Wisdom's Public Call: Righteous Speech, Royal Counsel, and the Joy of Creation

Pro 8:4-9 Now begins the discourse. The exordium summons general attention to it with the emphasis of its absolute truth: 4 “To you, ye men, is my discourse addressed, And my call is to the children of men! 5 Apprehend, O ye simple ones, what wisdom is; And, ye fools what understanding is. 6 Hear, for I will speak princely things, And the opening of my lips is upright.

7 For my mouth uttereth truth, And a wicked thing is an abomination to my lips. 8 The utterances of my mouth are in rectitude, There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. 9 To the men of understanding they are all to the point, And plain to those who have attained knowledge. ” Hitzig rejects this section, Pro 8:4-12, as he does several others in chap. 8 and 9, as spurious.

But if this preamble, which reminds us of Elihu, is not according to every one’s taste, yet in respect of the circle of conception and thought, as well as of the varying development of certain fundamental thoughts, it is altogether after the manner of the poet. The terminology is one that is strange to us; the translation of it is therefore difficult; that which is given above strives at least not to be so bad as to bring discredit on the poet.

The tautology and flatness of Pro 8:4 disappears when one understands אישׁים and בּני אדם like the Attic ἄνδρες and ἄνθρωποι; vid . , under Isa 2:9; Isa 53:3 (where אישׁים, as here and Psa 141:4, is equivalent to בּני אישׁ, Psa 49:3; Psa 4:3). Wisdom turns herself with her discourses to high and low, to persons of standing and to the proletariat . The verbal clause 4a interchanges with a noun clause 4b, as frequently a preposition with its noun ( e.

g. , Pro 8:8) completes the whole predicate of a semistich (Fl.)

Pro 8:4-9 Now begins the discourse. The exordium summons general attention to it with the emphasis of its absolute truth: 4 “To you, ye men, is my discourse addressed, And my call is to the children of men! 5 Apprehend, O ye simple ones, what wisdom is; And, ye fools what understanding is. 6 Hear, for I will speak princely things, And the opening of my lips is upright.

7 For my mouth uttereth truth, And a wicked thing is an abomination to my lips. 8 The utterances of my mouth are in rectitude, There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. 9 To the men of understanding they are all to the point, And plain to those who have attained knowledge. ” Hitzig rejects this section, Pro 8:4-12, as he does several others in chap. 8 and 9, as spurious.

But if this preamble, which reminds us of Elihu, is not according to every one’s taste, yet in respect of the circle of conception and thought, as well as of the varying development of certain fundamental thoughts, it is altogether after the manner of the poet. The terminology is one that is strange to us; the translation of it is therefore difficult; that which is given above strives at least not to be so bad as to bring discredit on the poet.

The tautology and flatness of Pro 8:4 disappears when one understands אישׁים and בּני אדם like the Attic ἄνδρες and ἄνθρωποι; vid . , under Isa 2:9; Isa 53:3 (where אישׁים, as here and Psa 141:4, is equivalent to בּני אישׁ, Psa 49:3; Psa 4:3). Wisdom turns herself with her discourses to high and low, to persons of standing and to the proletariat . The verbal clause 4a interchanges with a noun clause 4b, as frequently a preposition with its noun ( e.

g. , Pro 8:8) completes the whole predicate of a semistich (Fl.)

Pro 8:4-9 Now begins the discourse. The exordium summons general attention to it with the emphasis of its absolute truth: 4 “To you, ye men, is my discourse addressed, And my call is to the children of men! 5 Apprehend, O ye simple ones, what wisdom is; And, ye fools what understanding is. 6 Hear, for I will speak princely things, And the opening of my lips is upright.

7 For my mouth uttereth truth, And a wicked thing is an abomination to my lips. 8 The utterances of my mouth are in rectitude, There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. 9 To the men of understanding they are all to the point, And plain to those who have attained knowledge. ” Hitzig rejects this section, Pro 8:4-12, as he does several others in chap. 8 and 9, as spurious.

But if this preamble, which reminds us of Elihu, is not according to every one’s taste, yet in respect of the circle of conception and thought, as well as of the varying development of certain fundamental thoughts, it is altogether after the manner of the poet. The terminology is one that is strange to us; the translation of it is therefore difficult; that which is given above strives at least not to be so bad as to bring discredit on the poet.

The tautology and flatness of Pro 8:4 disappears when one understands אישׁים and בּני אדם like the Attic ἄνδρες and ἄνθρωποι; vid . , under Isa 2:9; Isa 53:3 (where אישׁים, as here and Psa 141:4, is equivalent to בּני אישׁ, Psa 49:3; Psa 4:3). Wisdom turns herself with her discourses to high and low, to persons of standing and to the proletariat . The verbal clause 4a interchanges with a noun clause 4b, as frequently a preposition with its noun ( e.

g. , Pro 8:8) completes the whole predicate of a semistich (Fl.)

Pro 8:4-9 Now begins the discourse. The exordium summons general attention to it with the emphasis of its absolute truth: 4 “To you, ye men, is my discourse addressed, And my call is to the children of men! 5 Apprehend, O ye simple ones, what wisdom is; And, ye fools what understanding is. 6 Hear, for I will speak princely things, And the opening of my lips is upright.

7 For my mouth uttereth truth, And a wicked thing is an abomination to my lips. 8 The utterances of my mouth are in rectitude, There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. 9 To the men of understanding they are all to the point, And plain to those who have attained knowledge. ” Hitzig rejects this section, Pro 8:4-12, as he does several others in chap. 8 and 9, as spurious.

But if this preamble, which reminds us of Elihu, is not according to every one’s taste, yet in respect of the circle of conception and thought, as well as of the varying development of certain fundamental thoughts, it is altogether after the manner of the poet. The terminology is one that is strange to us; the translation of it is therefore difficult; that which is given above strives at least not to be so bad as to bring discredit on the poet.

The tautology and flatness of Pro 8:4 disappears when one understands אישׁים and בּני אדם like the Attic ἄνδρες and ἄνθρωποι; vid . , under Isa 2:9; Isa 53:3 (where אישׁים, as here and Psa 141:4, is equivalent to בּני אישׁ, Psa 49:3; Psa 4:3). Wisdom turns herself with her discourses to high and low, to persons of standing and to the proletariat . The verbal clause 4a interchanges with a noun clause 4b, as frequently a preposition with its noun ( e.

g. , Pro 8:8) completes the whole predicate of a semistich (Fl.)

Pro 8:10-12 Her self-commendation is continued in the resumed address: 10 “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold! 11 For wisdom is better than corals, And all precious jewels do not equal her. 12 I, Wisdom, inhabit prudence, And the knowledge of right counsels is attainable by me. ” Instead of ולא־כּסף influenced by קחוּ, is ואל־כסף with תּקחוּ to be supplied; besides, with most Codd.

and older editions, we are to accentuate קחוּ מוּסרי with the erasure of the Makkeph . “Such negations and prohibitions,” Fleischer remarks, “are to be understood comparatively: instead of acquiring silver, rather acquire wisdom. Similar is the old Arabic 'l-nâr w-l'-'l-'âr, the fire, and not the disgrace! Also among the modern Arabic proverbs collected by Burckhardt, many have this form, e.

g. , No. 34, alḥajamat balafas wala alḥajat alanas, Better to let oneself be cut with the axe then to beg for the favour of another” 10b is to be translated, with Jerome, Kimchi, and others: and knowledge is more precious than fine gold (נבחר, neut. : auro pretiosius ); and in view of Pro 16:16, this construction appears to be intended. But Fleischer has quite correctly affirmed that this assertatory clause is unsuitably placed as a parallel clause over against the preceding imperative clause, and, what is yet more important, that then Pro 8:11 would repeat idem per idem in a tautological manner.

