College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Proverbs 8:22-36
TEXT Proverbs 8:22-36
22.
Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way,
Before his works of old.
23.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
Before the earth was.
24.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills was I brought forth;
26.
While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields,
Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
27.
When he established the heavens, I was there:
When he set a circle upon the face of the deep,
28.
When he made firm the skies above,
When the fountains of the deep became strong,
29.
When he gave to the sea its bound,
That the waters should not transgress his commandment,
When he marked out the foundations of the earth;
30.
Then I was by him, as a master workman;
And I was his daily delight,
Rejoicing always before him.
31.
Rejoicing in his habitable earth;
And my delight was with the sons of men.
32.
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me;
For blessed are they that keep my ways.
33.
Hear instruction, and be wise,
And refuse it not.
34.
Blessed is the man that heareth me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
35.
For whoso findeth me findeth life,
And shall obtain favor of Jehovah.
36.
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul:
All they that hate me love death.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 8:22-36
1.
Comment on God's wisdom (Proverbs 8:22).
2.
Are we to conceive of everlasting as having existed before time was (Proverbs 8:23)?
3.
What fountains are referred to in Proverbs 8:24?
4.
What is meant by the mountains being settled in Proverbs 8:25?
5.
Where else does the Bible tell of God's creating the universe (besides here in this section)?
6.
What word in Proverbs 8:27 is especially noticeable?
7.
What is meant by firm in Proverbs 8:28?
8.
Is there a definite line where the ocean stops (Proverbs 8:29)?
9.
Who is the master workman in Proverbs 8:30wisdom or God?
10.
Does daily refer to the creation-days of Genesis 1 (Proverbs 8:30)?
11.
What is the force of habitable in Proverbs 8:31?
12.
In what ways blessed (Proverbs 8:32)?
13.
Hear and be wise, but don-'t refuse and be ................ (Proverbs 8:33).
14.
How does watching enter in (Proverbs 8:34)?
15.
What two blessings are promised in Proverbs 8:35?
16.
How can one sin against wisdom (Proverbs 8:36)?
PARAPHRASE OF 8:22-36
The Lord formed me in the beginning, before He created anything else. From ages past, I am. I existed before the earth began. I lived before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters onto the earth; before the mountains and the hills were made. Yes, I was born before God made the earth and fields, and high plateaus.
I was there when He established the heavens and formed the great springs in the depths of the oceans. I was there when He set the limits of the seas and gave them His instructions not to spread beyond their boundaries. I was there when He made the blueprint for the earth and oceans. I was always at His side like a little child. I was His constant delight, laughing and playing in His presence. And how happy I was with what He createdHis wise world and all His family of mankind! And so, young men, listen to me, for how happy are all who follow my instructions.
Listen to my counseloh, don-'t refuse itand be wise. Happy is the man who is so anxious to be with me that he watches for me daily at my gates, or waits for me outside my home! For whoever finds me finds life and wins approval from the Lord. But the one who misses me has injured himself irreparably. Those who refuse me show that they love death.
COMMENTS ON 8:22-36
Proverbs 8:22. Wisdom is still speaking. Wisdom is not something new, something that only recently came along. It takes precedence in value over other things by virtue of its existence before there was anything here and because it is an attribute of God.
Proverbs 8:23. Wisdom is from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth was. What else can claim existence that far back? Only those things that are other attributes of God (such as His power), for He alone existed.
Proverbs 8:24. The Bible often divides the creation of the universe into three parts: heaven, earth and sea (Nehemiah 9:6; Exodus 20:11; Revelation 14:7; and others). Beginning with this verse these three are considered with being of shorter duration than wisdom: sea (this verse), earth (Proverbs 8:25-26), and heaven (Proverbs 8:27).
Proverbs 8:25. We use the mountains and hills as a gauge for comparing something that is old in our saying, As old as the hills. But wisdom existed even before there were any hills!
Proverbs 8:26. If wisdom had not been an attribute of God, earth would have been uninhabitable by man, there would have been nothing for him to eat or wear, etc.
Proverbs 8:27. Isaiah 40:22 also speaks of the circle of the earth.
