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Proverbs

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  1. Summary of Proverbs
  2. Outline of Proverbs
  3. Background of Proverbs
  4. Introductory Issues in Proverbs
  5. Theological Themes in Proverbs
  6. Bible in the World - Proverbs
Proverbs Bible in the World – Proverbs
Lesson 6 of 6
In Progress

Bible in the World – Proverbs

Diane Jacobson

Wisdom and Folly

The context for viewing Proverbs in the world is knowing the difference between wisdom and folly.  Certainly, what is wise and what is foolish has changed over the centuries.  In Proverbs, many words parallel wisdom including understanding, discernment, knowledge, deliberation, expertise, shrewdness, circumspection, discretion, planning, even scheming, discipline, correction, chastisement, education, being cunning or tactical, discretion, competence, good sense, discernment, and resourcefulness. Which is to say, wisdom is never just one thing, one answer.  Attaining wisdom is a process that often involves community, deep conversation, and holding wildly contradictory thoughts at the same time. In Proverbs, the worst thing a person can be is a fool.  Often people are fools because of how they speak (Proverbs 10:21; 14:8; 18:7). But to be a fool is worse than being stupid, according to Proverbs.

Psalm 14:1 “Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’”  To be a fool is a dangerous business.  Folly is the path of death.  Folly is to neglect the proverb, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  In Proverbs, many words also parallel folly, including being an ignoramus, mindless, empty headed, imprudent, morally obtuse, recalcitrant, stupid, smug, scornful, insolent, gullible, naïve, or being a disgraceful scoundrel with no ethical or religious claims. The importance and centrality of wisdom and folly is best captured in their metaphorical personifications which run deep throughout the history of both Judaism and Christianity.

Proverbs and Science

In the study of Proverbs, folly is often characterized by stripping individual proverbs of all of their beauty and art in order to get to their true meaning. Avoiding this folly is particularly difficult for those of us who were brought up in the 20th and 21st centuries.  Why?  In part because we live in a scientific world.  For us this often means that all things have one, straightforward meaning.  Our job, as scientists, is to get to that meaning, to strip things down to their core, to their essentials.  Our principal question is “what does this mean?” and we then go in search of the core.

Surprisingly, the sages of ancient Israel were also scientists, bent on observing the truth of things. Wisdom is that part of the biblical tradition that does not start with revelation or tradition; rather wisdom starts with observation of the world and with the conviction that truth can be learned, attained by such observation, from experience, and from inductive logic.  One of the basic beliefs of the sages is that observations about the world are not random or haphazard, rather, some logic underlies these observations.  This logic is often discoverable (though because it is always subject to the will of God, it is not entirely discernable).  In fact, it is because the world is ordered, is created, that reason itself is possible.

For these reasons, one could claim that Proverbs embodies the original scientific truth of the Scriptures. However, central to this observation is that their perception of truth was poetic. The truth didn’t merely come in a poetic package, but rather the truth of a thing was poetic.  That is, truth is deeper, more ironic, more subtle than our surface science permits.  Proverbs do not add art; their grasp of truth is artistic.  A conviction runs through this original science that the most accurate observations are artistic, subtle, and thus more true to life.   Poetry is not adiaphora.  Science and art are married. At this basic level, science and the Bible are not in conflict. And not only is this truth poetic, it is also ethical, according to the sages.  Something cannot be true if it is not also good.  Truth and goodness are married.  There is no fact/value split.  Beauty, art, and goodness are not incidental to meaning.  Together, they lead to complexity and depth, to conversation and community, to insight and questions, and ultimately, to faith.  

The Art of Poetry 

Part of the art of reading Proverbs is knowing how proverbs convey meaning poetically. Because almost all of Proverbs is Hebrew poetry (as are the psalms, most of the rest of the books in the Wisdom tradition, and much of the prophetic books) almost each verse of Proverbs conveys meaning through the rhythm of the parallel line.  When the art of parallelism has been ignored in interpretation, some very strange meanings have resulted. Many modern scholars have explored how this parallelism works, including, for example, James Kugel, Robert Alter, Adele Berlin, and Rolf Jacobson, among many others. The movement from the first line to the second can involve repetition, intensification, progression, opposition, extension, and so much more. 