We therefore, after the Aramaic and Greek translators, take כסף נבחר together here as well as at Pro 8:19, inasmuch as we carry forward the קחו: et scientiam prae auro lectissimo , which is also according to the accentuation. Equally pregnant is the מן in מחרוּץ of the passage Pro 3:14-15, which is here varied.

Pro 8:10-12 Her self-commendation is continued in the resumed address: 10 “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold! 11 For wisdom is better than corals, And all precious jewels do not equal her. 12 I, Wisdom, inhabit prudence, And the knowledge of right counsels is attainable by me. ” Instead of ולא־כּסף influenced by קחוּ, is ואל־כסף with תּקחוּ to be supplied; besides, with most Codd.

and older editions, we are to accentuate קחוּ מוּסרי with the erasure of the Makkeph . “Such negations and prohibitions,” Fleischer remarks, “are to be understood comparatively: instead of acquiring silver, rather acquire wisdom. Similar is the old Arabic 'l-nâr w-l'-'l-'âr, the fire, and not the disgrace! Also among the modern Arabic proverbs collected by Burckhardt, many have this form, e.

g. , No. 34, alḥajamat balafas wala alḥajat alanas, Better to let oneself be cut with the axe then to beg for the favour of another” 10b is to be translated, with Jerome, Kimchi, and others: and knowledge is more precious than fine gold (נבחר, neut. : auro pretiosius ); and in view of Pro 16:16, this construction appears to be intended. But Fleischer has quite correctly affirmed that this assertatory clause is unsuitably placed as a parallel clause over against the preceding imperative clause, and, what is yet more important, that then Pro 8:11 would repeat idem per idem in a tautological manner.

We therefore, after the Aramaic and Greek translators, take כסף נבחר together here as well as at Pro 8:19, inasmuch as we carry forward the קחו: et scientiam prae auro lectissimo , which is also according to the accentuation. Equally pregnant is the מן in מחרוּץ of the passage Pro 3:14-15, which is here varied.

Pro 8:10-12 Her self-commendation is continued in the resumed address: 10 “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold! 11 For wisdom is better than corals, And all precious jewels do not equal her. 12 I, Wisdom, inhabit prudence, And the knowledge of right counsels is attainable by me. ” Instead of ולא־כּסף influenced by קחוּ, is ואל־כסף with תּקחוּ to be supplied; besides, with most Codd.

and older editions, we are to accentuate קחוּ מוּסרי with the erasure of the Makkeph . “Such negations and prohibitions,” Fleischer remarks, “are to be understood comparatively: instead of acquiring silver, rather acquire wisdom. Similar is the old Arabic 'l-nâr w-l'-'l-'âr, the fire, and not the disgrace! Also among the modern Arabic proverbs collected by Burckhardt, many have this form, e.

g. , No. 34, alḥajamat balafas wala alḥajat alanas, Better to let oneself be cut with the axe then to beg for the favour of another” 10b is to be translated, with Jerome, Kimchi, and others: and knowledge is more precious than fine gold (נבחר, neut. : auro pretiosius ); and in view of Pro 16:16, this construction appears to be intended. But Fleischer has quite correctly affirmed that this assertatory clause is unsuitably placed as a parallel clause over against the preceding imperative clause, and, what is yet more important, that then Pro 8:11 would repeat idem per idem in a tautological manner.

We therefore, after the Aramaic and Greek translators, take כסף נבחר together here as well as at Pro 8:19, inasmuch as we carry forward the קחו: et scientiam prae auro lectissimo , which is also according to the accentuation. Equally pregnant is the מן in מחרוּץ of the passage Pro 3:14-15, which is here varied.

Pro 8:13 Far remote is the idea that 13a is dependent on אמצא (I acquire) (Löwenstein, Bertheau). With this verse begins a new series of thoughts raising themselves on the basis of the fundamental clause 13a. Wisdom says what she hates, and why she hates it: 13 “The fear of Jahve is to hate evil; Pride and arrogancy, and an evil way And a deceitful mouth, do I hate.

” If the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10; Pro 1:7), then wisdom, personally considered, stands before all else that is to be said of her in a relation of homage or reverence toward God corresponding to the fear of God on the part of man; and if, as the premiss 13a shows, the fear of God has as its reverse side the hatred of evil, then there arises what Wisdom says in שׂנאתי (I hate) of herself. Instead of the n.

actionis שׂנאת (hatred), formed in the same way with יראת, which, admitting the article, becomes a substantive, the author uses, in order that he might designate the predicate as such (Hitzig), rather the n. actionis שׂנאת as מלאת, Jer 29:10. קראת, Jdg 8:1, is equivalent to שׂנאת like יבּשׁת, the becoming dry, יכלת, the being able; cf. (Arab.) shanat, hating, malât, well-being, ḳarât, reading (Fl.)

The evil which Wisdom hates is now particularized as, Pro 6:16-19, the evil which Jahve hates. The virtue of all virtues is humility; therefore Wisdom hates, above all, self-exaltation in all its forms. The paronomasia גּאה וגאון (pride and haughtiness) expresses the idea in the whole of its contents and compass (cf. Isa 15:6; Isa 3:1, and above at Pro 1:27).

גּאה (from גּאה, the nominal form), that which is lofty = pride, stands with גּאון, as Job 4:10, גבהּ, that which is high = arrogance. There follows the viam mali , representing the sins of walk, i. e. , of conduct, and os fullax ( vid . , at Pro 2:12), the sins of the mouth. Hitzig rightly rejects the interpunctuation רע, and prefers רע. In consequence of this Dechî ( Tiphcha init .)

, וּפי תהפּכת have in Codd. and good editions the servants Asla and Illuj ( vid . , Baer’s Torath Emeth , p. 11); Aben-Ezra and Moses Kimchi consider the Asla erroneously as disjunctive, and explain וּפי by et os = axioma meum , but Asla is conjunctive, and has after it the ת raphatum .

Pro 8:14-16 After Wisdom has said what she hates, and thus what she is not, she now says what she is, has, and promises: 14 “Mine is counsel and promotion; I am understanding, mine is strength. 15 By me kings reign, And rulers govern justly. 16 By me princes rule, and nobles - All judges of the earth. ” Whoever gives anything must himself possess it; in this sense Wisdom claims for herself counsel, promotion (in the sense of offering and containing that which is essentially and truly good; vid .

, concerning תּוּשׁיּה, Pro 2:7), and energy ( vid . , Ecc 7:19). But she does not merely possess בּינה; this is much rather her peculiar nature, and is one with her. That Pro 8:14 is formed after Job 12:13, Job 12:16 (Hitzig) is possible, without there following thence any argument against its genuineness. And if Pro 8:15. , and Isa 32:1; Isa 10:1, stand in intentional reciprocal relation, then the priority is on the side of the author of the Proverbs.

The connection gives to the laconic expression its intended comprehensiveness. It is not meant that Wisdom has the highest places in the state to give, but that she makes men capable of holding and discharging the duties of these.

Pro 8:14-16 After Wisdom has said what she hates, and thus what she is not, she now says what she is, has, and promises: 14 “Mine is counsel and promotion; I am understanding, mine is strength. 15 By me kings reign, And rulers govern justly. 16 By me princes rule, and nobles - All judges of the earth. ” Whoever gives anything must himself possess it; in this sense Wisdom claims for herself counsel, promotion (in the sense of offering and containing that which is essentially and truly good; vid .

