In the last post we began exploring the background behind the “preexistence” motif we see scattered throughout the New Testament, most prominently in Colossians 1:15-20, John 1:1-14 and Hebrews 1:1-4. We looked at the notion of preexistence itself, as it appears throughout second temple literature and beyond. We saw that preexistence could be ascribed to just about anything, from a human being to a wedding dress, and everything in between. We saw that preexistence was ascribed to so many things (various individuals, temple, torah, entire generations, etc.), it is almost as if the whole world existed before the foundation of the world.¹ To ascribe preexistence to someone does not therefore imply that someone’s divinity.

We also argued that the motif of preexistence was poetic, not literal—a way of expressing the belief that God is in control of history. If something from the present or from human history is said to have existed “before the foundation of the world,” that was idiomatic for the belief that God had it in mind from the beginning, and expresses the belief that God is too powerful to have his plans thwarted by any adversary. Thus, “before the foundation of the world” is equivalent to “set in stone.” Like in The Time Traveler’s Wife, when Clare is warned by her concerned friend Gomez not to fall in love with a time traveler, Clare responds:

I’ve been waiting for him my entire life, and now he’s here. I mean, it’s already happened. I couldn’t even change it if I wanted to.

This is something like what it means when it is said that someone or something has been established “before the foundation of the world.” We concluded by looking at some passages from the New Testament and seeing how they too fit this all too familiar pattern.

In this post, we will be continuing our exploration of the preexistence motif by examining some second temple material on wisdom. The New Testament frequently attributes characteristics of divine wisdom to Jesus, including claims about Jesus’ participation in creation which parallel similar claims about wisdom. Many Christians understand Jesus’ pre-existent divine state to have been that of Wisdom. Rather than seeing wisdom as a personification of God in a poetic sense, Christians frequently believe that Wisdom really was a person—namely, the second person . . . of the Trinity, later to be named Jesus when she/he/it took on human form.

We will be looking at texts from five sources in the second temple period, four of which were part of the Bible that was read by Paul, John, and the author of Hebrews, and all five of which date prior to the Christian period. My main objective in this post is to show how much of the language used to describe Jesus’ preexistence in the New Testament has roots in the wisdom literature that preceded it, and cannot be rightfully co-opted by Trinitarian categories. We will be looking at a number of extended passages from Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch (all books in the first century CE Septuagint) and the Similitudes of Enoch. I will comment on the relevant parts of each passage, but it is in your best interest not to substitute my commentary on the passages with the reading of the passages themselves. (Note: Since I am categorizing these texts according to distinct ideas, some of the passages may recur more than once, if more than one relevant idea is present.)

Wisdom Is Created

The first aspect of the wisdom tradition worthy of our attention is that wisdom is said to have been a creation of God, the very first act of creation, before the creation of the heavens and the earth. In Proverbs 8, this is quite clear:

At the beginning of his work, Yahweh created me—
the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
(Proverbs 8:22-23)

Note here the echo of Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” “At the beginning of his work, Yahweh created me [Wisdom] . . . at the first, before the beginning of the earth.”

Note also the parallel to Colossians 1:15, in which Christ is said to have been “the firstborn of all creation.” Christian scholars have spilt a lot of ink trying to explain this one. The word “firstborn,” they argue, did not just mean born first but also had the connotation of rank, authority, or pre-eminence. The firstborn son in a family had the lion’s share of the inheritance: the highest rank among the sons. Therefore, they argue, to call Christ the “firstborn of all creation” is not to say that he is a part of creation, but just to say that he has authority over it. After all, the argument continues, Christ cannot be a part of creation, because Paul goes on to say in verse 16 that all things were created through him.

