09/02/2022 – Day 187 – Proverbs 8-9 / 2 of 2 // Commentary footnotes: 1) 8:22 , and 2) 9: 7-9 – “… rebuke a wise man, and he will love you…”
There is a more detailed case for 2) 9: 7-9 in the post from the last cycle dated 01/02/2021. Again, if you login and search on the “Day 187” or the date, the post will pop up.
I’m on a run of late using “The Apologetics Study Bible” footnotes to verses. And so, I do so again for our instruction:
“8:22: Throughout history critics have denied the deity of Christ, arguing from this verse that Jeus (identified as ‘God’s wisdom’ in 1 Corinthians 1:24, and as the Creator of all things in John 1:3 and Colossians 1: 15-17) is a created being Himself. This is based on a translation of the verse, ‘The Lord created me at the beginning of His creation, ” found in some ancient and modern translations. However, the basic meaning of the Hebrew word for ‘made,’ qanah, means ‘to possess’ or ‘acquire rather than ‘to create.’ Of even greater significance is the fact that the context suggests that the passage about wisdom is not a description of Jesus, but rather a personification of the wisdom by which the Lord created the universe. (This is common in the early chapters of Proverbs and is something that will again occur in Chapters 9, where both Wisdom and Follly are personified.)
Wisdom is the application of knowledge in order to accomplish one’s goals or purposes, and God brings forth His wisdom as He applies His omnipotence to the task of creating the world. The point of the passage is that if God used wisdom to create the world, the success in all our endeavors is greatly enhanced if we also choose wisdom and live according to God’s order. The New Testament authors see Jesus as the embodiment of God’s wisdom both in terms of who He is, and in terms of His ministry in successfully accomplishing God’s redemptive purpose.
And now to 2) 9: 7-9 :
“According to Proverbs, the basic difference between the fool and the wise person has far more to do with attitude than with intelligence. The wise person is open to advice and correction and welcomes it, while the foolish person rejects counsel, even to the point of directing anger and hostility toward anyone who offers advice.”
Soli Deo Gloria!