Proverbs 8 is the eighth chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1] The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections, with the heading in 1:1 may be intended to regard Solomon as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post-exilic period. This chapter is a part of the first collection of the book.
The following table shows the Hebrew text[2] [3] of Proverbs 8 with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
| Verse | Hebrew | English translation (JPS 1917) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doth not wisdom call, And understanding put forth her voice? | ||
| 2 | In the top of high places by the way, Where the paths meet, she standeth; | ||
| 3 | Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, At the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud: | ||
| 4 | ’Unto you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men. | ||
| 5 | O ye thoughtless, understand prudence, And, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. | ||
| 6 | Hear, for I will speak excellent things, And the opening of my lips shall be right things. | ||
| 7 | For my mouth shall utter truth, And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. | ||
| 8 | All the words of my mouth are in righteousness, There is nothing perverse or crooked in them. | ||
| 9 | They are all plain to him that understandeth, And right to them that find knowledge. | ||
| 10 | Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold. | ||
| 11 | For wisdom is better than rubies, And all things desirable are not to be compared unto her. | ||
| 12 | I wisdom dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge of devices. | ||
| 13 | The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the froward mouth, do I hate. | ||
| 14 | Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. | ||
| 15 | By me kings reign, And princes decree justice. | ||
| 16 | By me princes rule, And nobles, even all the judges of the earth. | ||
| 17 | I love them that love me, And those that seek me earnestly shall find me. | ||
| 18 | Riches and honour are with me; Yea, enduring riches and righteousness. | ||
| 19 | My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; And my produce than choice silver. | ||
| 20 | I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice; | ||
| 21 | That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, And that I may fill their treasuries. | ||
| 22 | The LORD made me as the beginning of His way, The first of His works of old. | ||
| 23 | I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, Or ever the earth was. | ||
| 24 | When there were no depths, I was brought forth; When there were no fountains abounding with water. | ||
| 25 | Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth; | ||
| 26 | While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, Nor the beginning of the dust of the world. | ||
| 27 | When He established the heavens, I was there; When He set a circle upon the face of the deep, | ||
| 28 | When He made firm the skies above, When the fountains of the deep showed their might, | ||
| 29 | When He gave to the sea His decree, That the waters should not transgress His commandment, When He appointed the foundations of the earth; | ||
| 30 | Then I was by Him, as a nursling; And I was daily all delight, Playing always before Him, | ||
| 31 | Playing in His habitable earth, And my delights are with the sons of men. | ||
| 32 | Now therefore, ye children, hearken unto me; For happy are they that keep my ways. | ||
| 33 | Hear instruction, and be wise, And refuse it not. | ||
| 34 | Happy is the man that hearkeneth to me, Watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. | ||
| 35 | For whoso findeth me findeth life, And obtaineth favour of the LORD | ||
| 36 | But he that misseth me wrongeth his own soul; All they that hate me love death.’ |
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus (B;
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This chapter belongs to a section regarded as the first collection in the book of Proverbs (comprising Proverbs 1–9), known as "Didactic discourses". The Jerusalem Bible describes chapters 1–9 as a prologue of the chapters 10–22:16, the so-called "[actual] proverbs of Solomon", as "the body of the book".[4] Anglican commentator T. T. Perowne, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, calls the section comprising chapters 1 to 9 "The Appeal of Wisdom",[5] a title also reserved in particular for Proverbs 8.[6]
The chapter contains the so-called "Wisdom's Second Speech" (the "First Speech" is in Proverbs 1:20–33), but whereas in Proverbs 1 Wisdom proclaims her value, and in Proverbs 3:19–26 Wisdom is the agent of creation, here Wisdom is personified, not as a deity like Egypt’s Ma'at or the Assyrian-Babylonian Ishtar, but simply presented as a 'self-conscious divine being distinct but subordinate to God', which in reality is the personification of the attribute of wisdom displayed by God. A connection between Wisdom and Jesus Christ is only in that both reveals the nature of God, but Proverbs 8 states wisdom as a creation of God, while Jesus’ claims as one with God includes wisdom (Matthew 12:42; even personified wisdom in a way that was similar to Proverbs in Matthew 11:19) and a unique knowledge of God (Matthew 11:25–27). Paul the Apostle sees the fulfillment of wisdom in Christ (Colossians 1:15–20; 2:3) and affirms that Christ became believers' wisdom in the crucifixion (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30).
The chapter is very significant in Gnosticism, as they take “wisdom” to be referring to Sophia, the divine feminine incarnation of wisdom and truth.[7]
The structure of chapter involves three cycles of Wisdom's invitation:
Aitken divides this chapter into the following sections:
The introduction (verses 1–3) presents Wisdom as a teacher, without the note of reproach and threat in her first speech (Proverbs 1:20–33). After giving the first invitation (verses 4–5), the emphasis is given on the character of Wisdom's words (verses 6–9) that, in contrast to the duplicitous and fraudulent words of the seductress, the words of Wisdom are in plain language, yet with integrity, which is intelligible to all who find her (verse 9).
Does not wisdom cry out,
and understanding lift up her voice?[9] Wisdom speaks openly and publicly, not in secret or steathily like the evil seductress, just as Jesus Christ said that he has spoken openly to the world and said nothing in secret (John 18:20).[10]
Some translations and paraphrases treat personify "Wisdom" and "Understanding" as characters speaking out, for example in the New American Bible, Revised Edition:and in The Voice translation:
On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand.[11] }}American theologian Albert Barnes notes the contrast between Wisdom's openness and transparency, and the "stealth and secrecy and darkness" which had shrouded the harlot's enticements in chapter 7.[12]
They are all plain to him who understands,
and right to those who find knowledge.[13]
The second invitation in verses 10–11 is very similar to the appeal in Proverbs:14–15, whereas verses 12–14 recall the words of the prologue of the book (Proverbs 1:2–7). In the explanation following the invitation, Wisdom describes her 'providential role in the good and orderly government of the world' (verses 12–16) and 'as the giver of wealth' (verses 17–21).
The third invitation is preceded by a hymn of self-praise in two parts by Wisdom (verses 22–31):
Wisdom describes herself as:
rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth,
and my delights were with the sons of men.[15]
Verses 32–36 form a conclusion in connection to the appeal back in verses 3–4.
. Michael D. Coogan . The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 . Coogan . Michael David . Marc Zvi . Brettler . Carol Ann . Newsom . Pheme . Perkins . augm. 3rd . Oxford University Press . 2007 . 978-0-19528881-0 .
. Michael V. Fox . Proverbs 10–31: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary . Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries . Yale University Press . 2009 . 978-0-30015556-3.
. Henry Hampton Halley. Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary . 24th (rev.). Zondervan Publishing House . 1965 . 0-310-25720-4.
New English Translation (NET)