The problems with this argument, of course, are manifold. First of all, Proverbs 8 goes on to say that all things were created through Wisdom also. So being the agent of God’s creative activity does not preclude being a part of it. This should be obvious. Second, even though firstborn can connote highest rank, that doesn’t change the fact that it refers to a son! Where in all the worlds full of Jewish literature is Yahweh ever called firstborn in reference to his authority? Nowhere. Christ is called the firstborn of all creation. This means he is, according to Paul, of creation. We should also remind ourselves of the parallel passage we analyzed in the previous post. The patriarch Jacob says:

I am an angel of God and a primeval spirit, the firstborn of all creatures, and like me were Abraham and Isaac created before any other work of God. I am invested with the highest office in the face of God and invoke Him by His ineffable name.

Here it is clear: “firstborn” means creature. Like Wisdom, who was “the first of his acts long ago,” the patriarchs were “created before any other work of God.” And as is the rule with the word “firstborn” in the ancient world, that means Jacob is “invested with the highest office in the face of God.” The reason Jacob stands before the face of God, the reason Wisdom is “beside him, like a master workman” (Prov 8:30), the reason Wisdom “lives with God” and “sits by the throne” (Wisdom of Solomon 8:3; 9:4), and the reason the Logos was “with God” (John 1:1), is precisely because they have all been said to be God’s first creature.

I will tell you what wisdom is and how she came to be,
and I will hide no secrets from you,
but I will trace her course from the beginning of creation,
and make knowledge of her clear,
and I will not pass by the truth.
(Wisdom of Solomon 6:22)

All wisdom is from the Lord,
and with him it remains forever. . . .
Wisdom was created before all other things. . . .
There is but one who is wise, greatly to be feared,
seated upon his throne—the Lord.
It is he who created her;
he saw her and took her measure. . . .
To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
she is created with the faithful in the womb.
(Sirach 1:1, 4, 8-9, 14)

The above passage from Sirach (also known as Ben Sira, or Ecclesiasticus) is especially potent. Three times it is said that Wisdom is “created.” The claim that “she is created with the faithful in the womb” we will discuss a little later.

Wisdom praises herself,
and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:
“I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
and covered the earth like a mist.
I dwelt in the highest heavens,
and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
Alone I compassed the vault of heaven
and traversed the depths of the abyss.
Over waves of the sea, over all the earth,
and over every people and nation I have held sway.
Among all these I sought a resting place;
in whose territory should I abide?
Then the Creator of all things gave me a command,
and my Creator chose the place for my tent.
He said, ‘Make your dwelling in Jacob,
and in Israel receive your inheritance.’
Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me,
and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.”
(Sirach 24:1-9)

Here, Wisdom is said to have “come forth from the mouth of the Most High.” This can either mean that Wisdom is the word of God, or that, like the heavens and the earth, Wisdom was crafted by God’s word. Either is possible, but the latter is more probable in this context, given the two subsequent affirmations that God “created” Wisdom.

Wisdom Is a Partner in Creation

As noted above, being itself a creature does not preclude Wisdom from being a participant in the creation of the world. The Jewish understanding of this is that Wisdom was created in order to be God’s agent in the creation of the world. This is, as we will discuss toward the end of this post, a poetic expression of the simple belief that Yahweh created everything for a purpose, i.e., according to his wisdom.

Yahweh by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;
by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew. (Proverbs 3:19-20)

We’ll look again at Proverbs 8, this time showing the rest of the story:

Yahweh created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth—
when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world’s first bits of soil.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.
(Proverbs 8:22-31)

This is a way of expressing that whenever God made anything, God’s wisdom was present in it.

There is but one who is wise, greatly to be feared,
seated upon his throne—the Lord.
It is he who created her;
he saw her and took her measure;
he poured her out upon all his works,
upon all the living according to his gift;
he lavished her upon those who love him.
(Sirach 1:8-10)

Again, God creates wisdom in order to pour her out upon all his works.

I learned both what is secret and what is manifest,
for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.
(Wisdom of Solomon 7:21-22a)

She glorifies her noble birth by living with God,
and the Lord of all loves her.
For she is an initiate in the knowledge of God,
and an associate in his works.
If riches are a desirable possession in life,
what is richer than wisdom, the active cause of all things?
And if understanding is effective,
who more than she is fashioner of what exists?
(Wisdom of Solomon 8:3-6)

Here Wisdom is personified as a being who is brought into God’s confidence, entrusted with God’s secrets, and one who knows why God is doing what God is doing in creation. Because Wisdom has been brought in, she can be spoken of as a participant in the creative process itself, so that not just God but wisdom also is “active cause of all things,” and “fashioner of what exists.”