Adele Berlin notes that parallelism works on the level of both the whole line and individual words within each half and works as well with aspects of grammar, meaning, and sound (Adele Berlin, “Parallelism,” Anchor Bible Dictionary 5 (1992) 155-160.)  Often words are repeated from part A to part B, or their opposite is used.

We as readers, hearers, singers, are caught up in the complications of parallelism and the gift of the tension between the two lines – consciously or unconsciously puzzling out how the lines fit together within each line and as we move from one parallel line to the next.  In such a way, we are invited into the creation of the meaning of the passages.  Meaning is certainly there for us to discover, but more than this, meaning is found in the interaction because of the tension of the lines with all of their beauty and complication.  The purpose of studying proverbs in detail is not to analyze them to death, but to let them breathe and resonate.

The Role of Contradiction/Paradox

One aspect of Proverbs that is perhaps unexpected is the role of contradiction or paradox.   

Look, for example at, this pair of contrasting proverbs from chapter 26:

4 Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be a fool yourself. 

5 Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.

Both proverbs are wise and true, but they cannot both be “obeyed.” Perhaps one cannot escape being a fool no matter what one does.

Or look at Proverbs 14:
20 The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. 

21 Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, 

but happy are those who are kind to the poor.

The first proverb is most certainly true, but the second proverb contains the actual wisdom.

These contradictory/paradoxical proverbs press the hermeneutical question:  How is one to interpret their truth or how is one to act?  They are like certain well-known modern proverbs: 

Look before you leap.  One who hesitates is lost.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Out of sight; out of mind.

Such proverbs make it clear that truth is not separate from the discernment of the reader/hearer/ actor. These are not universal rules. Contradiction and paradox are part of the reality in which we practice wisdom.

One aspect of this is to point us to how our theology itself talks about truth.  Lutherans, for instance, love to speak about the importance of paradox – both saint and sinner, law and gospel. Truth is contained in multiple packages that cannot be reduced to one. On a larger biblical scale, we are confronted with two creation stories, two law codes, yea, even four Gospels. If we had only one of any of these, we might be tempted to imagine that we owned the truth rather than being called by truth into wisdom.

The Role of Imagery

Another aspect of how poetry works is through common imagery.  Sometimes such imagery takes us on a journey through history.  Take, for example, the image of Wisdom as a tree of life in chapter 3:

          18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;

those who hold her fast are called happy.

Most readers of the Bible would associate this image with “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” found in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:17). But there is also a long tradition of goddesses being represented by a sacred wooden pole or stylized tree which, at least symbolically, blossomed and gave forth fruit. Such poles were, early in Israel’s history, sometimes associated with YHWH, the God of Israel, but they were disparaged by Deuteronomistic reformers as part of Baal worship. So the re-emergence of this image associated with Wisdom is a wonderment. 

The image of the tree of life then takes a journey in Jewish history as a menorah, and in Christian history as associated with the cross.  Interestingly, in Proverbs itself, the image moves from an historical image to becoming a metaphor within lives well lived:

11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, but violence takes lives away.

13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

15:4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

A similar journey might be taken with the image of the fountain of life (Proverbs 10:11; 13:14; 14:27; 16:22; 18:4; 25:26).

One of the most interesting and complicated of images are those of body parts. Some body parts are metaphorically similar across most cultures. Thus images of the mouth, lips, and tongue are almost always associated with speech.  But the metaphorical meaning of other body parts differs across languages and cultures. For example, in English, the “heart” is the seat of emotion and love, while the “mind” is the seat of thought and reason.  In Hebrew the metaphorical meaning of “heart” (Hebrew, leb) often encompasses both emotion and reason.  Knowing this can change our reading.  For example, read Proverbs 3:

1 My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments…

3 Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart….

