In Hebrew, the word for wisdom is cho-he-mah. It appears 141 in the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures, principally in Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 49 times in Proverbs alone. The first meaning of the word is the knowledge and the ability to make right choices at the opportune time. The prerequisite for gaining wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The person who seeks chokemah diligently will receive understanding. The second meaning of the word is as a person, and stands for that divine perfection of "wisdom" which is manifest in God's creative acts: the divine perfection which is visible in God's Creative Acts.
In Greek, the word for wisdom is sophia. The word is used in reference to God (Rom 11:33; 1 Cor 1:21,24; 2:7, Eph 3:10, Rev 7:12). It is also used in reference to Christ (Mt 13:54; Mk 6:2; Lk 2:40; 2:52;1 Cor 1:30; Col 2:3; Rev 5:12); in reference to wisdom personified (Mt 11:19; Lk 7:35; 11:49); and in reference to human wisdom. Reference to human wisdom appears (1) in spirited things (Lk 21:15; Acts 6:3, 10; 7:10; 1 Cor 2:6), (2) in natural sphere (Mt 12:42; Lk 11:31; Acts 7:22;1 Cor 1:17, 19, 20, 21, 22), and (3) in a debased form (Ja 3:15).
The search for wisdom is common to all cultures in the ancient Orient. This wisdom is a practical aim: concerns man's conducting himself with prudence and ability in order to succeed in life. By the sixth century in Greece, reflection took a speculative turn and wisdom developed into philosophy and at the same time signaled the humanizing of antiquity.
In Biblical revelation, the Word of God takes the form of wisdom. This is found in the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures: (1) Wisdom is planted in Israel: except for Joseph (Gn 41:39) and Moses (Ex 2:10) Israel had no contact with the wisdom of the orient before settling in Canaan. With the age of the King, Israel opened itself to the humanizing of wisdom. Solomon initiated this: "Solomon's wisdom was greater than that of all the oriental and greatest than that of Egypt" (1 Kg 5:9-14). For men of faith, this royal wisdom is not a problem: it is a gift of God that Solomon obtained by his prayer (1 Kg 3:6-14). True wisdom comes from God: He gives to men "a heart capable of discerning good from evil" ( 1 Kg 3:9). But, men are tempted ... as the first man ... to usurp this divine privilege, to acquire by their own powers "the knowledge of good and evil." "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, prudent according to their own understanding" (Is 5:21).
The Word of the Lord is the source of authentic wisdom. The king, son of David, who will rule "in the last times" will possess it in fullness, but he will have it from the Spirit of Yahweh (Is 11:2). False wisdom of the royal counselors led the country to catastrophe! Babylon. The mistake dissipated, true wisdom now expands freely in Israel, without city, without Temple, without sacrifice, the Word of God alone sufficed. The wisdom literature edited and composed after the exile is the fruit of the effort.
Aspects of Wisdom. The first aspect of wisdom in Scripture is as an art of living well. The wise one of the Bible is curious about the things of nature (1 Kg 5:13); he admires them; his faith teaches him to see there the powerful hand of God (Jb 35:22-37:18); preoccupied before all else with knowing how to conduct his life to obtain true happiness: every expert in his profession merits by that fact the name of sage (Is 40:20; Jr 9:16; 1 Chr 22:15); the wise man par excellence is the expert in the art of good living (Pr 13:7).
The second aspect of wisdom in Scripture is the reflection on existence. In this section I appeal to a book listed by some Christians among the deuterocononical books of the Bible and by others as the apocraphal, The Book of Wisdom or Wisdom of Solomon, accepted by believers as the Word of God from the 4th century until the 16th and by still a majority of Christians today. It was found in the 1611 version of the King James Version. By title and subject matter it is germane to our discussion here. The wise man has an acute sense of his situation in existence and attentively scrutinizes his destiny. The sages without ceasing are attentive to the global destiny of the people of the covenant (Wis 10 - 12; 15-19); primarily interested in the life of the individual, his grandeur as well as wickedness, his solitude, his anguish in the face of suffering, the impression of nothingness which his life gives him (Job, Ecclesiastes), uneasiness before God who appears to be inaccessible, or absent. The third aspect of wisdom in Scripture is wisdom and revelation. The teaching of the sages is evidently of another type than the prophetic word ... it is an issue of divine revelation of which the prophet is conscious. Prophecy and wisdom are joined in apocalyptic epoch (Daniel). Daniel reveals divine mysteries (Dan 2:28ff) not at all because of human wisdom (2:30) but because of the divine Spirit who dwells in him giving him a higher wisdom (5:11). The wise man as inspired by God appears equal to the prophet.