O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy,
who have made all things by your word,
and by your wisdom have formed humankind
to have dominion over the creatures you have made,
and rule the world in holiness and righteousness,
and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul,
give me the wisdom that sits by your throne,
and do not reject me from among your servants. . . .
With you is wisdom, she who knows your works
and was present when you made the world;
she understands what is pleasing in your sight
and what is right according to your commandments.
(Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-4, 9)

Wisdom Came from Heaven To Dwell with Humans

You may be under the impression that Christians invented the idea of divine Wisdom coming down from heaven and taking on a mundane form. Well, they didn’t. Neither, I suppose, did the Jews. Mythology is full of examples of gods taking on human form, or some other form, living among the people, trying to get the people to wake up. The myth is ubiquitous, but within Judaism, it didn’t originate with Christianity. It appears first in the wisdom literature of the second temple period. It has various expressions. In some cases, Wisdom is simply embodied by all the righteous. For example:

To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
she is created with the faithful in the womb. (Sirach 1:14)

Wisdom is “created with the faithful in the womb.” This is certainly a striking image. It suggests that God’s righteous men and women were merged with the spirit of God’s Wisdom from conception. (Where have I heard that before? It’s on the tip of my tongue.) We see the same idea again in Wisdom of Solomon:

Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.
(Wisdom of Solomon 7:27-28)

Here it is said that Wisdom comes in every generation and merges with the very souls of those who are holy, giving them prophetic utterance. This notion of the Divine Spirit taking control of the prophet from within is not unique to Wisdom of Solomon. Another instance of this idea is seen in Philo:

No pronouncement of a prophet is ever his own; he is an interpreter prompted by Another Being in all his utterances while he is filled with inspiration. Not knowing that his own powers of reason have withdrawn from him, he surrenders the citadel of his soul to a new visitor and tenant, the Divine Spirit, which plays upon the vocal organism and dictates words which clearly express its prophetic message. (Special Laws, 4:49)

In both places we have talk of the Divine Spirit or Wisdom (which are often synonyms) coming into the soul of a chosen vessel and giving them the words of God. In Philo it is explicit, in Wisdom of Solomon implied, that the spirit of Wisdom has made its dwelling within the human vessel, so that for all intents and purposes, the two are indistinguishable. A related image is portrayed by pseudo-Solomon, in his prayer for wisdom (by which good kings rule):

O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy,
who have made all things by your word,
and by your wisdom have formed humankind
to have dominion over the creatures you have made,
and rule the world in holiness and righteousness,
and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul,
give me the wisdom that sits by your throne,
and do not reject me from among your servants. . . .
With you is wisdom, she who knows your works
and was present when you made the world;
she understands what is pleasing in your sight
and what is right according to your commandments.
Send her forth from the holy heavens,
and from the throne of your glory send her,
that she may labor at my side,
and that I may learn what is pleasing to you. . . .
Who has learned your counsel,
unless you have given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
And thus the paths of those on earth were set right,
and people were taught what pleases you,
and were saved by wisdom.
(Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-4, 9-10, 17-18)

Note the imagery of the descent of wisdom (identified here as the “holy spirit”) from heaven, to dwell with God’s chosen king, so that the king can be righteous. A clearer parallel to the descent of the holy spirit upon Jesus at his baptism (i.e., coronation ceremony) would be difficult to find.

