Essay 3

In Proverbs 8:22-31, Wisdom is portrayed as a co-creator with God as the passage reflects back to the creation story in the book of Genesis. This passage opens with God creating Wisdom even before the beginning of time. The interpretation of the word "creation" does not necessarily imply that Wisdom was created in the literal sense, but that God discovered wisdom in himself . This would therefore imply that Wisdom is above all and most valued over anything else. The case for Wisdom to exist before anything else is revealed to the reader in verses 23-26. The passage also correlates to the creation story that is expressed in the book of Genesis by Wisdom being the co-creator to God. Even after everything had been created, Wisdom remained

She states that she was there “before the beginning of the heaven and the earth”, which is day 1 of the creation story. Wisdom proceeds to acknowledge her existence when there were no oceans or bodies of water. On the third day, God gathered the waters together to create the seas. Wisdom also states that she was there “before the mountains had been shaped.” Even though there is no exact reference to God creating the mountains in Genesis 1, this can be a parallel to God creating the land when he separated the land from the seas on day three. As Wisdom is describing her existence, she does so in chronological order of creation

If this were the actual meaning of the word, it would be a parallel to God giving birth to Wisdom. Wisdom could be alongside God in the same sense that a child never leaves their parent’s side. “Little child” also means “to nurture” or “to be looked after” (Waltke). The child-like portrayal of Wisdom breaks the barrier that exists between God and humankind. S ince Wisdom takes a great deal of delight in her creator. She metaphorically provides a connection between the inhabited earth and the heavens above. After humankind was created, Wisdom became a role model with her teachings of the wise. She offered the same wisdom that was found in the creator to as well be in anyone who followed her teachings (Perdue). In other words, God can be nurturing to humankind in the same way that He was nurturing to Wisdom. Since Wisdom has such a strong and powerful role, it is no wonder that she would be first priority in