attribute of God, as is sometimes argued? To this the answer must be an emphatic no. While wisdom is certainly an attribute of God, this text does not deal with it in that sense. To the contrary, since Proverbs 8 is an invitation to the reader to partake of wisdom, it cannot mean that access to a divine attribute is open to humans when they desire to acquire it, but rather it is a gift given by God (James 1:5).

In the same way, Wisdom is not the Second Person of the Trinity (Jesus). Perhaps the strongest argument for taking Proverbs 8 to be an Old Testament portrait of Christ is 1 Corinthians 1:24, where Paul calls Christ “the wisdom of God.”. Closer examination of the text, however, reveals that Paul’s description of Christ is not an allusion to Proverbs 8 and that it provides no basis for interpreting Proverbs in this way.

First, Paul’s purpose in 1 Corinthians 1:24 is not to point to Old Testament texts that relate to Christ but to address the scandal of the cross. In particular he faces the issue of the offense created when he proclaims that the crucified Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world. To the Greeks this is sheer folly. When he says that Christ is the wisdom of God, he means it functionally, in the sense that the crucified Christ is God’s profound way of salvation despite whatever human reason may think of the idea. He also calls Christ the power of God in the same verse in response to Jews who expect the Messiah to come in overwhelming power.

It is also worth noting from a Greek grammar perspective, that the conjunction of δύναμις, (dunamis) ‘power,’ and σοφία, (sophia) ‘wisdom,’ shows that here ‘wisdom’ is not a hypostasis but rather a conceptual term.

Second, it is not appropriate to take Paul’s comment and make it the interpretive grid for an Old Testament text to which Paul made no allusion whatsoever. Similarly, one should not take a text that describes the power of God (e.g., Psalms 78:4) and claim that it is really a description of Christ on the basis of 1 Corinthians 1:24. It would be as if one were to take 1 John 4:8 (“God is love”) and on that basis claim that 1 Corinthians 13 is really intended to be read as a description of God.

Finally, the Wisdom of Proverbs 8 does not personify an attribute of God but rather personifies an attribute of creation. Here, Wisdom is the personification of the structure, plan, or rationality that God built into the world. She is created by God and fundamentally an attribute of God’s universe.

Perhaps the most compelling reason in my estimation that Proverbs 8 (specifically verses 12-34) is not a reference to Christ, even though it may seem on the surface to be so, and many (but not all) commentators tend to tie this to Christ, is the fact that within this segment of scripture Wisdom is seen as existent with God, but passive in the creation of the heavens and the earth. We know both from Hebrews 1:2 and more specifically Colossians 1:15-16, that Christ was anything but passive during the creative act.

As we read through the scriptures, we must be careful to rightly divide the word of truth, and to ensure that we do not read more into the scriptures than are present. By misinterpreting scriptures such as Proverbs 8, one can then be lead down many paths of error, so care must be taken.

May we all read God's word with humility and a teachable heart, and may His Holy Spirit direct our understanding.