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.

 (See also 4:4, 21, 23; 6:18, 20-21; 10:8; 12:25; 14:33; 16:21; 19:3; 23:5; 24:12)

Learning From Nature

One of the most pressing issues of Scriptural interpretation is what the Bible says about our relationship to other animals and to the natural elements in general.  In Proverbs, we are very much enjoined to learn from nature, beginning with animals.  Consider the ant and more!

Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise.

Without having any chief or officer or ruler,

it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest. (6:6-8)

Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise:

  the ants are a people without strength, yet they provide their food in the summer;

the badgers are a people without power, yet they make their homes in the rocks;

the locusts have no king,  yet all of them march in rank;

            the lizard can be grasped in the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces. (30:24-28)

(See also 1:17; 14:4; 27:8; 25:20; 30:19, 29-33).  Such learning from Proverbs points us forward to the parables of Jesus, where we also find much nature imagery.

Proverbs also charges us to take care of animals:

The righteous know the needs of their animals,

               but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. (12:10)

(See also 27:25-27)

We learn not only from animals, but also from various other aspects of nature.  Consider honey:

My child, eat honey, for it is good,

And the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. (24:13)

If you have found honey, eat only enough for you,

or else, having too much, you will vomit it. (25:16)

The sated appetite spurns honey,

but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet. (27:7)


Notably, honey illuminates a number of seemingly contradictory things, which invite us to consider these proverbs as part of the group of contradictory proverbs (see The Role of Contradiction/Paradox). We learn from any number of other natural elements including clouds and wind (25:14) as well as snow and rain (26:1)

View of Women in Proverbs

The view of women in Proverbs is complex.   Clearly the book was originally addressed to young men who would grow up to take positions of leadership in the community.  Women were often objectified and warned against. See, for example, 


        Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without good sense. (11:22)


        The mouth of a loose woman is a deep pit;
        he with whom the LORD is angry falls into it. (22:14)


(See also 19:13; 21:9,19 and 27:15-16 which speak of troublesome wives.) There are no proverbs that speak of problematic men from the woman’s perspective.

Part of the objectification consists of putting women into questionable categories.  She is the dangerous other, a stranger, a prostitute (29:3), an enticer, a loose woman, an adulteress (2:16-19; 5:20; 6:24; 7:5), often the one from outside the family group, particularly the foreign woman (23:27). One senses the influence of the early post-exilic period in Judea during which there was a deep cleansing of family and community including the expulsion of foreign wives. 

The culmination of the movement of seeing women as the problematic other is the personification of the strange or dangerous woman (see The Other – Woman Stranger in introductory issues).

What provides balance to the picture of women in Proverbs is the remarkably positive view of the good wife:

A good wife is the crown of her husband, 

but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. (12:4)

         He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD. (18:22)

The viewpoint is still from a male perspective, but the attitude is different.  And when one looks at the final acrostic poem describing the Woman of Strength/Worth in Proverbs 31:10-31, the positive picture radiates throughout. The poem begins:

A woman of strength who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. (NRSVue)

One can translate the first word as either “woman” or “wife” (NRSV) which complicates matters. She is a woman/wife of strength/worth/value.  The description of her attributes and actions which follow are remarkable.  Her industry is far reaching; she goes out into the highways and byways (31:13-14, 18-19, 22, 24). She directs others, specifically her female servants, and takes care of her household (31:15, 27). She buys fields and plants vineyards (31:16) She shows compassion for, and identifies with, the poor (31:20). She speaks and teaches the wisdom of loving-kindness (31:26). She fears the LORD (31:30). Her husband trusts her and praises her, as do her children (31:11, 28-29).  Indeed, her own works praise her (31:31).

