Jesus as the Wisdom of God
In the opening chapters of Proverbs, Wisdom is personified as one who was present with God from the very beginning. Proverbs 8:22 declares,
“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.”
This striking statement has long drawn the attention of theologians, especially within Christian tradition, where many have seen in it a foreshadowing of Christ Himself.
The New Testament presents Jesus as the very embodiment of Divine Wisdom:
“Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God,” – 1 Corinthians 1:24
“are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” – Colossians 2:2-3
Moreover, Jesus’ own words reflect this identity. In Luke 11:49, He says, “”Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’” – Luke 11:49—words that parallel Matthew 23:34, where Jesus Himself claims, “Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes.”
These harmonized texts further support the conclusion that Jesus speaks as the very Wisdom of God, active throughout salvation history.
In light of these passages, Proverbs 8 takes on profound significance. Far from being merely poetic personification, it offers a glimpse into the mystery of Christ’s divine nature—eternal, wise, and intimately involved in the creation and redemption of the world.
We will dive deeper into Proverbs 8 as we refute some objections.
If Jesus is Wisdom, then is Jesus a Female?
One common objection raised from Proverbs 8 and related texts is this: If Jesus is identified as the Wisdom of God, and Wisdom is consistently personified as a woman in Scripture, does that mean Jesus is female?
Answer: Not at all. This confusion stems from a misunderstanding of how gender works in biblical languages versus modern English.
In Hebrew, every noun is gendered—either masculine or feminine. In Greek, nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. However, grammatical gender does not determine the actual gender or nature of the person or object being described. For example, in 1 Corinthians 1:24, Paul writes that Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom [Greek: sophia] of God.” The word sophia is feminine in Greek, just as the Hebrew word ḥokmah (wisdom) is feminine. But this grammatical feature does not make Jesus female any more than it makes God female in the Old Testament when ḥokmah is used.
To illustrate further:
- The Holy Spirit in Hebrew is ruach, a feminine noun, but in Greek is pneuma, a neuter noun. Does that mean the Spirit transformed gender from female to genderless? God forbid such blasphemy.
- In John 4:24, Jesus says, “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.” The word “what” is neuter in form. Jesus didn’t say “…we worship WHO we know…” but “…what we know…” but no one will conclude that God is impersonal because of the gender of the word. But clearly, God is not a “what” in an impersonal sense, nor does the neuter form imply God is genderless in the modern sense. Afterall, God is a Father, which is definitely masculine.
- In Zechariah 5:5–11, wickedness is personified as a woman in a basket. So, is evil female? Here maybe yes (I just brought this up for fun), but we clearly don’t apply grammatical or literary gender in one verse to form doctrine about actual personhood or metaphysics.
When the New Testament identifies Jesus with divine Wisdom, the use of feminine imagery for Wisdom in Proverbs is simply grammatical. In Hebrew, nouns are assigned a grammatical gender, but this doesn’t necessarily reflect the actual or physical gender of the thing being described. Him being called Wisdom emphases His eternal, divine role in creation and redemption—not assigning Him a grammatical or human gender based on Greek or Hebrew nouns.
As a matter of fact, even the Jews, in the Targum Neofiti saw Wisdom from proverbs 8:22 as the “Son of God” (see my article Trinity in Targum Neofiti).
Importantly, the Early Church Fathers did not find this troubling. In fact, many of them saw Wisdom in Proverbs 8 as a clear reference to Christ. Figures such as Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Tertullian, Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius, Hilary of Poitiers, and Augustine affirmed that what is said of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:22–31—its role in creation, its eternal existence, and its intimacy with God—is fulfilled perfectly in the person of Jesus. To them, Christ fully embodies the divine Wisdom described in Scripture, not merely as a concept, but as a living, eternal reality.
So while Wisdom is described using feminine grammar and imagery, this in no way suggests that Jesus, as the Wisdom of God, is female. Instead, it reveals the richness of biblical language and the deep theological insight that the Church has long recognized in identifying Christ with the eternal Wisdom of God.
Wisdom is Created?
Does the Hebrew verb “Qanah” and the Greek “ktizo” in the LXX mean “created,” Thus Making Wisdom a created?
The word qanah in Hebrew, often translated appears in Proverbs 8:22 and is sometimes understood as implying that Wisdom—and by extension, Christ as the personification of Wisdom—is a created being. The Greek ktizo used in the Septuagint (LXX) means “to create.”
In biblical Hebrew, many words carry multiple related meanings depending on their context. Qanah is no exception. It can mean “to acquire,” “to possess,” or “to purchase,” but in certain contexts, it also means “to bring forth” or “to beget.”
