Proverbs 8:22-31
“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.”
King James Version
Wisdom speaking as the first of God's creative acts, interpreted as a portrait of the pre-existent Word/Christ.
Fulfillment References
John 1:1-3 Colossians 1:15-17 1 Corinthians 1:24
How Traditions Read This Prophecy
Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalWisdom, present with God before creation and the agent of all His works, is read in the NT of Christ — 'Christ the... wisdom of God' (1 Cor. 1:24), by whom and for whom all things were made (Col. 1:15-17; John 1:1-3). This is not a second God beside the Father but the very Wisdom of the one God, which was made flesh in Jesus; the eternal Wisdom and the eternal God are one.
JewishPersonified Wisdom (chokmah) as God's first acquisition and delight, present at creation; a poetic personification of God's wisdom, foundational to later Jewish Wisdom literature.
CatholicRead of the eternal Son/Wisdom by whom the Father made all things; a key patristic text (with care over qanah, 'possessed/created me') in the Trinitarian debate.
ProtestantPersonified Wisdom anticipates Christ, the Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24) and agent of creation (Col. 1:16; John 1:3), while noting the passage's poetic personification.
AcademicA personification of Wisdom at creation; the verb qanah (v. 22) was central to the Arian controversy. Most read it as poetic personification rather than a literal person.
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Bible Prophecy Explorer · based on J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy catalogue · an openly Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal study resource — all traditions presented fairly. Pastor: C. Myles Young, PhD · Bishop: Nathaniel J. Wilson, Ed.D.