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In Praise of Wisdom
Proverbs 8.1, 22-31
Good News Translation (GNT)
1 Listen! Wisdom is calling out. Reason is
making herself heard.
22 "The Lord created me first of all, the first of his
works, long ago.
23 I was made in the very beginning, at the first,
before the world began.
24 I was born before the oceans, when there
were no springs of water.
25 I was born before the mountains, before the
hills were set in place,
26 before God made the earth and its fields or
even the first handful of soil.
27 I was there when he set the sky in place,
when he stretched the horizon ;across the
ocean,
28 when he placed the clouds in the sky,
when he opened the springs of the ocean
29 and ordered the waters of the sea to rise no
further than he said. I was there when he laid
the earth's foundations.
30 I was beside him like ;an architect, (a)
I was his daily source of joy, always happy in
his presence -
31 happy with the world and pleased with the
human race.
Footnotes
Proverbs 8:30 an architect;
or
a little child.
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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union and from
BRF - New Daylight
Embodying wisdom
Proverbs 8.1, 22-31
It is important to note that
the quality of wisdom can,
of itself, achieve nothing.
It needs to be embodied in a person.
The amazing person in question
does not just sit there being wise.
She calls out; she takes a stand.
More than anyone,
Wisdom reminds us, then,
of Jesus himself,
except that in Proverbs 8
she's a woman.
Our passage speaks of the
primacy of Wisdom,
who was 'formed... at
the very beginning'.
Wisdom takes precedence
over knowledge.
Success in searching for knowledge
through science and other
endeavours does not guarantee
discerning the way of wisdom:
knowledge can, and often is,
used unwisely.
How, then, is humanity
to learn to discern Wisdom's way?
The Hebrew behind the phrase
'I was constantly at his side'
is obscure.
Some scholars suggest
the translation
'I was a little child'.
Moreover, 'rejoicing' (happy v30)
translates a word that carries
the connotation of playfulness.
So Wisdom, the little child
at the creator's side,
laughs playfully as the
panorama of creation
unfolds in front of her.
The woman called Wisdom
continues her speech.
She explains how God
made the world.
In the beginning,
before ancient times,
wisdom was there.
Wisdom is like God's word.
God's word existed
in the beginning,
and God's word created the world.
The 'word' is another name for Jesus.
The poem described how
God made the world.
The poem talks about the 'birth'
of wisdom. This is poetry.
The poet is not saying that one day,
wisdom was born.
He does not think that before this,
there was no wisdom.
God was wise, even before
ancient times.
God was wise, even before
he made the world.
God has always been wise.
God worked with Wisdom.
Together, God and Wisdom
were glad to see the world.
Together, they were happy
about God's work.
Especially, they were glad
to see the people.
This means that people
should behave like him.
These verses are also sad.
They describe what God wanted.
God's plan was that he would
live with us.
But the people refused
God's love. They refused wisdom.
Jesus died to bring us back.
We should greatly desire
God's wisdom.
Other versions are available here
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