Several examples illustrate the nuanced meaning of Hebrew words in Scripture:
Genesis 4:1 — The first occurrence of qanah is in reference to birth: Eve says, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” This is actually a play on words because in “Qayin” (Cain), there’s a wordplay or pun involved with the Hebrew word “gotten” which is qaniti from qanah when referring to Cain’s birth. Other similar examples include: Exodus 2:10 — The verb mashah (“drew out”) is linked to the name Moshe (“Moses”), demonstrating a play on words based on root meanings. Genesis 18:12-15 — Isaac (meaning “he laughs”) is named for Sarah’s laughter upon hearing she would bear a son. Going back to Genesis 4:1, the Verb Qanah does not necessarily imply creation from nothing (creatio Ex-Nihilo). Cain existed 9 months prior to the act of Qanah and was “Qanah’d” from Eve’s physical body (creatio ex-materia). This is the reason why we condemn abortion as murder.
The Verb Qanah can mean “to acquire”, “to purchase”, “to posses”, but it certain contexts it can also mean “bring forth”, “to beget/birth”. In the context of Proverbs 8:22 (22-25) the verb Qanah is better translated as begotten or birthed or brough forth, i.e. “Yahweh begot/ birthed me as the beginning of his ways.” Though Qanah is used synonymously with the verb “create” in certain places, contextually, 2 verses later in 24-25, it says,
“When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth.”
By the use of the word cholaleti, found also in Psa 51:5 (cf. Isa 13:7-8; 21:3; 51:2; 54:1; Job 39:1; Dt 32:18), it can also mean to be begotten, to be given birth, or to bring forth, it means that this “Qanah” is done by “bringing forth” “begotten” “birthed out”, ie. that God gave birth to wisdom for the purpose of creating the world (22-36). Therefore Wisdom is a child of God “brought forth” from His very essence.
This parallels New Testament language about Jesus:
“I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father” (John 16:28, NKJV).
The Septuagint translates Proverbs 8:25 with the Greek phrase “γεννα με” meaning “begot me,” reinforcing this understanding.
Creation Ex Materia
The metaphorical “womb” of God is described as His mouth in Proverbs 2:6 and Sirach 24:1-3, where Wisdom is said to proceed from God’s speech. This supports the idea of creation ex materia—creation from existing material—rather than creation from nothing.
For example, Sirach 24:9 states,
“She was created from the beginning,”
and Sirach 1:4 affirms,
“Before all things, Wisdom was created.”
Even if we accept the translation of “created,” (which I don’t really mind if understood correctly as we shall see), it still does not imply creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing), nor does it deny Christ’s pre-existence.
In both Scripture and the writings of the Early Church Fathers, the concept of creation is more nuanced than the modern assumption that “created” always means “made from nothing.” The Bible distinguishes between different kinds of creation—not all “creation” is creatio ex nihilo.
For instance, 2 Maccabees 7:28 offers clear teaching on creatio ex nihilo:
“I implore you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed (οὐκ ἐξ ὄντων). And in the same way the human race came into being (καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος οὕτω γίνεται).”
Breakdown of the Key Greek Terms
- οὐκ ἐξ ὄντων — “not out of existing things”
- The word οὐκ means “not.”
- ἐξ means “out of” or “from.”
- ὄντων is the genitive plural of ὤν, a participle of εἰμί (“to be”), meaning “existing things” or “things that are.”
Hence, οὐκ ἐξ ὄντων translates literally as “not from things being” or “not from existing things.” This phrase is a direct refutation of the idea that God merely reshaped preexistent matter. It is a clear affirmation that all creation—including the heavens, the earth, and mankind—was brought into being by God from non-being.
While it is true that Genesis 2:7 describes God forming man from dust, this is not the same context as 2 Maccabees 7. In context, 2 Maccabees 7:23 reinforces:
“…He shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin (γένεσιν) of all things.”
Here, the word γένεσιν (genesis) literally means “origin” or “coming into being”—not simply re-forming existing elements, but initiating being where none existed before. Genesis 2 gives a literary zoom-in on how God shaped Adam’s body, but it assumes the prior creation of all matter of Genesis 1:1—“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” That verse refers to the initial act of creation from nothing.
This applies not just to man’s body (formed from dust), but especially to his soul, which is directly and uniquely breathed in by God. The soul cannot be said to arise from any material substance—it is an immaterial creation, further supporting the claim of ex nihilo.
This text establishes the orthodox doctrine: the universe was made from nothing—ex nihilo. However, this is not the type of “creation” that applies to Wisdom/Christ in Proverbs 8 or in the Greek ktizo (“ἔκτισέν”) of the Septuagint.
Why? Because Christ, as the divine Wisdom, was not made from nothing, but from the very essence and being of the Father. His “begetting” or “bringing forth” is a unique act—more akin to generation than fabrication.