Indeed, the notion of the eschatological anointed one being inhabited by the spirit of wisdom precedes the Christian literature in the Similitudes of Enoch:

And there I saw One who had a head of days,
And His head was white like wool,
And with Him was another being
Whose countenance had the appearance of a man,
And his face was full of graciousness,
Like one of the holy angels.
And I asked the angel who went with me
And showed me all the hidden things,
Concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was,
And why he went with the Head of Days?
And he answered and said unto me:
This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness,
With whom dwelleth righteousness,
And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden,
Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him,
And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits
In uprightness forever.
(1 Enoch 46:1-3)

Here the eschatological Son of Man figure has been chosen by God to “reveal all the treasures of that which is hidden.” This is wisdom language. The “hidden treasure” is the wisdom of God kept secret until the end of days. See the parallels in the Pauline corpus:

Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. (1 Cor 1:30)

We speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. (1 Cor 2:7)

Have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col 2:2-3)

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him. (Eph 1:17)

To make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph 3:9-11)

This idea is also reflected in the Gospel of John:

No one has ever seen God. It is the unique Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. (John 1:18)

The image of the eschatological judge being inhabited by the spirit of wisdom is made even more explicit a little later in the Similitudes:

For wisdom is poured out like water,
And glory faileth not before him for evermore.
For he is mighty in all the secrets of righteousness,
And unrighteousness shall disappear as a shadow,
And have no continuance;
Because the Elect One standeth before the Lord of Spirits,
And his glory is forever and ever,
And his might unto all generations.
And in him dwells the spirit of wisdom,
And the spirit which gives insight,
And the spirit of understanding and of might,
And the spirit of those who have fallen asleep in righteousness.
And he shall judge the secret things,
And none shall be able to utter a lying word before him;
For he is the Elect One before the Lord of Spirits
According to His good pleasure.
(1 Enoch 49:1-4)

Why does the spirit of Wisdom inhabit the eschatological judge? Because “he is the Elect One before the Lord of Spirits.” Because, in other words, God has chosen him for this time.

Two other passages are of great relevance to our discussion. Not only is it said that Wisdom comes down to dwell within human beings (in every generation to righteous men and women and in the last days, uniquely to the chosen messiah), it is also said that Wisdom comes down in another form, to make her dwelling “among men.” Two passages from the Bible that Paul and John used will exemplify this motif. I quote them at length, and encourage you not to read too quickly:

Wisdom praises herself,
and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:
“I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
and covered the earth like a mist.
I dwelt in the highest heavens,
and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
Alone I compassed the vault of heaven
and traversed the depths of the abyss.
Over waves of the sea, over all the earth,
and over every people and nation I have held sway.
Among all these I sought a resting place;
in whose territory should I abide?
“Then the Creator of all things gave me a command,
and my Creator chose the place for my tent.
He said, ‘Make your dwelling in Jacob,
and in Israel receive your inheritance.’
Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me,
and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.
In the holy tent I ministered before him,
and so I was established in Zion.
Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting place,
and in Jerusalem was my domain.
I took root in an honored people,
in the portion of the Lord, his heritage.
“I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon,
and like a cypress on the heights of Hermon.
I grew tall like a palm tree in En-gedi,
and like rosebushes in Jericho;
like a fair olive tree in the field,
and like a plane tree beside water I grew tall.
Like cassia and camel’s thorn I gave forth perfume,
and like choice myrrh I spread my fragrance,
like galbanum, onycha, and stacte,
and like the odor of incense in the tent.
Like a terebinth I spread out my branches,
and my branches are glorious and graceful.
Like the vine I bud forth delights,
and my blossoms become glorious and abundant fruit.
“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.
Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame,
and those who work with me will not sin.”
All this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God,
the law that Moses commanded us
as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob.
(Sirach 24:1-23)

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 dwelled among men.
She is the book of the commandments of God,
the law that endures forever.
All who hold her fast will live,
and those who forsake her will die.
Turn, O Jacob, and take her;
walk toward the shining of her light.
Do not give your glory to another,
or your advantages to an alien people.
Happy are we, O Israel,
for we know what is pleasing to God.
(Baruch 3:35-4:4)

