Proverbs 8:22 - Exposition

The Lord possessed me. Great controversy has arisen about the word rendered "possessed." The verb used is קָנָה ( kanah ) , which means properly "to erect, set upright," also "to found, form" ( Genesis 14:19 , Genesis 14:22 ), then "to acquire" ( Proverbs 1:5 ; Proverbs 4:5 , Proverbs 4:7 , etc.) or "to possess" ( Proverbs 15:32 ; Proverbs 19:8 ). The Vulgate, Aquila, Theodotion, Symmachus, Venetian, give "possessed;" Septuagint, ἔκτισε , "made," and so Syriac. The Arians took the word in the sense of "created" (which, though supported by the LXX ; it seems never to have had), and deduced therefrom the Son's inferiority to the Father—that he was made, not begotten from all eternity. Ben Sira more than once employs the verb κτίζω in speaking of Wisdom's origin; e.g. Ecclesiastes 1:4 , Ecclesiastes 1:9 ; 24:8. Opposing the heresy of the Arians, the Fathers generally adopted the rendering ἐκτήσατο , possedit, "possessed;" and even those who received the translation ἔκτισε , explained it not of creating, but of appointing, thus: The Father set Wisdom over all created things, or made Wisdom to be the efficient cause of his creatures ( Revelation 3:14 ). May we not say that the writer was guided to use a word which would express relation in a twofold sense? Wisdom is regarded either as the mind of God expressed in operation, or the Second Person of the Holy Trinity; and the verb thus signifies that God possesses in himself this essential Wisdom, and intimates likewise that Wisdom by eternal generation is a Divine Personality. St. John ( John 1:1 ), before saying that the Word was God, affirms that "the Word was with God ( ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν )." So we may assert that Solomon has arrived at the truth that Wisdom was πρὸς τὸν θεόν , if he has left it for later revelation to declare that ἡ σοφία or ὁ λόγος θεὸς ἦν . Whichever sense we assign to the verb on which the difficulty is supposed to hang, whether we take it as "possessed," "formed," or "acquired," we may safely assume that the idea conveyed to Christian minds is this—that Wisdom, existing eternally in the Godhead, was said to be "formed" or "brought forth" when it operated in creation, and when it assumed human nature. In the beginning of his way. So the Vulgate, in initio viarum suarum. But the preposition "in" does not occur in the original; and the words may be bettor translated, "as the beginning of his way"; i.e. as the earliest revelation of his working. Wisdom, eternal and uncreated, first puts forth its energy in creation, then becomes incarnate, and is now called, "the Firstborn of all creation ( πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως )" ( Colossians 1:15 ). Thus in Psalms 2:7 , "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee" ( Hebrews 1:5 ); and, "When he bringeth in the Firstborn into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him" ( Hebrews 1:6 ). In the present clause, the ways of God are his works, as in Job 26:14 and Job 40:19 , where behemoth is called "chief among the ways of God" (comp. Psalms 145:17 , where "ways" stands as a parallel to "works"). Before his works of old. These words are better regarded (with Delitzsch) as a second parallel object, קֶדֶם ( kedem ) , translated "before," being not a preposition, but denoting previous existence. Hence we translate, "The foremost of his works of old;" i.e. the earliest revelation of his energy. There is a curious passage in the 'Book of Enoch,' ch. 42; which speaks of the personality and pre-existence of Wisdom, of her desire to dwell among men, frustrated by man's wickedness: "Wisdom found no place where she could dwell; therefore was her dwelling in heaven. Wisdom came forth in order to dwell among the sons of men, and found no habitation; then she returned to her place, and took her seat among the angels." We may add Wis. 8:3, "In that she dwelleth with God ( συμβίωσιν θεοῦ ἔχουσα ) , she magnifieth her nobility."