The Wisdom of God is (1) personified wisdom. Post exilic writers delight in personifying wisdom to give it greater relief (Pr 14:1). It is also (2) divine wisdom. Grammatically feminine in representation; progenitor, birthing, nurturing, etc. The wisdom of man has a divine source: God can communicate it to whom He wishes because He is Himself the sage part excellence. Sacred authors contemplate in God that wisdom from which their own flows: it is a divine reality which exists from eternity and for eternity (Pr 8:22-26); It proceeds from the mouth of the most High. His breath or His Word ... a blast of divine power ... an effusion of glory of the all powerful ... a reflection of the eternal light ... a mirror of God's activity ... an image of His excellence (Wis 7:25f). It dwells in heaven and shares the throne of God (Wis 9:4) ... lives in his intimacy (Wis 8:3).
Scripture speaks of the activity of wisdom. Not an inert principle but associated with all that God does in the world. She is present from creation, playing at His side (Pr 8:27-31); continues to govern the universe (Wis 8:1); resides familiarly with men (Pr 8:31); she is the providence which directs history (Wis 10:1 - 11:4); she is what assures men salvation (Wis 9:18); she plays a role analogous to the prophets: addresses she reproaches to the heedless whose judgment she proclaims (Pr 1:20-33). She invites the docile to benefit from all her goods (Pr 8:1- 21:32-26); God acts through her as He acts through His Spirit (Wis 9:17); it is therefore one and the same thing to receive it and to be docile to the Spirit.
The Bible speaks of the gifts of wisdom. A treasure superior to all else (Wis 7:7-14); herself a gift of God (Wis 8:21). She is the distributor of all goods (Pr 8:21; Wis 7:11); life and happiness (Pr 3:13-18; 8:32-36); security (Pr 3:21-26); grace and glory (Pr 4:8); wealth and justice (Pr 8:18); and all the virtues (Wis 8:7).
The New Testament treats of (1) Jesus and wisdom. Jesus is master of wisdom. Jesus presents Himself to contemporaries as prophet of penitence (Mt 12:41); Messiah/Suffering Servant (Mk 8:29); teacher/Rabbi (Mk 1:21). Jesus reflects wisdom in his manner of teaching the masters of wisdom: he takes up their genres (proverbs, parables); gives rules for life (Mt 5-7); people are astounded by His wisdom in his miraculous works (Mk 6:2); from His infancy (Lk 2:40); poses the problem: the queen of south rose up to hear the wisdom of Solomon ... but here is one greater than Solomon (Mt 12:42). Then the New testament makes the point that (2) Jesus is the wisdom of God. In His own name, Jesus promises to His own the gift of wisdom (Lk 21:15); Come to me ... (Mt 11:28) appeals go beyond what a person would expect from one wise man among others. Apostolic writers call Jesus the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24); the first-born before any creature and the artisan of creation (Col 1: 15); the resplendence of God's glory, the image of His substance (Heb 1:3); the wisdom of the Father, He is His Word (Jn 1:1).
Of old, this personal wisdom had been hidden in God, although it governed the universe, guided history, and manifested itself in the Law and in the teaching of the sages. Now, it is revealed in Jesus Christ. All the sapiential texts of the Old Testament find in Him their definitive meaning.
Aristotle, 384-322 BC ( Metaphysics, A, 2) recounts the qualities of philosophical wisdom: it is thought to be the most universal science, the most difficult, the most deserving to be taught. For him the truest character of wisdom is that it is the science of first causes and first principles. He continued by saying whatever science delivers the ultimate explanations, i.e., the ultimate or first causes, that science is wisdom; since metaphysics does this, it is rightly called wisdom. In earliest secular Greek usage, the word "wisdom" had a decidedly utilitarian connotation, being synonymous with skill or excellence in any craft.
Christian philosophers, especially Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), acknowledge three possible forms of wisdom for the human soul: infused wisdom, theology and metaphysics. By infused wisdom, the soul judges in the light of connatural knowledge, connatural by grace with God's knowledge. Theological wisdom is under the rule of supernatural faith and its object is God as He is in Himself. Metaphysics is a purely human wisdom; its only light is natural reason. It seeks to know God the supreme principle of things knowing Him only as inferred cause and not as He is in Himself. For us Christians, there is another meaning for wisdom: it designates that essential attribute of God which is His substantial Wisdom and which the theology of the Blessed Trinity refers to as the Person of the Son.
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