Proverbs 8:1-4

Proverbs 8:1-4 (NKJV) 1 Does not wisdom cry out,

And understanding lift up her voice?
2 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
3 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors:
4 “To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.

Proverbs 8:1-4 (BSB) 1 Does not wisdom call out,
and understanding raise her voice?
2 On the heights overlooking the road,
at the crossroads she takes her stand.
3 Beside the gates to the city,
at the entrances she cries out:
4 “To you, O men, I call out,
and my cry is to the sons of men.

Proverbs 8:1-4 (NLT) 1 Listen as Wisdom calls out!
Hear as understanding raises her voice!
2 On the hilltop along the road,
she takes her stand at the crossroads.
3 By the gates at the entrance to the town,
on the road leading in, she cries aloud,
4 “I call to you, to all of you!
I raise my voice to all people.

1 Corinthians 1:24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 1:30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a Righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land.

Revelation 5:12 Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing

Wisdom is the opposite of the adulterous woman in chapter 7. Here she is contrasted and her blessings are shown to be far superior to the temporary pleasures of the harlot and without the terrible consequences. Wisdom is not just understanding, education and book knowledge. Wisdom is not just commonsense, intelligence and experience. Wisdom is using all of these as tools to make good decisions and choices that have productive and beneficial results. Wisdom begins and ends with the fear of the Lord. If you don't acknowledge God in your decisions, you aren't using wisdom. If you don't take it to God and listen to Him, you aren't using wisdom. If you don't obey Him and praise Him, you aren't using wisdom.

Proverbs 8 is an encomium—a poem of praise. Other encomia in the Bible are 1 Corinthians 13 (in praise of love), Hebrews 11 (in praise of faith), and Proverbs 31:10–31 (in praise of the virtuous wife).

It is a great question what this wisdom is, of which Solomon discourses so largely and profoundly in this chapter. Some understand it of that attribute or perfection of the divine nature which is called wisdom, whereby God perfectly knows all things, and makes known to men what he judges it necessary or expedient for them to know... Others, however, understand it of the Son of God, who is called the wisdom of God, Luke 11:49... “Possibly,” says Poole, “both may be joined together, and the chapter may be understood of Christ, considered partly in his personal capacity, and partly in regard to his office, which was to impart the mind and will of God to mankind.” This he did, 1st, By revealing it to, and writing it upon, the mind of man at his first creation, John 1:1-4, etc. 2nd, By publishing it unto the patriarchs in the time of the Old Testament, 1 Peter 1:11; and 1 Peter 3:18-20. 3rd, By declaring it from his own mouth, and by his apostles and ministers under the gospel.  - Benson Commentary

"The female aspect is central: on the one hand Wisdom is a normal woman, a good wife and an effective counsellor; by contrast on the other hand she is a female representative of the divine with a role in the Creation, in an orderly world and society, and a bridge between God and humanity, communicating good relations and the moral imperative." - Katherine Dell, 7/27/2019, L'Osservatore Romano

This female figure of Wisdom is first presented to us in Proverbs 1:20-33. Again in Proverbs 3:13-22.  She is a poetic portrait. She is wisdom personified, the "ideal" woman. Except for some personal pronouns, English does not use grammatical gender (classifying words as masculine, feminine, or neuter). Other languages like Spanish, French, and Hebrew do. In Spanish, a guitar (la guitarra) is feminine, and a car (el coche) is masculine. This has nothing to do with literal gender. In English, "wisdom" is grammatically neuter, but in Hebrew. the Hebrew word is chokmoth which is grammatically feminine. Since "wisdom" is feminine (in Hebrew grammar), Wisdom personified becomes a “she”.

"Some Bible scholars believe that the feminine is used because in ancient Old Testament times many women weren’t taught to read and write as were their male counterparts. Knowledge, especially gained through reading, was described in masculine terms, whereas wisdom, which wasn’t derived from book knowledge but from experience and from communication with God, was described in feminine terms because women had access to wisdom even if many of them were illiterate. Other scholars propose that the 'lady' terminology is a literary device to depict wisdom as an honorable, noble, beautiful, elegant, and cultured object in itself while using a personification technique to give some intimacy to wisdom as well. But the Bible never actually explains why wisdom is portrayed as a lady, just that it does." - Wising Up To Lady Wisdom by Rev. John Trigilio, Jr., Rev. Kenneth Brighenti

Unlike the evil woman, Madame Folly, who speaks in secret and hides her plans from her husband (7:10–20), Lady Wisdom calls out boldly and publicly. It was at the city gates that people came and went so it was therefore the place to reach the most people at any given time. It was also a place where announcements were made, court was convened, business transactions were made and the city's markets were. A very public community center. She had nothing to be ashamed of.

"The first mention of a city gate is found in Genesis 19:1. It was at the gate of Sodom that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, greeted the angelic visitors to his city. Lot was there with other leading men of the city, either discussing the day’s issues or engaging in important civic business." - GotQuestions

Lady Wisdom goes to the public places and calls to people. She does not discriminate, but rather calls to all. She is accessible to anyone.

Knowledge can exist without wisdom. A good analogy would be knowledge is knowing all the parts of a gun and how to load it. Wisdom is knowing when to pull it and use it or when to keep it holstered or locked in the gun box.

Worldly "wisdom" is not wisdom at all. True wisdom is godly wisdom. It must begin and end with God for He is wisdom. God is the only One who knows all things. He knows past, present and future. He knows all the variables involved that we have no idea about. He sees all, hears all, knows all. He knows my thoughts and the thoughts of the person in the car next to me. He knows my life and He knows the life of those around me. He knows the type of person I am and the type of person my family member is. He knows what works for me and what works for the other person. He is the only one that can take all the threads (including the ones we really have never thought of) and weave them together into a purpose and into good. He is the only One qualified to take the reins, so to speak. So it is wisdom to get to know this God and to learn to trust Him and His love for me.

• Some people have made Lady Wisdom into a goddess. As separate from the triune God. They have taken King Solomon's poetry device too literally. Why do you think anyone would do that? Do you think they have an agenda?
• Some people think Lady Wisdom is representative of Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit. What do you think and why?
• Some people see Lady Wisdom as an allegory of a bridge between men and God. Our connection and communication between God and ourselves. Ponder on that and journal your thoughts.
• Define godly wisdom in your own words.
• Do you understand the difference between knowledge and wisdom?
• Why is God the beginning and end of any true wisdom?
• Do you know God well enough to trust Him and to trust His love for you?
• Pray for godly wisdom.

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