And just as the problematic picture of women culminates in the figure of Woman Stranger, so also the picture of the worthy woman culminates in the figure of Woman Wisdom. Indeed, the 

ideal woman who closes Proverbs can also be seen as an embodied reflection of Woman Wisdom, a living embodiment of Wisdom’s teaching and attributes. They both relate to humans as mother, wife, lover, runner of household, teacher, and guide.  Both build the household, set the table, and call to those on the roads. Woman Wisdom and the Woman of Worth are both praised at the gate. A wise woman, finally, is most broadly defined as one who builds up her household.  

Corporal Punishment 

A number of proverbs speak of disciplining children, often through corporal punishment. See, for example, 

Those who spare the rod hate their children, 

but those who love them are diligent to discipline them. (13:24)

Do not withhold discipline from your children; 

if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.

If you beat them with the rod, you will save their lives from Sheol. (23:13-14)

See also 13:1; 19:18, 25; 26:3; 29:15, 17.

Such proverbs have been known to be the underlying verses quoted to defend the practice of the physical punishment of children.  One young man who worked for a social service agency found 23:13-14 inscribed on a pen in which a child was kept for punishment.  Such realities invite us to consider how we might react to such proverbs. 

  • One could reject them outright as singularly unwise.  One could even, in certain circumstances, own the destructiveness of this part of our own tradition.  
  • One could go for the principle rather than the particulars.  Discipline is good, though such proverbs are not to be taken literally. 
  • One could match these proverbs with other parts of Scripture.  For example, quote other proverbs about children or match these proverbs with passages like Matthew 19:13-15. 

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

  • One could talk about the nature of proverbial wisdom as described in various articles in this section. Proverbs are not laws. Such issues invite community discussion.
  • One could share one’s own observations about the effects of child abuse.  One could even write one’s own proverbs:

Jacobson 1:1 An ill-considered slap, a tear in the eye; a broken relationship.

    1:2 A broken watch is easily repaired.  Not so a broken child.

Proverbial Wisdom in Everyday Lives

Sharing, living by, and gaining wisdom from individual proverbs is very much a universal experience.  Families, communities, and cultures all have their own proverbs.  Almost everyone can recall those proverbs that were at the heart of the family culture.  Maybe it was “early to bed, early to rise….” or “better late than never.” Maybe it was “easy come, easy go” or “practice what you preach.” Remembering family proverbs is a powerful way to tell your family story.  


      One can also learn a great deal from hearing proverbs from other cultures. Here are a few found online: 

From Africa: “A roaring lion kills no game.”

“A bird that flies off the Earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground.”

“When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets hurt.”

From China: “Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

From Korea: “The cornered rat will bite the cat.”

From Mexico: “No flies enter a closed mouth.”

Native American Proverbs: “Not every sweet root gives birth to sweet grass.”

“Remember that your children are not your own, but are lent to you by the Creator.”

“Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it.”

Remembering family proverbs and hearing proverbs from other cultures help us to put biblical proverbs into perspective.  We can experience them as local, with universal implications.  We experience them as descriptive, prescriptive, imaginative, developmental, and character building. We can hear them as strategic. We know proverbs to be part of universal speech in the world.

The Social Ethic of Proverbs: Wealth and Poverty

The Book of Proverbs is tilted toward addressing wealthier individuals, which becomes apparent when one reads the many proverbs that deal with wealth and poverty.  Being rich is clearly preferable to being poor.

The wealth of the rich is their fortress; the poverty of the poor is their ruin. (10:15)

See also 13:7-8; 18:11, 23; 19:4, 7; 22:2, 7.

The assumption behind many of the proverbs is that the “poor” are clearly “the other.”  

Still, among the many proverbs that speak of the wealthy and the poor, one finds a prophetic edge:

Better is a little with righteousness than large income with injustice. (16:8)

See also 11:4; 19:1, 17; 22:8, 9, 22-23; 28:6, 11.

Proverbs 14:20-21 (see The Role of Contradiction/Paradox) sheds light on all of these points:


          The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. 

Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, 

but happy (blessed) are those who are kind to the poor.