, concerning תּוּשׁיּה, Pro 2:7), and energy ( vid . , Ecc 7:19). But she does not merely possess בּינה; this is much rather her peculiar nature, and is one with her. That Pro 8:14 is formed after Job 12:13, Job 12:16 (Hitzig) is possible, without there following thence any argument against its genuineness. And if Pro 8:15. , and Isa 32:1; Isa 10:1, stand in intentional reciprocal relation, then the priority is on the side of the author of the Proverbs.

The connection gives to the laconic expression its intended comprehensiveness. It is not meant that Wisdom has the highest places in the state to give, but that she makes men capable of holding and discharging the duties of these.

Pro 8:14-16 After Wisdom has said what she hates, and thus what she is not, she now says what she is, has, and promises: 14 “Mine is counsel and promotion; I am understanding, mine is strength. 15 By me kings reign, And rulers govern justly. 16 By me princes rule, and nobles - All judges of the earth. ” Whoever gives anything must himself possess it; in this sense Wisdom claims for herself counsel, promotion (in the sense of offering and containing that which is essentially and truly good; vid .

, concerning תּוּשׁיּה, Pro 2:7), and energy ( vid . , Ecc 7:19). But she does not merely possess בּינה; this is much rather her peculiar nature, and is one with her. That Pro 8:14 is formed after Job 12:13, Job 12:16 (Hitzig) is possible, without there following thence any argument against its genuineness. And if Pro 8:15. , and Isa 32:1; Isa 10:1, stand in intentional reciprocal relation, then the priority is on the side of the author of the Proverbs.

The connection gives to the laconic expression its intended comprehensiveness. It is not meant that Wisdom has the highest places in the state to give, but that she makes men capable of holding and discharging the duties of these.

Pro 8:17-21 The discourse of Wisdom makes a fresh departure, as at Pro 8:13 : she tells how, to those who love her, she repays this love: 17 “I love them that love me, And they that seek me early find me. 18 Riches and honour are with me, Durable riches and righteousness. 19 Better is my fruit than pure and fine gold, And my revenue (better) than choice silver.

20 In the way of righteousness do I walk, In the midst of the paths of justice. 21 To give an inheritance to them that love me And I fill their treasuries. ” The Chethı̂b אהביה ( ego hos qui eam amant redamo ), Gesenius, Lehrgeb . §196, 5, regards as a possible synallage ( eam = me ), but one would rather think that it ought to be read (יהוה =) 'אהבי ה. The ancients all have the reading אהבי.

אהב (= אאהב, with the change of the éě into ê, and the compression of the radical א; cf. אמר, תּבא, Pro 1:10) is the form of the fut. Kal , which is inflected תּאהבוּ, Pro 1:22. Regarding שׁחר (the Graec. Venet. well: οἱ ὀρθρίζοντές μοι), vid . , Pro 1:28, where the same epenthet. fut . form is found.

Pro 8:17-21 The discourse of Wisdom makes a fresh departure, as at Pro 8:13 : she tells how, to those who love her, she repays this love: 17 “I love them that love me, And they that seek me early find me. 18 Riches and honour are with me, Durable riches and righteousness. 19 Better is my fruit than pure and fine gold, And my revenue (better) than choice silver.

20 In the way of righteousness do I walk, In the midst of the paths of justice. 21 To give an inheritance to them that love me And I fill their treasuries. ” The Chethı̂b אהביה ( ego hos qui eam amant redamo ), Gesenius, Lehrgeb . §196, 5, regards as a possible synallage ( eam = me ), but one would rather think that it ought to be read (יהוה =) 'אהבי ה. The ancients all have the reading אהבי.

אהב (= אאהב, with the change of the éě into ê, and the compression of the radical א; cf. אמר, תּבא, Pro 1:10) is the form of the fut. Kal , which is inflected תּאהבוּ, Pro 1:22. Regarding שׁחר (the Graec. Venet. well: οἱ ὀρθρίζοντές μοι), vid . , Pro 1:28, where the same epenthet. fut . form is found.

Pro 8:17-21 The discourse of Wisdom makes a fresh departure, as at Pro 8:13 : she tells how, to those who love her, she repays this love: 17 “I love them that love me, And they that seek me early find me. 18 Riches and honour are with me, Durable riches and righteousness. 19 Better is my fruit than pure and fine gold, And my revenue (better) than choice silver.

20 In the way of righteousness do I walk, In the midst of the paths of justice. 21 To give an inheritance to them that love me And I fill their treasuries. ” The Chethı̂b אהביה ( ego hos qui eam amant redamo ), Gesenius, Lehrgeb . §196, 5, regards as a possible synallage ( eam = me ), but one would rather think that it ought to be read (יהוה =) 'אהבי ה. The ancients all have the reading אהבי.

אהב (= אאהב, with the change of the éě into ê, and the compression of the radical א; cf. אמר, תּבא, Pro 1:10) is the form of the fut. Kal , which is inflected תּאהבוּ, Pro 1:22. Regarding שׁחר (the Graec. Venet. well: οἱ ὀρθρίζοντές μοι), vid . , Pro 1:28, where the same epenthet. fut . form is found.

Pro 8:17-21 The discourse of Wisdom makes a fresh departure, as at Pro 8:13 : she tells how, to those who love her, she repays this love: 17 “I love them that love me, And they that seek me early find me. 18 Riches and honour are with me, Durable riches and righteousness. 19 Better is my fruit than pure and fine gold, And my revenue (better) than choice silver.

20 In the way of righteousness do I walk, In the midst of the paths of justice. 21 To give an inheritance to them that love me And I fill their treasuries. ” The Chethı̂b אהביה ( ego hos qui eam amant redamo ), Gesenius, Lehrgeb . §196, 5, regards as a possible synallage ( eam = me ), but one would rather think that it ought to be read (יהוה =) 'אהבי ה. The ancients all have the reading אהבי.

אהב (= אאהב, with the change of the éě into ê, and the compression of the radical א; cf. אמר, תּבא, Pro 1:10) is the form of the fut. Kal , which is inflected תּאהבוּ, Pro 1:22. Regarding שׁחר (the Graec. Venet. well: οἱ ὀρθρίζοντές μοι), vid . , Pro 1:28, where the same epenthet. fut . form is found.

Pro 8:17-21 The discourse of Wisdom makes a fresh departure, as at Pro 8:13 : she tells how, to those who love her, she repays this love: 17 “I love them that love me, And they that seek me early find me. 18 Riches and honour are with me, Durable riches and righteousness. 19 Better is my fruit than pure and fine gold, And my revenue (better) than choice silver.

20 In the way of righteousness do I walk, In the midst of the paths of justice. 21 To give an inheritance to them that love me And I fill their treasuries. ” The Chethı̂b אהביה ( ego hos qui eam amant redamo ), Gesenius, Lehrgeb . §196, 5, regards as a possible synallage ( eam = me ), but one would rather think that it ought to be read (יהוה =) 'אהבי ה. The ancients all have the reading אהבי.

אהב (= אאהב, with the change of the éě into ê, and the compression of the radical א; cf. אמר, תּבא, Pro 1:10) is the form of the fut. Kal , which is inflected תּאהבוּ, Pro 1:22. Regarding שׁחר (the Graec. Venet. well: οἱ ὀρθρίζοντές μοι), vid . , Pro 1:28, where the same epenthet. fut . form is found.

Pro 8:22 Wisdom takes now a new departure, in establishing her right to be heard, and to be obeyed and loved by men. As the Divine King in Psa 2:1-12 opposes to His adversaries the self-testimony: “I will speak concerning a decree! Jahve said unto me: Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee;” so Wisdom here unfolds her divine patent of nobility: she originates with God before all creatures, and is the object of God’s love and joy, as she also has the object of her love and joy on God’s earth, and especially among the sons of men: “Jahve brought me forth as the beginning of His way, As the foremost of His works from of old.