In two separate books we have the identical image: Wisdom, who dwells in heaven with God, came to earth in the form of Torah, and dwelled among humankind. The parallel here between Sirach and Baruch on the one hand, and John’s prologue on the other, should be obvious from the get-go. We will explore the parallel more fully later, but for now, suffice it to point out that John must have known precisely what he was doing here: he had read Sirach and Baruch, just as his audience had. Those books were in their Bibles. So when John says, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” the allusion to Sirach and Baruch would have been clear. In case you’re not convinced that John had the Torah in view here, note that just three verses later, John adds: “The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Just as Torah embodies divine wisdom, Jesus embodies divine wisdom. Just as Torah teaches righteousness, Jesus teaches righteousness. John is suggesting that Jesus is the ultimate demonstration of obedience to Torah. What Torah says, Jesus does. To listen to Torah is to “walk toward the shining of her light” (Baruch 4:2) just as to listen to Jesus is to recognize that “the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). Equally well, as embodiments of Wisdom, to reject Torah, or to reject Jesus, leads to death.

Wisdom Rejected by Men

The classic statement of this is found in Proverbs 1:20-33, where Lady Wisdom calls from the street corners and is not heard. But this is a recurring motif throughout the literature:

Later generations have seen the light of day,
and have lived upon the earth;
but they have not learned the way to knowledge,
nor understood her paths,
nor laid hold of her.
Their descendants have strayed far from her way.
(Baruch 3:20-21)

More pointedly, in the Similitudes:

Wisdom found no place where she might dwell;
Then a dwelling-place was assigned her in the heavens.
Wisdom went forth to make her dwelling among the children of men,
And found no dwelling-place:
Wisdom returned to her place,
And took her seat among the angels.
(1 Enoch 42:1-2)

Here it is said that Wisdom came looking for a place to dwell but was rejected by humanity, and so went up into the heavens. As we have already seen, later in the Similitudes we learn that Wisdom will ultimately be revealed in the eschatological messiah.

Compare this with the statement in John’s prologue: “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was continually coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him” (John 1:10-11).

Here it is clear that the “light which enlightens everyone” is not just in Jesus. The verb “continually coming” is present tense, periphrastic participle, implying that Wisdom has always been trying to come into the world. The implication is that where Wisdom’s manifestation in Torah fell short, it was brought to completion in Jesus.

Poetry, Not Ontology

In closing (and I feel I would hardly need to point this out if it weren’t for the special pleading of orthodox exegetes) I’ll reiterate that the language of personification applied to divine wisdom is not meant to be taken literally. Wisdom is not really a being that God created before the foundation of the world, any more than Jacob was created before the foundation of the world, or any more than Wisdom is female or male.² What this poetic language is expressive of is the belief that God created all things according to some hidden purpose, a purpose that will be explicated at the end of all things, bringing resolution to the anguished sense that senselessness is driving the course of human history. In a sense, then, the personification of Wisdom is a part of a larger theodicy. But it is a metaphor, and most Christians readily admit this when it comes to Proverbs 8. It would be embarrassing, after all, since we all know that Jesus is Wisdom manifest, to have to admit that in Jesus’ preexistent form he was both a created being and a hot babe. But as we have seen (and will see again before we’re done), the language used to describe Jesus as Wisdom manifest does not set itself apart from the language used to personify God’s wisdom. When Jesus is talked about as God’s wisdom manifest, that too is a metaphor. There is no person called Wisdom who sat alongside God during creation. The frequent claim made in the New Testament that Jesus was with God at the beginning, and that through him all things were made—when this claim is set alongside the wisdom material which was background to it at the time of its composition and proclamation, it quickly becomes clear that it would have been both intended and understood as a metaphor for the more literal claim that God’s wisdom is fully manifest in the man Jesus. It is the claim that everything God had intended for his creation has been displayed in Jesus and is now being brought to fruition through him. I hardly call this a “low christology,” but an orthodox “high christology” it is not.

1. Thank you, Ira. [BACK]
2. Wisdom is female in the Jewish wisdom literature because the Hebrew and Greek words for wisdom are of the feminine gender. John chose “Logos” in his prologue because he was applying it to Jesus, and “Logos” is a masculine noun. [BACK]