These proverbs are addressed to the wealthy. It is better to be rich than poor.  Even though people are enjoined to “be kind to the poor” (the prophetic edge), the poor are still the other, the object of kindness.  Nevertheless, such proverbs invite the reader to think about fairness, friendship, neighbors, and privilege. 

Woman Wisdom as Prophet, Teacher, Priest, Master Worker, Child of God, and Order of the Universe

The figure of Woman Wisdom is pictured in a multitude of different ways. In 1:20-33 she speaks like a prophet, crying aloud in the streets and city gates, issuing reproaches, warnings, and promises with prophetic authority.  In 9:1-12, she is predominantly a teacher. She also offers parallels to the Woman of Strength/Worth in 31:10-31 (see View of Women in Proverbs). Her actions even have priestly overtones as she mixes her wine and sets her table. Central to the portrait of Wisdom is 8:1-36. In these verses, Wisdom is certainly a teacher, now associated with both royalty and justice. In verses 22-31, Wisdom’s portrait takes a significant turn.  In 8:22 she says, “God created/sired me the first (Hebrew, re’shith) of his acts.”

Augustine (De Gen. ad litt., I, 5.) ties this verse to Genesis 1:1 because there, too, the word re’shith is used. Instead of reading this verse as “In (the) beginning, God created the heavens and earth,” Augustine reads it as “With wisdom, with re’shith, God created the heavens and the earth.”  Proverbs 8:23ff continues with talking about how Wisdom was there with God throughout the various acts of creation (One can picture God in Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel painting as having his left arm, around Wisdom).  Then in 8:30 Wisdom says, 

“then I was beside him, like a master worker [or a little child (Hebrew ‘amon)];
and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always.”

The same word can mean two things. Woman Wisdom is a “master worker,” which points to her role in the verses that precede this one, with all the many verbs of building. The noun ‘amon can also mean “little child,” which points forward to Wisdom being God’s delight who rejoices before him. Wisdom is now seen as both God’s child/daughter and as the embodied order of the universe, what will become known as God’s Word.

Connections between Woman Wisdom and the Egyptian Goddess Ma’at

The picture of Woman Wisdom in Proverbs 1, 8, and 9 is one of the few places in the Bible where descriptions that are derived from Ancient Near Eastern goddesses are positively adapted into the faith of Israel.  We see this from two sources: one, the Egyptian goddess Ma’at, and the other, the Canaanite goddess, Asherah.  Only the former  is examined here, but see the discussion of the tree of life in The Role of Imagery for some hint of the connection with Asherah.

Scholars have known for years that there exist great similarities between Egyptian and Israelite wisdom literature.  A large portion of Proverbs 22-24 as well as the first nine chapters of Proverbs have identifiable parallels in Egyptian literature. In Ancient Egyptian practice and thought, Ma’at is not only a goddess, she is also a concept, an ideal.  Ma’at means “justice, order, truth, law.” This notion/goddess holds together in her person the divinely established harmony between nature and society. According to Egyptian thought, this harmony, this order must be preserved or restored in order for society/the world to function as it should. Thus Ma’at becomes, in Egypt, the goal of human activity. 

Remarkably, one finds many shared characteristics between the goddess Ma’at and the figure of Woman Wisdom.  Like Ma’at, Wisdom is preexistent (8:23); is an object of love and loves those who love her (8:17); and gives life and protection (3:18; 8:35). Additionally, her image is worn by officials (1:8-9; 3:3; 6:21); she is perhaps represented with an ankh in one hand and a scepter in another (see this image of Ma’at and compare Proverbs 3:16 –), she is particularly associated with the king (8:15-16); and is seen as a little child (8:30).

The parallels are striking and fairly unmistakable, though one cannot blithely assume that Woman Wisdom played the same role in Israel that Ma’at did in Egypt.  It is worthy of note that in Egypt, under the influence of Hellenism, Ma’at later develops into the goddess Isis. 

Why is Woman Wisdom pictured this way? It is difficult to say, but worthy of much discussion.