” The old translators render קנני (with Kametz by Dechî ; vid . , under Psa 118:5) partly by verbs of creating (lxx ἔκτισε, Syr. , Targ. בּראני), partly by verbs of acquiring (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Venet. ἐκτήσατο; Jerome, possedit ); Wisdom appears also as created, certainly not without reference to this passage, Sir. 1:4, προτέρα πάντων ἕκτισται σοφία; 1:9, αὐτὸς ἕκτισεν αὐτήν; 24:8, ὁ κτίσας με.

In the christological controversy this word gained a dogmatic signification, for they proceeded generally on the identity of σοφία ὑποστατική ( sapientia substantialis ) with the hypostasis of the Son of God. The Arians used the ἔκτισέ με as a proof of their doctrine of the filius non genitus, sed factus , i. e. , of His existence before the world began indeed, but yet not from eternity, but originating in time; while, on the contrary, the orthodox preferred the translation ἐκτήσατο, and understood it of the co-eternal existence of the Son with the Father, and agreed with the ἔκτισε of the lxx by referring it not to the actual existence, but to the position, place of the Son (Athanasius: Deus me creavit regem or caput operum suorum ; Cyrill.

: non condidit secundum substantiam, sed constituit me totius universi principium et fundamentum ). But (1) Wisdom is not God, but is God's; she has personal existence in the Logos of the N. T. , but is not herself the Logos; she is the world-idea, which, once projected, is objective to God, not as a dead form, but as a living spiritual image; she is the archetype of the world, which, originating from God, stands before God, the world of the idea which forms the medium between the Godhead and the world of actual existence, the communicated spiritual power in the origination and the completion of the world as God designed it to be.

This wisdom the poet here personifies; he does not speak of the person as Logos, but the further progress of the revelation points to her actual personification in the Logos. And (2) since to her the poet attributes an existence preceding the creation of the world, he thereby declares her to be eternal, for to be before the world is to be before time. For if he places her at the head of the creatures, as the first of them, so therewith he does not seek to make her a creature of this world having its commencement in time; he connects her origination with the origination of the creature only on this account, because that à priori refers and tends to the latter; the power which was before heaven and earth were, and which operated at the creation of the earth and of the heavens, cannot certainly fall under the category of the creatures around and above us.

Therefore (3) the translation with ἔκτισεν has nothing against it, but it is different from the κτίσις of the heavens and the earth, and the poet has intentionally written not בּראני, but קנני. Certainly קנה, Arab. knâ, like all the words used of creating, refers to one root-idea: that of forging ( vid . , under Gen 4:22), as ברא does to that of cutting ( vid .

, under Gen 1:1); but the mark of a commencement in time does not affix itself to קנה in the same way as it does to ברא, which always expresses the divine production of that which has not hitherto existed. קנה comprehends in it the meanings to create, and to create something for oneself, to prepare, parare ( e. g. , Psa 139:13), and to prepare something for oneself, comparare , as κτίζειν and κτᾶσθαι, both from kshi , to build, the former expressed by struere , and the latter by sibi struere .

In the קנני, then, there are the ideas, both that God produced wisdom, and that He made Himself to possess it; not certainly, however, as a man makes himself to possess wisdom from without, Pro 4:7. But the idea of the bringing forth is here the nearest demanded by the connection. For ראשׁית דּרכּו is not equivalent to בּראשׁית דרכו (Syr. , Targ. , Luther), as Jerome also reads: Ita enim scriptum est : adonai canani bresith dercho (Ep.

cxl. ad Cyprian.) ; but it is, as Job 40:19 shows, the second accusative of the object (lxx, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion). But if God made wisdom as the beginning of His way, i. e. , of His creative efficiency (cf. Rev 3:14 and Col 1:15), the making is not to be thought of as acquiring, but as a bringing forth, revealing this creative efficiency of God, having it in view; and this is also confirmed by the חוללתי ( genita sum ; cf.

Gen 4:1, קניתי, genui ) following. Accordingly, קדם מפעליו (foremost of His works) has to be regarded as a parallel second object. accusative. All the old translators interpret קדם as a preposition [before], but the usage of the language before us does not recognise it as such; this would be an Aramaism, for קדם, Dan 7:7, frequently מן־קדם (Syr. , Targ.) , is so used.

But as קדם signifies previous existence in space, and then in time ( vid . , Orelli, Zeit und Ewigkeit , p. 76), so it may be used of the object in which the previous existence appears, thus (after Sir. 1:4): προτέραν τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ (Hitzig).

Pro 8:23 A designation of the When? expressed first by מאז (Isa 48:8, cf. Isa 40:21), is further unfolded: “From everlasting was I set up, From the beginning, from the foundations of the earth. ” That נסּכתּי cannot be translated: I was anointed = consecrated, vid . , at Psa 2:6. But the translation also: I was woven = wrought (Hitzig, Ewald, and previously one of the Greeks, ἐδιάσθην), does not commend itself, for רקּם (Psa 139:15), used of the embryo, lies far from the metaphorical sense in which נסך = Arab.

nasaj, texere , would here be translated of the origin of a person, and even of such a spiritual being as Wisdom; נסדתּי, as the lxx reads (ἐθεμελιωσέ με), is not once used of such. Rightly Aquila, κατεστάθην; Symmachus, προκεχείρισμαι; Jerome, ordinata sum . Literally, but unintelligibly, the Gr. Venet . κέχυμαι, according to which (cf. Sir. 1:10) Böttcher: I was poured forth = formed, but himself acknowledging that this figure is not suitable to personification; nor is it at all likely that the author applied the word, used in this sense of idols, to the origin of Wisdom.

The fact is, that נסך, used as seldom of the anointing or consecration of kings, as סוּך, passes over, like יצק (הצּיק), צוּק (מצוּק, a pillar), and יצג (הצּיג), from the meaning of pouring out to that of placing and appointing; the mediating idea appears to be that of the pouring forth of the metal, since נסיך, Dan 11:8, like נסך, signifies a molten image. The Jewish interpreters quite correctly remark, in comparing it with the princely name נסיך [cf.

Psa 83:12] (although without etymological insight), that a placing in princely dignity is meant. Of the three synonyms of aeternitas a parte ante , מעולם points backwards into the infinite distance, מראשׁ into the beginning of the world, מקּדמי־ארץ not into the times which precede the origin of the earth, but into the oldest times of its gradual arising; this קדמי it is impossible to render, in conformity with the Hebr.

use of language: it is an extensive plur. of time, Böttcher, §697. The מן repeated does not mean that the origin and greatness of Wisdom are contemporaneous with the foundation of the world; but that when the world was founded, she was already an actual existence.

Pro 8:24-26 This her existence before the world began is now set forth in yet more explicit statements: 24 “When there were as yet no floods was I brought forth, When as yet there were not fountains which abounded with water; 25 For before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth, 26 While as yet He had not made land and plains, And the sum of the dust of the earth. ” The description is poetical, and affords some room for imagination.

By תּהומות are not intended the unrestrained primeval waters, but, as also Pro 3:20, the inner waters, treasures of the earth; and consequently by מעינות, not the fountains of the sea on this earth (Ewald, after Job 38:16), but he springs or places of springs (for מעין is n. loci to עין, a well as an eye of the earth; vid . , Gen 16:7), by means of which the internal waters of the earth communicate themselves to the earth above (cf.

