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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 8:22-31

That it is an intelligent and divine person that here speaks seems very plain, and that it is not meant of a mere essential property of the divine nature, for Wisdom here has personal properties and actions; and that intelligent divine person can be no other than the Son of God himself, to whom the principal things here spoken of wisdom are attributed in other scriptures, and we must explain scripture by itself. If Solomon himself designed only the praise of wisdom as it is an attribute of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 8:27

When he prepared the heavens, I was there ,.... Made, beautified, and adorned them; when he gave them their form, figure, magnitude, and motion; when he garnished them with the sun, moon, and stars; then was Christ present, not as a mere spectator, but as a co-worker; see Hebrews 1:10 ; and even the third heaven, the place and state of glorified saints, prepared for them from the foundation of the world, Matthew 25:34 ; when he set a compass upon the face of the depth : or... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 8:27

When he prepared the heavens, I was there - For there is no part of the creation of God in which wisdom, skill, contrivance, are more manifest, than in the construction of the visible heavens. When he set a compass upon the face of the depth - Does not this refer to the establishment of the law of gravitation? by which all the particles of matter, tending to a common center, would produce in all bodies the orbicular form, which we see them have; so that even the waters are not only... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 8:1-36

14. Fourteenth admonitory discourse concerning Wisdom—her excellence, her origin, her gifts. She is contrasted with the strange woman of Proverbs 7:1-27 ; and the exceeding greatness of the blessings which she offers exhibits in the most marked manner the nothingness of the deceiver's gifts. One is reminded of the celebrated episode of the choice of Hercules, delineated by Xenophon, 'Memorab.,' 2.1. 21, etc. The chapter divides itself into four sections. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 8:22-31

Wisdom speaks of her origin, her active operations, the part which she bore in the creation of the universe, her relation to God (see on Proverbs 1:20 and Proverbs 3:19 , and Introduction). It is impossible to decide what was the exact view of the writer with regard to the wisdom of which he speaks so eloquently; but there can be no doubt that he was guided in his diction so as to give expression to the idea of him whom St. John calls the Word of God. The language used is not applicable to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 8:22-31

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 8:22-31

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 8:22-36

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 8:27

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

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