Proverbs and the Apocrypha

The Apocrypha is a collection of books included in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox biblical canon and often quoted in the New Testament and by early church writers. This collection of books reflects what happens to Jewish thought when it encounters Greek, Hellenistic thinking.  There are three “wisdom” books in the Apocrypha: Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, and the Wisdom of Solomon. (Note that Sirach/Ecclesiasticus is not the same book as Ecclesiastes, and Wisdom of Solomon is not the same as Song of Solomon. The books of the Apocrypha can be found here, or in many study Bibles.) While these books do not directly quote the Book of Proverbs itself, they are very much written in the tradition of Proverbs and reflect many of the ideas found there.

Sirach, the earliest of the three, was written sometime before 180 BCE. Sirach is a book very much in the tradition of the Book of Proverbs, with many individual proverbs and much advice. Sirach speaks of wisdom (in Greek, sophia) throughout his book, specifically in the four poems about Woman Wisdom (1:1-18; 4:11-19; 24:1-34; and 51:13-22). Several of his ideas become central to the view of Wisdom in the New Testament. Particularly important is chapter 24 where Wisdom is identified with Torah, the law/ scripture of Israel. She resides in Israel, comes forth from the mouth of the Lord, and then takes up residence within Israel. She grows like a tree, and her branches give forth abundant fruit.  Then she says:

“Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my fruits.

For the memory of me is sweeter than honey, 

and the possession of me sweeter than the honeycomb.

Those who eat of me will hunger for more, 

and those who drink of me will thirst for more. (Sirach 24:19-21 NRSVue)

Baruch speaks of Sophia in 3:35-4:2. He continues the picture we find in Sirach.

This is our God; no other can be compared to him.

He found the whole way to knowledge 

and gave her to his servant Jacob and to Israel, whom he loved.

Afterward she appeared on earth and lived with humankind.
She is the book of the commandments of God, the law that endures forever.          (Baruch 3:36-4:1 NRSVue).

In Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom/Sophia is a more ephemeral, more embodied spirit.  Wisdom is spoken of throughout the book (See 1:4-7; 6:12ff; 7:21ff; 8:1-13; 9:1-18 and more). Chapter 7:23 lists 21 qualities of Wisdom (7×3, a perfect number).  The chapter continues:


For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
For she is a breath of the power of God and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;…
For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. (Wisdom of Solomon 7:24-26)


In Wisdom of Solomon, Sophia bestows knowledge of natural science, moral knowledge, and spiritual knowledge.  She gives the gifts of divination, of immortality, and she leads to a kingdom.  This book in particular invites us into the world of wisdom speculation about Jesus.  

Proverbial Teaching in the New Testament: Proverbs, Parables, and Beatitudes

While the Book of Proverbs is not generally quoted directly in the New Testament, its influence is nevertheless profound. The Book of James is the most Proverbs-like of all the New Testament books. More significantly, one can make the case that Jesus is portrayed as a teacher of wisdom, both formally and substantially.

Aside from all else, Jesus is consistently addressed as rabbi or teacher, particularly in Matthew.   While no one would dispute that Jesus was a teacher, some might question the designation wisdom teacher. Formally, Jesus adopts wisdom forms throughout his teachings, including traditional proverbs. But Jesus teaches mainly through parables which can be characterized as a proverb in narrative form. His parables are intended to pass on personal insights that, rather like Job and Ecclesiastes, are undermining, even subversive of traditional authority. In many of Jesus’ parables, the poor, the outcast, and the unclean become the bearers of truth. The disciples, as the receivers of such teaching, become the “simple” people of Proverbs who need “instruction,” while the proclaimed authorities become the “fools” who reject, even despise, such instruction (see Proverbs 1:7, 22). In Luke 11:40, Jesus calls the Pharisees “fools.” 

