Proverbs 8:14 - Exposition

Having said what she hates, Wisdom now says what she is, and what she can bestow on her followers. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom. There is some doubt about the meaning of the word translated "sound wisdom" ( tushiyyah ) . The Vulgate has aequitas ; the Septuagint, ἀσφάλεια , "safety." The word occurs elsewhere in this book and in Job, but only in two other places of Scripture, viz. Isaiah 28:29 and Micah 6:9 . It means properly "elevation" or "furtherance," or, as others say, "substance;" and then that which is essentially good end useful, which may be wisdom, aid, or security (see on Proverbs 2:7 ). Wisdom affirms that she possesses counsel and all that can help forward righteousness; see Job 12:13 , Job 12:16 , passages very similar to the present (comp. Wis. 8:9, etc.). I am understanding. Wisdom does not merely possess these attributes; they are her very nature, as it is said, "God is love" St. Jerome's mea est prudentia, and the LXX .'s ἐμὴ φρόνησις , lose this trait. I have strength. Wisdom directs the energies and powers of her pupils, which without her control would be spent wrongly or uselessly (comp. Ecclesiastes 7:19 ). Wisdom, understanding, and might are named among the seven gifts of the Spirit in Isaiah 11:2 ; and we may see in the passage generally an adumbration of him who is called "Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God" ( Isaiah 9:6 ).