Gen 7:11 with Gen 49:25). נכבּדּי־מים(abounding with water) is a descriptive epitheton to מעינות, which, notwithstanding its fem. plur. , is construed as masc. (cf. Pro 5:16). The Masora does not distinguish the thrice-occurring נכבדי according to its form as written (Isa 23:8-9). The form נכבּדּי (which, like בּתּים, would demand Metheg ) is to be rejected; it is everywhere to be written נכבּדּי nettirw (Ewald, §214b) with Pathach , with Dagesh following; vid .

, Kimchi, Michlol 61b. Kimchi adds the gloss מעיני מים רבים, which the Gr. Venet . , in accordance with the meaning of נכבד elsewhere, renders by πηγαῖς δεδοξασμένων ὑδάτων (as also Böttcher: the most honoured = the most lordly); but Meîri, Immanuel, and others rightly judge that the adjective is here to be understood after Gen 13:2; Job 14:21 (but in this latter passage כבד does not mean “to be numerous”): loaded = endowed in rich measure.

Pro 8:24-26 This her existence before the world began is now set forth in yet more explicit statements: 24 “When there were as yet no floods was I brought forth, When as yet there were not fountains which abounded with water; 25 For before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth, 26 While as yet He had not made land and plains, And the sum of the dust of the earth. ” The description is poetical, and affords some room for imagination.

By תּהומות are not intended the unrestrained primeval waters, but, as also Pro 3:20, the inner waters, treasures of the earth; and consequently by מעינות, not the fountains of the sea on this earth (Ewald, after Job 38:16), but he springs or places of springs (for מעין is n. loci to עין, a well as an eye of the earth; vid . , Gen 16:7), by means of which the internal waters of the earth communicate themselves to the earth above (cf.

Gen 7:11 with Gen 49:25). נכבּדּי־מים(abounding with water) is a descriptive epitheton to מעינות, which, notwithstanding its fem. plur. , is construed as masc. (cf. Pro 5:16). The Masora does not distinguish the thrice-occurring נכבדי according to its form as written (Isa 23:8-9). The form נכבּדּי (which, like בּתּים, would demand Metheg ) is to be rejected; it is everywhere to be written נכבּדּי nettirw (Ewald, §214b) with Pathach , with Dagesh following; vid .

, Kimchi, Michlol 61b. Kimchi adds the gloss מעיני מים רבים, which the Gr. Venet . , in accordance with the meaning of נכבד elsewhere, renders by πηγαῖς δεδοξασμένων ὑδάτων (as also Böttcher: the most honoured = the most lordly); but Meîri, Immanuel, and others rightly judge that the adjective is here to be understood after Gen 13:2; Job 14:21 (but in this latter passage כבד does not mean “to be numerous”): loaded = endowed in rich measure.

Pro 8:24-26 This her existence before the world began is now set forth in yet more explicit statements: 24 “When there were as yet no floods was I brought forth, When as yet there were not fountains which abounded with water; 25 For before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth, 26 While as yet He had not made land and plains, And the sum of the dust of the earth. ” The description is poetical, and affords some room for imagination.

By תּהומות are not intended the unrestrained primeval waters, but, as also Pro 3:20, the inner waters, treasures of the earth; and consequently by מעינות, not the fountains of the sea on this earth (Ewald, after Job 38:16), but he springs or places of springs (for מעין is n. loci to עין, a well as an eye of the earth; vid . , Gen 16:7), by means of which the internal waters of the earth communicate themselves to the earth above (cf.

Gen 7:11 with Gen 49:25). נכבּדּי־מים(abounding with water) is a descriptive epitheton to מעינות, which, notwithstanding its fem. plur. , is construed as masc. (cf. Pro 5:16). The Masora does not distinguish the thrice-occurring נכבדי according to its form as written (Isa 23:8-9). The form נכבּדּי (which, like בּתּים, would demand Metheg ) is to be rejected; it is everywhere to be written נכבּדּי nettirw (Ewald, §214b) with Pathach , with Dagesh following; vid .

, Kimchi, Michlol 61b. Kimchi adds the gloss מעיני מים רבים, which the Gr. Venet . , in accordance with the meaning of נכבד elsewhere, renders by πηγαῖς δεδοξασμένων ὑδάτων (as also Böttcher: the most honoured = the most lordly); but Meîri, Immanuel, and others rightly judge that the adjective is here to be understood after Gen 13:2; Job 14:21 (but in this latter passage כבד does not mean “to be numerous”): loaded = endowed in rich measure.

Pro 8:27 But not only did her existence precede the laying of the foundation of the world; she was also actively taking part in the creative work: “When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He measured out a circle for the mirror of the multitude of waters. ” Again a sentence clothed with two designations of time. The adv. of place שׁם is used, chiefly poetically, for אז, eo tempore (Arab.

thumm, in contradistinction to thamm, eo loco ); but here it has the signification of place, which includes that of time: Wisdom was there when God created the world, and had then already long before that come into existence, like as the servant of Jahve, Isa 48:16, with just such a שׁם אני, says that He is there from the time that the history of nations received a new direction, beginning with Cyrus. הכין signifies to give a firm position or a definite direction.

Thus Job 28:27 of Wisdom, whom the Creator places before Himself as a pattern (ideal); here, as Jer 10:12; Psa 65:7, of the setting up, restoring throughout the whole world. In the parallel member, חוּג, corresponding to שׁמים, appears necessarily to designate the circle or the vault of the heavens (Job 22:14), which, according to the idea of the Hebrews, as in Homer, rests as a half-globe on the outermost ends of the disc of the earth surrounded with water, and thus lies on the waters.

Vid . , Hupfeld under Psa 24:2. This idea of the ocean girdling the earth is introduced into the O. T. without its being sanctioned by it. The lxx (καὶ ὅτε ἀφώριζε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θρόνον ἐπ ̓ ἀνέμων) appears to understand תהום of the waters above; but תהום never has this meaning, ים (Job 9:8; Job 36:30) might rather be interpreted of the ocean of the heavens. The passage in accordance with which this before us is to be expounded is Job 26:10 : He has set a limit for the surface of the waters, i.

e. , describing over them a circle setting bounds to their region. So here, with the exchange of the functions of the two words; when He marked out a circle over the surface of the multitude of waters, viz. , to appoint a fixed region (מקוה, Gen 1:10) for them, i. e. , the seas, fountains, rivers, in which the waters under the heavens spread over the earth. חקק signifies incidere, figere , to prescribe, to measure off, to consign, and directly to mark out, which is done by means of firm impressions of the graver’s tools.

But here this verb is without the Dagesh , to distinguish between the infinitive and the substantive חקּו (his statute or limit); for correct texts have בּחקו ( Michlol 147a); and although a monosyllable follows, yet there is no throwing back of the tone, after the rule that words terminating in o in this case maintain their ultima accentuation ( e. g. , משׂמו אל, Num 24:23).

Fleischer also finally decides for the explanation: quum delinearet circulum super abysso , when He marked out the region of the sea as with the circle.

Pro 8:28-31 In Pro 8:28, Pro 8:29, these two features of the figure of the creation of the world return (the beginning of the firmament, and the embankment of the under waters); hence we see that the discourse here makes a fresh start with a new theme: 28 “When He made firm the ether above, When He restrained the fountains of the waters; 29 When He set to the sea its bounds, That the waters should not pass their limits When He settled the pillars of the earth; 30 Then was I with Him as director of the work, And was delighted day by day, Rejoicing always before Him, 31 Rejoicing in His earth, And having my delight in the children of men. ” We have, with Symmachus, translated שׁחקים (from שׁחק, Arab.

shaḳ, to grind, to make thin) by αἰθέρα, for so the fine transparent strata of air above the hanging clouds are called - a poetic name of the firmament רקיע. The making firm עמּץ is not to be understood locally, but internally of the spreading out of the firmament over the earth settled for continuance (an expression such as Psa 78:23). In 28b the Masora notices the plur.