The manner of reasoning employed by Jesus in his parables might be designated as wisdom reasoning.  Jesus doesn’t speak like a traditional prophet.  He doesn’t use introductions like “Thus says the Lord.”  Rather he appeals to reason, to logic, to experience, and to nature. Jesus uses irony and paradox — all part of the heritage of Proverbs and other wisdom books.  

A second wisdom form which Jesus uses is the beatitude, as in the Sermon on the Mount.  We are told in Matthew 5 that Jesus teaches the crowd from the mountain beginning, 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:3-6)

When we read the word here translated “blessed” in the Hebrew Scriptures, we tend to translate it not  as “blessed” but rather as  “happy.” As in Proverbs 28:14:  “Happy is the one who is never without fear…” When we hear the Beatitudes of Jesus not as law but as wisdom, we then ask such questions as “How is this true? What are the implications of this insight?” They become disorienting in a different way. And we also look differently at how the Sermon on the Mount ends by contrasting the wise man who builds his house on the rock to the foolish man who builds his house on sand (Matthew 7:24-27).

Jesus as Wisdom in Matthew

We have examined how Matthew identifies Jesus as a wisdom teacher (See Proverbial Teaching in the New Testament). But as is said in Matthew 12:42 when the queen of the South comes to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, “something greater than Solomon is here!” (see also Luke 11:31).

When Jesus speaks in parables, he “proclaim(s) what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew13:34-35) He reveals creational truth in his parables, creational truth established by God with Wisdom at creation (Proverbs 8:22-31). Note also that Jesus even teaches parables from a boat in the midst of the sea (Matthew 13:1-3). Just as surely as the subsequent walking on water is a calming of the storm, so also this teaching from the midst of the sea is a cosmic act. Teaching becomes a cosmological activity, and, in the process, “rabbi” or ”teacher” takes on the air of being a Christological title.

Look as well at the words which follow his teachings which began with the Sermon on the Mount:

Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:28-29)

Clearly teaching is not incidental to who Jesus is. Jesus is not only a wisdom teacher; Jesus is the embodiment of Wisdom (Sophia) herself.  

All of this becomes explicit in Matthew 11, the central chapter in which Jesus is identified as Wisdom. This chapter first builds the rejection of John and Jesus on the Old Testament theme of the rejection of the prophets, significant throughout the gospel. Yet something more than prophetic rejection is here.  Rejection of Wisdom is also a common theme in the wisdom material (see Proverbs 8:35-36). The climax of this rejection in Matthew is found in 11:18-19:

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;  

the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, 

a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom (sofia, that is, Jesus) is vindicated 

by her deeds.

Jesus is explicitly identified as Wisdom here, even using a feminine pronoun. And Wisdom/Jesus is identified by her deeds, returning to the all-important theme of eating and drinking. Jesus then issues a series of woe oracles (vv. 20-24) which speak to Jesus’ “deeds of power” and the resulting judgment and death for those who reject these deeds. He then thanks God, his Father, for hiding truth from the wise and revealing truth through him to those whom the Son chooses. He invites the weary to come and take on his easy yoke (See Sirach 6:23-31; 51:26). While the rabbis of Jesus’ day spoke of following the law as taking on the yoke, here the yoke is not the law. Wisdom does not consist of either following a list of instructions or achieving a certain level of knowledge or cleverness. Jesus here becomes the one who gives the restful yoke.  He is identified with Woman Wisdom, having the same intimate relationship with God the Father, being the same revealer of hidden wisdom, and the same bestower of rest. 