ἔκτισεν in Sirach 44:2
1. The Meaning of ἔκτισεν in Sirach 44:2
In the Septuagint (LXX) version of Sirach 44:2, we read:
πολλὴν δόξαν ἔκτισεν ὁ Κύριος, τὴν μεγαλωσύνην αὐτοῦ ἀπ᾿ αἰῶνος
Literal reading is “The Lord created much glory, His majesty from of old.”
The Greek verb ἔκτισεν (from κτίζω) is the focus. While κτίζω often means “to create,” especially in Hellenistic Greek, the nuance depends heavily on context. By the time of the New Testament and especially in Christian theological debates (like the Arian controversy), κτίζω could take on the technical meaning of “to create out of nothing” (creatio ex nihilo), especially regarding the nature of Christ (e.g., Proverbs 8:22 in the LXX: Κύριος ἔκτισέν με — “The Lord created me”).
But this strict, technical sense is anachronistic, its out of its proper time being attributed to a historical period where it doesn’t belong. When applied to Sirach, which predates the Arian controversy and is written in a context where κτίζω had a broader, more flexible range of meanings.
2. Contextual and Theological Constraints
In Sirach 44:2, the “glory” (δόξα) and “majesty” (μεγαλωσύνη) are not new attributes or substances that God brought into being out of nothing. Instead, the passage refers to God’s preexistent glory being displayed or manifested through His faithful servants—Israel’s heroic ancestors.
- Theologically, God’s glory and majesty are not created realities. They are eternal and uncreated—intrinsic to His divine nature.
- Therefore, “creating” His glory cannot mean bringing it into existence in an absolute sense.
- Rather, ἔκτισεν here likely connotes “ordained,” “worked,” “manifested,” or “revealed” that glory through the ancestors of faith.
3. Hebrew Text Comparison
As you noted, the Hebrew version of Sirach 44:2 (available via retroversion and some manuscript traditions) reads something akin to:
“The Lord apportioned to them great glory…”
This matches the concept of distributing, assigning, or sharing preexistent glory—not creating it. That semantic contrast further supports your point: the Septuagint translator, if faithful to the Hebrew, would not have intended a creatio ex nihilo sense.
4. English Translations Reflect the Ambiguity
Here’s a list of English Bible translations that follow the Greek (Septuagint) text of Sirach 44:2:
- World English Bible – “The Lord manifested in them great glory, Even his mighty power from the beginning.”
- Brenton Septuagint – “The Lord hath wrought great glory by them through his great power from the beginning.”
- Contemporary English Bible (CEB) “The Lord created great glory—his majesty from eternity.”
- Douay-Rheims (DRA) “The Lord hath wrought great glory through his magnificence from the beginning.”
Translations Based on the Hebrew Text – Avoiding ἔκτισεν
These translations reflect the recovered Hebrew, which uses a verb meaning “apportioned” or “assigned” rather than “created”:
- New Revised Standard Version (NRSV / NRSVCE / NRSVUE) “The Lord apportioned to them great glory, his majesty from the beginning.”
- Revised Standard Version (RSV / RSVCE) “The Lord apportioned to them great glory, his majesty from the beginning.”
- New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) “The abounding glory of the Most High’s portion, his own part, since the days of old.”
- Good News Translation (GNT) “those whom the Lord honored with great glory, in whom his greatness has been seen from the beginning of time.”
5. Participation in Divine Glory
John 5:44 – “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”
This assumes that humans can partake of divine (uncreated) glory, not by having it created in them ex nihilo, but by sharing in what is already God’s. The same theme appears in:
- 2 Peter 1:4 – “partakers of the divine nature”
- John 17:22 – “The glory that you have given me I have given to them…”
Thus, in both Sirach and the New Testament, the sharing or manifesting of divine glory is not a matter of creation ex nihilo but of participation in God’s eternal attributes.
Thus, the use of ἔκτισεν in Sirach 44:2 does not support a reading of creation ex nihilo. Rather, it reflects the idea that God’s uncreated glory was made manifest in history through the lives of the patriarchs. The passage speaks of the revelation of divine majesty, not its origination.
The early Church Fathers understood this distinction. While they sometimes used ktizo in reference to Wisdom or the Logos, they did not mean Christ was made from nothing like the rest of creation. Instead, they spoke of the Son as being eternally begotten of the Father, as expressed in the Nicene Creed: “begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.”
Even Paul’s language in 1 Corinthians 8:6 affirms this:
“…for us there is one God, the Father, from (ek) whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things…”
Some have tried to read Neoplatonic emanationism into Paul’s use of ek (“from”), as if Christ and all creation flowed out from God like rays from the sun. But this is a category error. Paul is not teaching Neoplatonism; he is expressing that all things exist by the will and purpose of the Father (cf. Revelation 4:11), and that the Son is the instrumental agent of that creation. This parallels John 7:22 – “Moses gave you circumcision—not that it is from (εξ) Moses, but from (εξ) the fathers…” – is circumcision literally out of the father’s/father’s substance? Or is it saying that the tradition originates from them? Obviously the latter.