עינות instead of עינות with לית as unicum (cf. Michlol 191a); the transition of the sound is as in גּלית from galajta. The inf . עזוז appears on the first look to require a transitive signification, as the lxx and the Targ. , the Graec. Venet. and Luther ( da er festiget die Brünnen der tieffen = when He makes firm the fountains of the deep) have rendered it.

Elster accordingly believes that this signification must be maintained, because בּ here introduces creative activity, and in itself is probably the transitive use of עזז, as the Arab. 'azz shows: when He set His עז against the מים עזּים (Isa 43:16). But the absence of the subject is in favour of the opinion that here, as everywhere else, it is intransitive; only we may not, with Hitzig, translate: when the fountains of the flood raged wildly; but, since 28b, if not a creative efficiency, must yet express a creative work, either as Ewald, with reference to מעוז, fortress: when they became firm, or better as Fleischer, with reference to מים עזים: when they broke forth with power, with strong fulness.

Whether the suff. of חקּו, 29a, refers back to the sea or to Jahve, is decided after the parallel פּיו. If this word is equivalent to its coast (cf. Psa 104:9), then both suffixes refer to the sea; but the coast of the sea, or of a river, is called שׂפה, not פּה, which only means ostium (mouth), not ora . Also Isa 19:7 will require to be translated: by the mouth of the Nile, and that פי, Psa 133:2, may denote the under edge, arises from this, that a coat has a mouth above as well as below, i.

e. , is open. Thus both suff. are to be referred to God, and פיו d is to be determined after Job 23:12. The clause beginning with ומים corresponds in periodizing discourse to a clause with ut , Ewald, §338. בּחוּקו is the same form, only written plene , as Pro 8:27, בּחקו = בּחקּו = בּחקקו.

Pro 8:28-31 In Pro 8:28, Pro 8:29, these two features of the figure of the creation of the world return (the beginning of the firmament, and the embankment of the under waters); hence we see that the discourse here makes a fresh start with a new theme: 28 “When He made firm the ether above, When He restrained the fountains of the waters; 29 When He set to the sea its bounds, That the waters should not pass their limits When He settled the pillars of the earth; 30 Then was I with Him as director of the work, And was delighted day by day, Rejoicing always before Him, 31 Rejoicing in His earth, And having my delight in the children of men. ” We have, with Symmachus, translated שׁחקים (from שׁחק, Arab.

shaḳ, to grind, to make thin) by αἰθέρα, for so the fine transparent strata of air above the hanging clouds are called - a poetic name of the firmament רקיע. The making firm עמּץ is not to be understood locally, but internally of the spreading out of the firmament over the earth settled for continuance (an expression such as Psa 78:23). In 28b the Masora notices the plur.

עינות instead of עינות with לית as unicum (cf. Michlol 191a); the transition of the sound is as in גּלית from galajta. The inf . עזוז appears on the first look to require a transitive signification, as the lxx and the Targ. , the Graec. Venet. and Luther ( da er festiget die Brünnen der tieffen = when He makes firm the fountains of the deep) have rendered it.

Elster accordingly believes that this signification must be maintained, because בּ here introduces creative activity, and in itself is probably the transitive use of עזז, as the Arab. 'azz shows: when He set His עז against the מים עזּים (Isa 43:16). But the absence of the subject is in favour of the opinion that here, as everywhere else, it is intransitive; only we may not, with Hitzig, translate: when the fountains of the flood raged wildly; but, since 28b, if not a creative efficiency, must yet express a creative work, either as Ewald, with reference to מעוז, fortress: when they became firm, or better as Fleischer, with reference to מים עזים: when they broke forth with power, with strong fulness.

Whether the suff. of חקּו, 29a, refers back to the sea or to Jahve, is decided after the parallel פּיו. If this word is equivalent to its coast (cf. Psa 104:9), then both suffixes refer to the sea; but the coast of the sea, or of a river, is called שׂפה, not פּה, which only means ostium (mouth), not ora . Also Isa 19:7 will require to be translated: by the mouth of the Nile, and that פי, Psa 133:2, may denote the under edge, arises from this, that a coat has a mouth above as well as below, i.

e. , is open. Thus both suff. are to be referred to God, and פיו d is to be determined after Job 23:12. The clause beginning with ומים corresponds in periodizing discourse to a clause with ut , Ewald, §338. בּחוּקו is the same form, only written plene , as Pro 8:27, בּחקו = בּחקּו = בּחקקו.

Pro 8:28-31 In Pro 8:28, Pro 8:29, these two features of the figure of the creation of the world return (the beginning of the firmament, and the embankment of the under waters); hence we see that the discourse here makes a fresh start with a new theme: 28 “When He made firm the ether above, When He restrained the fountains of the waters; 29 When He set to the sea its bounds, That the waters should not pass their limits When He settled the pillars of the earth; 30 Then was I with Him as director of the work, And was delighted day by day, Rejoicing always before Him, 31 Rejoicing in His earth, And having my delight in the children of men. ” We have, with Symmachus, translated שׁחקים (from שׁחק, Arab.

shaḳ, to grind, to make thin) by αἰθέρα, for so the fine transparent strata of air above the hanging clouds are called - a poetic name of the firmament רקיע. The making firm עמּץ is not to be understood locally, but internally of the spreading out of the firmament over the earth settled for continuance (an expression such as Psa 78:23). In 28b the Masora notices the plur.

עינות instead of עינות with לית as unicum (cf. Michlol 191a); the transition of the sound is as in גּלית from galajta. The inf . עזוז appears on the first look to require a transitive signification, as the lxx and the Targ. , the Graec. Venet. and Luther ( da er festiget die Brünnen der tieffen = when He makes firm the fountains of the deep) have rendered it.

Elster accordingly believes that this signification must be maintained, because בּ here introduces creative activity, and in itself is probably the transitive use of עזז, as the Arab. 'azz shows: when He set His עז against the מים עזּים (Isa 43:16). But the absence of the subject is in favour of the opinion that here, as everywhere else, it is intransitive; only we may not, with Hitzig, translate: when the fountains of the flood raged wildly; but, since 28b, if not a creative efficiency, must yet express a creative work, either as Ewald, with reference to מעוז, fortress: when they became firm, or better as Fleischer, with reference to מים עזים: when they broke forth with power, with strong fulness.

Whether the suff. of חקּו, 29a, refers back to the sea or to Jahve, is decided after the parallel פּיו. If this word is equivalent to its coast (cf. Psa 104:9), then both suffixes refer to the sea; but the coast of the sea, or of a river, is called שׂפה, not פּה, which only means ostium (mouth), not ora . Also Isa 19:7 will require to be translated: by the mouth of the Nile, and that פי, Psa 133:2, may denote the under edge, arises from this, that a coat has a mouth above as well as below, i.

e. , is open. Thus both suff. are to be referred to God, and פיו d is to be determined after Job 23:12. The clause beginning with ומים corresponds in periodizing discourse to a clause with ut , Ewald, §338. בּחוּקו is the same form, only written plene , as Pro 8:27, בּחקו = בּחקּו = בּחקקו.

