Okay, Why is Wisdom a “She”?

I just said in the previous post about Jesus being our Wisdom, and that in Proverbs you could replace the word “wisdom” with “Jesus”. But there is a problem! Proverbs calls Wisdom a “she”. So how do we figure that one out?

Well, I’ll tell you how I see it, and then I’ll tell you what I read in my lexicon.

Solomon wanted to get his point across to his son. And being a hot-blooded male like his dad, one thing the son would relate to was women. In fact, I reckon that his dad was the KING of hot-blooded males. Who else do you know in history with 700 wives and 300 concubines? In fact, sadly, women were his downfall. (See 1 Kings 11:1-13.) Nevertheless, Solomon did know women, and he liked them, and so would his boy.

So in Proverbs, to make his point, Solomon contrasts two main female characters, Wisdom and the immoral woman. He does so with so much wisdom in a way that I’m sure the lad would have understood. (What a shame Solomon didn’t heed his own advice.)

Now, here’s something a bit more theological. This is what I read:

“(Wisdom) is personified only to a point – it does not have a separate existence (Proverbs 1:20; 8:1-31; 9:1-2). The figure of wisdom was never regarded as independent of God. It is only one of His attributes. The noun is not a woman, only feminine in gender. True wisdom leads to reverence for the Lord (Job 28:28; Proverbs 2:2). Therefore skeptics will never find this kind of wisdom (see James 3:13-18), and they will never know the true meaning of life (Proverbs 14:6-7).” (from the Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible by Spiros Zodhiates)

Would you believe that we studied that James passage last night in our Bible study? It amazes me how God dove-tails things together like that.

We read that the world has its type of wisdom…

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.” (James 3:13-16, NLT)

My question is, can you really call THAT wisdom? It sounds more like foolishness to me. But TRUE WISDOM is from GOD!! …

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3:17-18, NLT)

Hey, and isn’t that a description of Jesus? If we have Christ in us, we will have that heavenly wisdom too. And the more we take heed to Him, the more of HIS wisdom we will have. And this is the same Wisdom that is in Proverbs.

And hey, if we LISTEN UP, we will WISE UP!!

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