Just as Cain existed in Eve before he was brought forth (qanah), Jesus—the eternal Logos—existed within the Father and then being brought forth, or begotten before time. In this sense, the act of qanah or ktizo applied to Wisdom does not refer to origination from nothing, but rather to an eternal generation from the divine essence—mysterious, uncreated, and without beginning.
This is how Father’s like Athenagoras of Athens used this term :
I will state briefly that He is the first product of the Father, not as having been brought into existence (for from the beginning, God, who is the eternal mind [νοῦς], had the Logos in Himself, being from eternity instinct with Logos [λογικός]); but inasmuch as He came forth to be the idea and energizing power of all material things, which lay like a nature without attributes, and an inactive earth, the grosser particles being mixed up with the lighter. The prophetic Spirit also agrees with our statements. The Lord, it says, made me, the beginning of His ways to His works. Proverbs 8:22 The Holy Spirit Himself also, which operates in the prophets, we assert to be an effluence of God, flowing from Him, and returning back again like a beam of the sun. Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men who speak of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and who declare both their power in union and their distinction in order, called atheists?
Wisdom of Solomon
Interestingly, here what Wisdom of Solomon 7:22-30
“22 for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. For in her there is a spirit that is intelligent, holy,unique (yachid/monogenes), manifold, subtle,mobile, clear, unpolluted,distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen,irresistible, 23 beneficent, humane,steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle.24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.25 For she is a breath of the power of God,and a pure emanation (apaugasma) of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.26 For she is a reflection of eternal light,a spotless mirror of the working of God,and an image of his goodness.27 Though she is but one, she can do all things,and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God (Jn 15:14-15), and prophets;28 for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom.29 For she is more beautiful than the sun,and excels every constellation of the stars.Compared with the light she is found to be superior,30 for it is succeeded by the night,but against wisdom evil does not prevail.”
This is clearly a perfect description of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wisdom on the Throne — Christ Pre-Incarnate
The identity of divine Wisdom in Scripture is not only tied to God’s creative activity but also to His throne—His sovereign authority and eternal rule. The Book of Wisdom and other biblical texts reveal that this Wisdom is no abstract idea but a personal, powerful figure who proceeds from the throne of God and participates fully in God’s governance and revelation. This directly connects to New Testament descriptions of Christ.
In Wisdom 9:1–4, Solomon prays for divine guidance, explicitly identifying Wisdom as the one who sits by God’s throne:
“O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy,
Who have made all things by Your word,
And by Your wisdom have formed man,
That he should have dominion over the creatures You have made…
Give me wisdom, the assistant at Your throne…” (Wisdom 9:1–4, NKJV with Apocryphal text)
Here, Wisdom is described as both the agent of creation (“have made all things by Your word”) and the one seated beside God’s throne. This clearly elevates Wisdom far beyond a mere virtue; she functions as God’s co-creator and counselor—a divine person intimately involved in God’s governance.
Later, in Wisdom 18:13–16, the connection between Wisdom and the Word becomes even more explicit:
“…For though they had disbelieved everything because of their sorceries,
At the destruction of the firstborn, they acknowledged the people to be God’s son.
For while gentle silence enveloped all things,
And night in its swift course was now half gone,
Your all-powerful word leaped from heaven,
From the royal throne…” (Wisdom 18:13–15, NKJV with Apocryphal text)
Here we see that God’s “all-powerful Word” leaps forth from the royal throne, reinforcing the identification between Wisdom and the Logos (Word)—later revealed as Jesus Christ in John 1:1–14. This divine Word who comes from heaven is the same exalted figure seated at God’s right hand in Revelation 3:21 and Revelation 19:11–16:
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)
“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True… He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.” (Revelation 19:11,13)
Wisdom, the Cloud, and the Pre-Incarnate Christ
This same divine Wisdom is said to dwell in the cloud in Sirach 24:4:
“I dwelt in high places, and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.” (Sirach 24:4)
This recalls Exodus 13:21–22, where YHWH led Israel through the wilderness:
“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud… and by night in a pillar of fire… He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night.”
More precisely, Exodus 14:19–20 explains that the Angel of God—distinct from yet representing YHWH—was present within the cloud:
“And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.”
This cloud-based divine presence is clarified by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1–4, where he identifies this guiding presence as Christ Himself:
“…All our fathers were under the cloud… and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
Conclusion: Wisdom Is the Pre-Incarnate Christ
From throne to cloud, from Wisdom to Word, these texts interlock to reveal a consistent truth: the figure of Wisdom enthroned in heaven and active in the Exodus is not an abstract idea but a divine person—Jesus Christ in His pre-incarnate glory. He is both seated with the Father and actively manifesting God’s will and presence on earth, long before the Incarnation.