Pro 8:28-31 In Pro 8:28, Pro 8:29, these two features of the figure of the creation of the world return (the beginning of the firmament, and the embankment of the under waters); hence we see that the discourse here makes a fresh start with a new theme: 28 “When He made firm the ether above, When He restrained the fountains of the waters; 29 When He set to the sea its bounds, That the waters should not pass their limits When He settled the pillars of the earth; 30 Then was I with Him as director of the work, And was delighted day by day, Rejoicing always before Him, 31 Rejoicing in His earth, And having my delight in the children of men. ” We have, with Symmachus, translated שׁחקים (from שׁחק, Arab.

shaḳ, to grind, to make thin) by αἰθέρα, for so the fine transparent strata of air above the hanging clouds are called - a poetic name of the firmament רקיע. The making firm עמּץ is not to be understood locally, but internally of the spreading out of the firmament over the earth settled for continuance (an expression such as Psa 78:23). In 28b the Masora notices the plur.

עינות instead of עינות with לית as unicum (cf. Michlol 191a); the transition of the sound is as in גּלית from galajta. The inf . עזוז appears on the first look to require a transitive signification, as the lxx and the Targ. , the Graec. Venet. and Luther ( da er festiget die Brünnen der tieffen = when He makes firm the fountains of the deep) have rendered it.

Elster accordingly believes that this signification must be maintained, because בּ here introduces creative activity, and in itself is probably the transitive use of עזז, as the Arab. 'azz shows: when He set His עז against the מים עזּים (Isa 43:16). But the absence of the subject is in favour of the opinion that here, as everywhere else, it is intransitive; only we may not, with Hitzig, translate: when the fountains of the flood raged wildly; but, since 28b, if not a creative efficiency, must yet express a creative work, either as Ewald, with reference to מעוז, fortress: when they became firm, or better as Fleischer, with reference to מים עזים: when they broke forth with power, with strong fulness.

Whether the suff. of חקּו, 29a, refers back to the sea or to Jahve, is decided after the parallel פּיו. If this word is equivalent to its coast (cf. Psa 104:9), then both suffixes refer to the sea; but the coast of the sea, or of a river, is called שׂפה, not פּה, which only means ostium (mouth), not ora . Also Isa 19:7 will require to be translated: by the mouth of the Nile, and that פי, Psa 133:2, may denote the under edge, arises from this, that a coat has a mouth above as well as below, i.

e. , is open. Thus both suff. are to be referred to God, and פיו d is to be determined after Job 23:12. The clause beginning with ומים corresponds in periodizing discourse to a clause with ut , Ewald, §338. בּחוּקו is the same form, only written plene , as Pro 8:27, בּחקו = בּחקּו = בּחקקו.

Pro 8:32 After that Wisdom has shown in Pro 8:22-31 how worthy her fellowship is of being an object of desire from her mediating place between God and the world, she begins with this verse (as Pro 7:24; Pro 5:7) the hortatory ( paränetische ) concluding part of her discourse: “And now, ye sons, hearken unto me, And salvation to those who keep my ways! ” The lxx omits Pro 8:33, and obviates the disturbing element of ואשׁרי, 32b, arising from its ו, by a transposition of the stichs.

But this ואשרי is the same as the καὶ μακάριος, Mat 11:6; the organic connection lies hid, as Schleiermacher ( Hermeneutik , p. 73) well expresses it, in the mere sequence; the clause containing the proof is connected by ו with that for which proof is to be assigned, instead of subordinating itself to it with כּי. Such an exclamatory clause has already been met with in Pro 3:13, there אדם follows as the governed genitive, here a complete sentence (instead of the usual participial construction, שׁמרי דרכי) forms this genitive, Gesen.

§123, 3, Anm. 1.

Pro 8:33-36 The summons 32a, and its reason 32b, are repeated in these verses which follow: 33 “Hear instruction, and be wise, And withdraw not. 34 Blessed is the man who hears me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors! 35 For whosoever findeth me has found life, And has obtained favour from Jahve; 36 And whosoever misseth me doeth wrong to himself; All they who hate me love death.

” The imper . וחכמוּ, 33a ( et sapite ), is to be judged after Pro 4:4, וחיה, cf. the Chethı̂b, Pro 13:20; one sees this from the words ואל־תּפרעוּ which follow, to which, after Pro 15:32, as at Pro 4:13, to אל־תּרף, מוּסר is to be placed as object: and throw not to the winds ( ne missam faciatis ; vid . , regarding פרע at Pro 1:25), viz. , instruction ( disciplinam ).

Pro 8:33-36 The summons 32a, and its reason 32b, are repeated in these verses which follow: 33 “Hear instruction, and be wise, And withdraw not. 34 Blessed is the man who hears me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors! 35 For whosoever findeth me has found life, And has obtained favour from Jahve; 36 And whosoever misseth me doeth wrong to himself; All they who hate me love death.

” The imper . וחכמוּ, 33a ( et sapite ), is to be judged after Pro 4:4, וחיה, cf. the Chethı̂b, Pro 13:20; one sees this from the words ואל־תּפרעוּ which follow, to which, after Pro 15:32, as at Pro 4:13, to אל־תּרף, מוּסר is to be placed as object: and throw not to the winds ( ne missam faciatis ; vid . , regarding פרע at Pro 1:25), viz. , instruction ( disciplinam ).

Pro 8:33-36 The summons 32a, and its reason 32b, are repeated in these verses which follow: 33 “Hear instruction, and be wise, And withdraw not. 34 Blessed is the man who hears me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors! 35 For whosoever findeth me has found life, And has obtained favour from Jahve; 36 And whosoever misseth me doeth wrong to himself; All they who hate me love death.

” The imper . וחכמוּ, 33a ( et sapite ), is to be judged after Pro 4:4, וחיה, cf. the Chethı̂b, Pro 13:20; one sees this from the words ואל־תּפרעוּ which follow, to which, after Pro 15:32, as at Pro 4:13, to אל־תּרף, מוּסר is to be placed as object: and throw not to the winds ( ne missam faciatis ; vid . , regarding פרע at Pro 1:25), viz. , instruction ( disciplinam ).

Pro 8:33-36 The summons 32a, and its reason 32b, are repeated in these verses which follow: 33 “Hear instruction, and be wise, And withdraw not. 34 Blessed is the man who hears me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors! 35 For whosoever findeth me has found life, And has obtained favour from Jahve; 36 And whosoever misseth me doeth wrong to himself; All they who hate me love death.

” The imper . וחכמוּ, 33a ( et sapite ), is to be judged after Pro 4:4, וחיה, cf. the Chethı̂b, Pro 13:20; one sees this from the words ואל־תּפרעוּ which follow, to which, after Pro 15:32, as at Pro 4:13, to אל־תּרף, מוּסר is to be placed as object: and throw not to the winds ( ne missam faciatis ; vid . , regarding פרע at Pro 1:25), viz. , instruction ( disciplinam ).

Pro 9:1 Regarding חכמות, vid . , at Pro 1:20. It is a plur. excellentiae , which is a variety of the plur. extensivus . Because it is the expression of a plural unity, it stands connected (as for the most part also אלהים, Deus ) with the sing. of the predicate. The perfects enumerate all that Wisdom has done to prepare for her invitation. If we had a parable before us, the perf.

would have run into the historical ותּשׁלח; but it is, as the תקרא shows, an allegorical picture of the arrangement and carrying out of a present reality. Instead of בּנתה לּהּ בּית there is בּנתה בּיתהּ, for the house is already in its origin represented as hers, and 1b is to be translated: she has hewn out her seven pillars (Hitzig); more correctly: her pillars, viz.

, seven (after the scheme דבּתם רעה, Gen 37:2); but the construction is closer. שׁבעה is, altogether like Exo 25:37, the accusative of the second object, or of the predicate after the species of verba , with the idea: to make something, turn into something, which take to themselves a double accusative, Gesen. §139, 2: excidit columnas suas ita ut septem essent .

