The excellency of Divine wisdom: No. 3 We have here additional features of the wisdom of God, viz.— I. THAT THE WISDOM EVERYWHERE ILLUSTRATED DWELT IN THE DIVINE ONE FROM ETERNITY . ( Proverbs 8:22-26 .) Before anything visible was created, in the "far backward and abysm of time," even to eternity, wisdom was an attribute of the infinite God. II. THAT CREATION AND PROVIDENCE ARE THE DELIBERATE OUTWORKING OF THE DIVINE IDEA . "When... read more
Christ the wisdom of God: No. 2 Again regarding the Lord Jesus Christ as the Wisdom of God incarnate, we may let these words suggest to us— I. HIS ETERNITY . ( Proverbs 8:22-26 .) II. HIS SONSHIP . ( Proverbs 8:22 , Proverbs 8:30 .) III. HIS AGENCY IN CREATION . (Verses 37-29; see also John 1:3 , John 1:10 ; Ephesians 3:9 ; Colossians 1:16 ; Hebrews 1:2 , Hebrews 1:3 , Hebrews 1:10 ; 1 Corinthians 8:6 .) IV. HIS PRIMAL BLESSEDNESS ... read more
Wisdom in eternity and in time This sublime view lifts us at once above the seeming contradictions of time, and suggests the solution of all its problems in God. I. SHE IS OF THE DIVINE BEGINNINGS OR ELEMENTS . ( Proverbs 8:22 .) An element in chemistry is the last simple substance we can reach in analysis. An element in thought is the last simple notion yielded by the dialectic of the understanding. Wisdom is thus before the visible creation—the earth, the sea, the... read more
I was set up from everlasting. The verb used here is remarkable. It is נָסַךְ ( nasak ) , in niph.; and it is found in Psalms 2:6 , "I have set my King upon my holy hill." Both here and there it has been translated "anointed," which would make a noteworthy reference to Christ. But there seems no proof that the word has this meaning. It signifies properly "to pour forth" (as of molten metal), then "to put down," "to appoint or establish." The versions recognize this. Thus the... read more
The preexistence of Wisdom is still more expressly set forth. When there were no depths ( Proverbs 8:27 , Proverbs 8:28 ). The waste of waters which covered the face of the earth is meant—that great deep on which primeval darkness brooded ( Genesis 1:2 ). Before even this, man's earliest conception of the beginning of the world, uncreated Wisdom was. Septuagint, "before he made the abysses" (see on Proverbs 3:20 ). I was brought forth; Vulgate, et ego jam concepta eram ; ... read more
Before the mountains were settled ( Job 38:6 ). It is questioned where the mountains were supposed to be fixed, and some have thought that they are represented as fixed in the depths of the earth. But, as we learn from Genesis 1:9 , they are regarded as rising from the waters, their foundations are laid in the great deep. So the psalmist, speaking of the waters, says, "They went up by the mountains, they went down by the valleys, unto the place which thou hast founded for them" ( ... read more
The earth, nor the fields . The distinction intended is land as cultivated and occupied by buildings, etc; and waste uncultivated land outside towns. Septuagint, "The Lord made countries and uninhabited places ( ἀοικήτους );" Vulgate, Adhuc terram non fecerat, et flumina. Hebrew, chutsoth ; things without, abroad, hence open country. The Vulgate rendering, and that of Aquila and Symmaehus, ἐξόδους , are plainly erroneous, as waters have already been mentioned ( Proverbs 8:24... read more
After asserting the pre-existence of Wisdom, the writer tells her part in the work of creation. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When God made the firmament, and divided the waters above it and below ( Genesis 1:7 ), Wisdom cooperated. When he set a compass upon the face of the depth. חוּג ( chug ) , "circle," or "circuit" (as Job 22:14 ), means the vault of heaven, conceived of as resting on the ocean which surrounds the earth, in partial accordance with the notion... read more
When he established the clouds above. The reference is to the waters above the firmament ( Genesis 1:7 ), which are suspended in the ether; and the idea is that God thus made this medium capable of sustaining them. Vulgate, Quando aethera firmabat sursum ; Septuagint, "When he made strong the clouds above" (comp. Job 26:8 ). When he strengthened the fountains of the deep ; rather, as in the Revised Version, when the fountains of the deep became strong ; i.e. when the great deep... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 8:22-31
The primeval glory of Divine wisdom I. THE HIGHEST WISDOM IS CREATED BY GOD . "The Lord created me as the first of his way." This idea was suggested to the Greeks in the myth of Athene, who sprang from the head of Zeus. It is the poetic form of the great truth that God is the Creator of thoughts as well as of things; and it suggests that he not only called individual intelligences into being, but originated the primary laws and conditions of all intelligence, just as he... read more