Proverbs 8:28. Ever hear a child ask, What if the sky fell down upon us? God made it firm over our heads. The fountains of the deep are the springs of the sea mentioned in Job 38:16. Their strength mentioned here was manifested in the days of Noah when they burst forth at the special decree of God and, joined with the water that poured down for forty days and nights when the windows of heaven were opened, helped flood the earth until even the mountains were covered (Genesis 7:11; Genesis 7:19).
Proverbs 8:29. Go to any beach or seacoast, and you can observe the definite line where the ocean waters stop in their ebb and flow and in their swellings during great storms. Similarly does Job 38:8; Job 38:10-11 say that God shut up the sea with doors and marked out for it a bound, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves by stayed. The foundation of the earth (or foundations of the earth in Job 38:4) is evidently to be taken figuratively and not literally since the Bible speaks of God's hanging the earth on nothingsuspended it in space (Job 26:7). What, then, is meant by the foundation or foundations of the earth? Clarke takes a stab at the subject: Those irreversible laws by which all motions are governed...the principles on which it is constructed, and the laws by which it is governed.
Proverbs 8:30. God has His wisdom with Him in all of His creative acts. This is what made everything good that He created. See the reference to this after the various days of creation (Genesis 1:10; Genesis 1:12, etc.). Daily in our verse is reminiscent of the creative days of Genesis 1.
Proverbs 8:31. God made the earth as a dwelling place (Isaiah 45:18) whereas, as far as we know, the other planets were not so prepared. The finale of God's creation, the climax of it all, was the creation of man (Genesis 1:26), mentioned in our verse.
Proverbs 8:32. If wisdom is that ancient; if wisdom is an eternal attribute of God; if wisdom was back there with God when everything was being created, then people should listen when wisdom speaks. In our verse wisdom says, Hearken unto me...keep my ways, and a blessing is pronounced upon those who do.
Proverbs 8:33. Another verse connecting our being wise with hearing, and not refusing, instruction. It is the foolish, not the wise, who refuse wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:8).
Proverbs 8:34. One who seeks wisdom lives in a state of expectation and anticipation. He watches and waits. Waiting is often involved in watching as in the cat patiently watching for a mouse or as in Christians watching for their Lord's return.
Proverbs 8:35. A double blessing ultimately comes to those who through watching and waiting find wisdom: life (both here and hereafter, both spiritual and eternal) and the favor of Jehovah (the greatest possession that one can have).
Proverbs 8:36. One can sin against wisdom in several ways: by not desiring it, by not seeking after it, by not listening when it speaks, by not believing what it says, by not doing what it commands, by not desiring what it promises, and by not heeding its warnings. In which ever way or if in all ways one sins against wisdom, he is not merely wronging wisdom: he is wronging his own soulhe will be the one who suffers for it. Put very bluntly wisdom summarizes: All they that hate me love death. This statement exemplifies the fact that truth itself is blunt, unflinching, unbending, no respecter of persons.
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 8:22-36
1.
Wisdom is not something ............... (Proverbs 8:22).
2.
In order to have existed as far back as wisdom, something had to be an attribute of ................ (Proverbs 8:23).
3.
The Bible often divides the creation of the universe into what three divisions (Proverbs 8:24)?
4.
What is older than the hills (Proverbs 8:25)?
5.
Would the earth have been habitable by man if wisdom had not been with God in creating it (Proverbs 8:26)?
6.
What other passage speaks of the circle of the earth (Proverbs 8:27)?
7.
What does Proverbs 8:28 assure us about the sky?
8.
Where else are the fountains of the deep mentioned (Proverbs 8:28)?
9.
Cite the proof of the truth in Proverbs 8:29 about the sea.
10.
Is foundation in Proverbs 8:29 to be taken literally or figuratively?
11.
Tie up Proverbs 8:30 with Genesis 1.
12.
Comment on Proverbs 8:31.
13.
According to Proverbs 8:32, why should we listen to wisdom?
14.
Who receive and who do not receive instruction (Proverbs 8:33)?
15.
Give an example of waiting and watching (Proverbs 8:34).
16.
According to Proverbs 8:35, why should we seek wisdom?
17.
What two blunt statements does wisdom make in Proverbs 8:36?