Since the figure is allegorical, we may not dispense with the interpretation of the number seven by the remark, “No emphasis lies in the number” (Bertheau). First, we must contemplate architecturally the house with seven pillars: “They are,” as Hitzig rightly remarks, “the pillars of the מסדּרון (porch) [ vid . Bachmann under Jdg 3:23, and Wetstein under Psa 144:12, where חטב is used of the cutting out and hewing of wood, as חצב of the cutting out and hewing of stone] in the inner court, which bore up the gallery of the first (and second) floors: four of these in the corners and three in the middle of three sides; through the midst of these the way led into the court of the house-floor the area.

” But we cannot agree with Hitzig in maintaining that, with the seven pillars of chap. 8 and 9, the author looks back to the first seven chapters (Arab. âbwab, gates) of this book; we think otherwise of the component members of this Introduction to the Book of Proverbs; and to call the sections of a book “gates, שׁערים,” is a late Arabico-Jewish custom, of which there is found no trace whatever in the O.

T. To regard them also, with Heidenheim (cf. Dante’s Prose Writings, translated by Streckfuss, p. 77), as representing the seven liberal arts (שׁבע חכמות) is impracticable; for this division of the artes liberales into seven, consisting of the Trivium (Grammar, Rhetoric, and Dialectics) and Quadrivium (Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy), is not to be looked for within the old Israelitish territory, and besides, these were the sciences of this world which were so divided; but wisdom, to which the discourse here refers, is wholly a religious-moral subject.

The Midrash thinks of the seven heavens (שׁבעה רקיעים), or the seven climates or parts of the earth (שׁבעה ארצות), as represented by them; but both references require artificial combinations, and have, as also the reference to the seven church-eras (Vitringa and Chr. Ben. Michaelis), this against them, that they are rendered probable neither from these introductory proverbial discourses, nor generally from the O.

T. writings. The patristic and middle-age reference to the seven sacraments of the church passes sentence against itself; but the old interpretation is on the right path, when it suggests that the seven pillars are the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. The seven-foldness of the manifestation of the Spirit, already brought near by the seven lamps of the sacred candelabra (the מנורה), is established by Isa 11:2 ( vid .

, l. c .) ; and that Wisdom is the possessor and dispenser of the Spirit she herself testifies, Pro 1:23. Her Spirit is the “Spirit of wisdom;” but at the same time, since, born of God, she is mediatrix between God and the world, also the “Spirit of Jahve,” He is the “spirit of understanding,” the “spirit of counsel,” and the “spirit of might” (Isa 11:2); for she says, Pro 8:14, “Counsel is mine, and reflection; I am understanding, I have strength.

” He is also the “spirit of knowledge,” and the “spirit of the fear of the Lord” (Isa 11:2); for fear and the knowledge of Jahve are, according to Pro 9:14, the beginning of wisdom, and essentially wisdom itself.

Pro 9:2 If thus the house of Wisdom is the place of her fellowship with those who honour her, the system of arrangements made by her, so as to disclose and communicate to her disciples the fulness of her strength and her gifts, then it is appropriate to understand by the seven pillars the seven virtues of her nature communicating themselves (apocalyptically expressed, the ἑπτὰ πνεύματα), which bear up and adorn the dwelling which she establishes among men. Flesh and wine are figures of the nourishment for the mind and the heart which is found with wisdom, and, without asking what the flesh and the wine specially mean, are figures of the manifold enjoyment which makes at once strong and happy.

The segolate n. verbale טבח, which Pro 7:22 denoted the slaughtering or the being slaughtered, signifies here, in the concrete sense, the slaughtered ox; Michaelis rightly remarks that טבח, in contradistinction to זבח, is the usual word for mactatio extrasacrificialis . Regarding מסך יין, vid . , under Isa 5:22; it is not meant of the mingling of wine with sweet scents and spices, but with water (warm or cold), and signifies simply to make the wine palatable (as κεραννύναι, temperare ); the lxx ἐκέρασεν εἰς κρατῆρα, κρατήρ is the name of the vessel in which the mixing takes place; they drank not ἄκρατον, but κεκερασμένον ἄκρατον, Rev 14:10.

The frequently occurring phrase ערך שׁלחן signifies to prepare the table (from שׁלּח, properly the unrolled and outspread leather cover), viz. , by the placing out of the dishes ( vid . , regarding ערך, under Gen 22:9).

Pro 9:3 The verb קרא, when a feast is spoken of, means to invite; קראים, Pro 9:18 (cf. 1Sa 9:13, etc.) , are the guests. נערותיה the lxx translates τοὺς ἑαυτῆς δούλους, but certainly here the disciples are meant who already are in the service of Wisdom; but that those who are invited to Wisdom are thought of as feminine, arises from the tasteful execution of the picture.

The invitation goes forth to be known to all far and wide, so that in her servants Wisdom takes her stand in the high places of the city. Instead of בּראשׁ, Pro 8:2; Pro 1:21, there is used here the expression על־גּפּי. We must distinguish the Semitic גּף (= ganf), wings, from גנף = כנף, to cover, and גּף (= gaff or ganf), the bark, which is derived either from גּפף or גּנף, Arab.

jnf, convexus, incurvus et extrinsecus gibber fuit , hence originally any surface bent outwards or become crooked (cf. the roots cap, caf, קב כף גף גב, etc.) , here the summit of a height (Fl.) ; thus not super alis (after the analogy of πτερύγιον, after Suidas = ἀκρωτήριον), but super dorsis (as in Lat. we say δορσυμ μοντις, and also viae ).

Pro 9:4-6 Now follows the street-sermon of Wisdom inviting to her banquet: 4 Who is simple? let him come hither! ” Whoso wanteth understanding, to him she saith: 5 “Come, eat of my bread, And drink of the wine which I have mingled! 6 Cease, ye simple, and live, And walk straight on in the way of understanding. ” The question מי פּתי (thus with Munach , not with Makkeph , it is to be written here and at Pro 9:16; vid .

, Baer’s Torath Emeth , p. 40), quis est imperitus , is, as Psa 25:12, only a more animated expression for quisquis est . The retiring into the background of the נערות (servants), and the immediate appearance of Wisdom herself, together with the interruption, as was to be expected, of her connected discourses by the אמרה לּו, are signs that the pure execution of the allegorical representation is her at an end.

Hitzig seeks, by the rejection of Pro 9:4, Pro 9:5, Pro 9:7-10, to bring in a logical sequence; but these interpolations which he cuts out are yet far more inconceivable than the proverbial discourses in the mouth of Wisdom, abandoning the figure of a banquet, which besides are wholly in the spirit of the author of this book. That Folly invites to her, Pro 9:16, in the same words as are used by Wisdom, Pro 9:4, is not strange; both address themselves to the simple ( vid .

, on פּתי at Pro 1:4) and those devoid of understanding (as the youth, Pro 7:7), and seek to bring to their side those who are accessible to evil as to good, and do not dully distinguish between them, which the emulating devertat huc of both imports. The fourth verse points partly backwards, and partly forwards; 4a has its introduction in the תקרא of Pro 9:3; on the contrary, 4b is itself the introduction of what follows.

The setting forth of the nom. absolutus חסר־לב is conditioned by the form of 4a; the מי (cf. 4a) is continued (in 4b) without its needing to be supplied: excors (= si quis est excors ) dicit ei (not dixit , because syntactically subordinating itself to the תקרא). It is a nominal clause, whose virtual predicate (the devoid of understanding is thus and thus addressed by her) as in Pro 9:16.