Jesus as Wisdom in Luke

In the Gospel of Luke, as in the Gospel of Matthew (see Jesus as Wisdom in Matthew), Jesus is shown to be a wisdom teacher who speaks, principally, through parables (See Proverbial Teaching in the New Testament).  Luke also presents Jesus as Wisdom (Sophia) herself.  Luke 7 in many ways parallels Matthew 8, repeating the same crucial verses, with an interesting difference at the end:


To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.”
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Nevertheless wisdom is vindicated by all her children. (Luke 7:31-35)

Notably, Luke’s last line is different from Matthew’s.  While the identification with Woman Wisdom is still explicit, Wisdom (Sophia) is justified by all her “children” rather than her “deeds.”  Interestingly, this comes after a comment about whom Jesus eats with. In Proverbs 9 Wisdom sends out a call and then sets her table for the simple, inviting them into the way of insight. Rather than “You are what you eat,” with Jesus the more accurate saying would be “You are who you eat with.” Jesus feasts not with the deserving and the wise, but with the poor and the outcast, the unclean, the undeserving, and the sinners. The banqueting and feasting imagery of Woman Wisdom is quite intentionally evoked and then turned on its head.

Moreover, in Luke, directly after this speech, Jesus moves to a banqueting scene. He is now guest rather than host.  His choice of companions has more to do with hospitality than with power. The entire banqueting scene is quite remarkable. The significant host and “child of wisdom” is the outcast woman with the alabaster jar of ointment. No up or down power lurks here, rather Jesus reclines at table with (Greek, sunanekeito), alongside of these outcasts.  Jesus’ table fellowship offers the fruits of wisdom to sinners.  

Jesus as Wisdom in John

John’s claim that Jesus is incarnate wisdom is all over his Gospel.  It begins most explicitly with John 1, the logos (“Word”) hymn, which has long been recognized for its links with Wisdom. Verses 1-5 read like a hymn to Wisdom — creation, word, life, light.  (See Proverbs 8:22-23, 35; Sirach 24:8-9; Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-2, 9; Baruch 3:37) Sophia was already linked to logos in Wisdom of Solomon. This link between Word and Wisdom is also anticipated in the psalms that praise Torah (Psalms 1, 19, 119) and in Sirach. Woman Wisdom’s place at the beginning of Creation, as one through whom all things were made, is well established.  What is startling then in John 1 is the masculine gender: He was in the beginning with God. And what is dramatically important is the claim that the Word was not only with God, but actually was God. Not even Wisdom of Solomon goes this far.  Significantly, John makes this new claim while also holding on to the earlier notion that Wisdom was also with God.  Thus he maintains both identity and difference.  

John goes on to identify this logos as one in whom there is life and light (vv 9-13).  The claim to give life is central to Wisdom’s identity.  Though this gift becomes the gift of immortality only in Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom’s gift of life always promised more than mere existence.  

John 1:10-12 introduces the notion that many in this world reject this logos while those who believe receive power. This theme, of Wisdom’s rejection by some and acceptance by others, is already present in Wisdom’s prophetic speech in Proverbs 1.  Note also that in Proverbs 8:32 those who respond to Wisdom’s appeal are addressed by her as children.

Even in the quintessential incarnational verse 14: [“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us … full of grace and truth.”] we are not really taken aback (See Proverbs 8:31; Sirach 1:10; 24:8 Baruch 3:37). Very clearly Woman Wisdom also appears on earth throughout the tradition. She stands in public places and wanders around calling to people.  In Sirach 24:8 she is commanded by God to make her dwelling, to “tabernacle,” in Israel. The Greek word for “dwelling” in this verse comes from the same root as the verb in John 1:14, where the logos is said to “tent” or “dwell” among us.  The tie is apparent. Still the unique claim of the text is also there. Wisdom is not embodied in Torah, she is made flesh in Jesus (vv. 14-18).

The identification of Jesus as incarnate Wisdom continues throughout John’s gospel, mainly through the use of metaphors. Jesus is identified as the bread of life (6:35, see Proverbs 9:5; Sirach 24:19, 21), the light of the world (8:12, 9:5; see Wisdom of Solomon 7:26, 29), the gate (10:9, see Proverbs1:21 ), the way, the truth, and the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1, 5; see Proverbs 3:18; Sirach 1:20; 24:16-17), all of which have connections with Woman Wisdom. Clearly John’s view of Jesus, his Christology if you will, is intimately connected with Jesus being incarnate Wisdom.  

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