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The teaching activity of Divine Wisdom: The Wisdom of God calls everyone with its preaching, attracting everyone to itself with the wealth of its gifts. 22–31. Peacemaking activity of Divine Wisdom. 32–36. An exhortation to follow... Proverbs 8:1. Is it not wisdom that calls? and does not reason raise its voice? Proverbs 8:2. She stands in elevated places, along the road, at crossroads; Proverbs 8:3. she calls out at the gates at the entrance to the city, at the entrance to the doors: Even earlier, at the beginning of the book of Proverbs 1:20–21 seq., the Wise One introduced his sermon of Wisdom into his speech on her own behalf, and in Proverbs 3:19–20 he mentioned the participation of Wisdom in the creation of the world and industry. Now he does the same in much more detail: almost two whole chapters, Proverbs 8–9, are devoted to revealing the teaching of Wisdom itself about itself, about the dignity - Divine or Divine nature of Wisdom, about peacemaking, world-providential and world-saving activities, about its highest properties and richest gifts, about its meaning for humanity, etc. The sacred writer, as if deliberately in the previous Chapters (Proverbs 4–7), grouped and exhausted all possible types and cases of temptations on the path of a pious and wise life, so that here, in ch. Proverbs 8–9, it is more complete to portray true wisdom in a positive way according to the teaching of the Hypostatic Wisdom itself. At the same time, naturally, there is no mention of the fact that this teaching came to the Wise One according to legend from his ancestors (as in Proverbs IV: 3-4 et al.). Given by reading Art. 1 LXX and glory. form of address to the listener: σύ τήν σοφίαν κηρύξεις, ίνα φρόνησις σοι υπακούση, son, “wisdom preach, so that understanding will listen to you” , is less acceptable than according to the reading of the Hebrew Masorah and Russian: the Wisdom of God itself appears as the preacher, like all the preachers of God’s messages - the prophets, the apostles, Wisdom preaches in all places of public meetings, and in general wherever listeners can be found: on hills, on roads, at crossroads, at the entrance to the city. gates, on the streets and at the entrance to houses (vv. 2-3). No matter how noisy such public meetings may be, even among the bustle and noise of idle talk and arguing people, instructive and edifying speeches are heard, like some hymn, from the lips of zealots and messengers of Divine wisdom. Proverbs 8:4. “To you, people, I cry, and to the sons of men my voice! Proverbs 8:5. Learn, you fools, prudence, and fools, learn reason. Proverbs 8:6. Listen, for I will speak important things, and the words of my mouth are true; Proverbs 8:7. For my tongue shall speak truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips; Proverbs 8:8. all the words of my mouth are fair; there is no deceit or guile in them; Proverbs 8:9. all of them are clear to the rational and fair to those who have acquired knowledge. Proverbs 8:10. Accept my teaching, not silver; knowledge is better than choice gold; Proverbs 8:11. because wisdom is better than pearls, and nothing desired can compare with it. Proverbs 8:12. I, wisdom, dwell with reason and seek sensible knowledge. Proverbs 8:13. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance and the evil way and deceitful lips. Wisdom addresses Her call decisively to all people - to the righteous and the wicked, the noble and the common people 5; calls on everyone, according to the guidance of Divine Wisdom, to develop their minds and hearts (Prov. 8:5), enriching the mind with all sorts of useful information of spiritual and worldly wisdom (cf. Proverbs 1:4; Eccl. I,13) and imparting stability to the heart in true goodness (cf. Matt. X:16). Wisdom broadcasts something immensely important in human life (Proverbs 8:6; cf. Matt. VII:29), namely: pure truth, genuine truth, perfect justice, but everything contrary to that is absolutely alien to Her: all these instructions of Wisdom, with all their height and depth, are however completely accessible to human understanding (Proverbs 8:7–9). Therefore, the acquisition of these teachings should be the subject of greater desires and quests of a person than the acquisition of wealth and treasures (vv. 10-11, cf. Proverbs 3:14-15; Job XXVIII, 15-16; Wis VII, 9). The power of advice and the ability to guide people’s thoughts to achieve the right decision in matters are invariably inherent in Divine Wisdom, and the basis and very essence of the wisdom imparted by Her is the fear of God and aversion from evil (vv. 12–13, sn. Proverbs I, 7, Proverbs 9:10). Proverbs 8:14. I have advice and truth; I am the mind, I have the strength. Proverbs 8:15. By me kings reign and rulers legitimize truth; Proverbs 8:16. I am ruled by the rulers and nobles and all the judges of the earth. Proverbs 8:17. Those who love me I love, and those who seek me will find me; Proverbs 8:18. wealth and glory are mine, an unfailing treasure and truth; Proverbs 8:19. My fruits are better than gold, and the purest gold, and there is more benefit from me than from choice silver. Proverbs 8:20. I walk the path of truth, the paths of justice, Proverbs 8:21. to bring essential good to those who love me, and I fill their treasuries.– Proverbs 8:21a. –[When I proclaim what happens daily, I will not forget to count what is from eternity.] The highly valuable gifts and advantages of true wisdom, the source of which is in Divine Wisdom, are depicted. All human affairs can have lasting success only with the assistance of Divine Wisdom, since She alone possesses in perfection the light, reason and power necessary to carry out Her activities - for the good of man - without Her assistance human wisdom is powerless (v. 14). In particular, kings, rulers, all kinds of authorities and legislators can wisely govern subordinate peoples and societies, can issue wise and useful laws only with the assistance of the same Divine Wisdom (vv. 15–16, fn. Dan. 2:21). She is always ready to bestow all the abundance of benefits inherent in Wisdom to those who love Her and understand the true value of Her gifts (vv. 17–21). These are the wondrous gifts of Wisdom. But Her divine nature and dignity were most strikingly expressed in the participation of Wisdom in the creation of the world, which is now spoken of, v. 22–31, Wise One. Proverbs 8:22. The Lord had me as the beginning of His path, before His creatures, from time immemorial; Proverbs 8:23. I have been anointed from everlasting, from the beginning, before the existence of the earth. Proverbs 8:24. I was born when there were no deeps yet, when there were no springs abundant with water. Proverbs 8:25. I was born before the mountains were built, before the hills, Proverbs 8:26. when He had not yet created either the earth, or the fields, or the initial grains of dust of the universe. Proverbs 8:27. When He prepared heaven, I was there. When He drew a circular line across the face of the abyss, Proverbs 8:28. when he affirmed the clouds above, when he strengthened the springs of the deep, Proverbs 8:29. when he gave the sea a charter so that the waters would not cross its borders, when he laid the foundations of the earth: Proverbs 8:30. then I was an artist with Him, and I was a joy every day, rejoicing in His presence all the time, Proverbs 8:31. rejoicing in His earthly circle, and my joy was with the sons of men. In this department, the fathers and teachers of the Church, not without reason, saw under the eternal and peace-giving Wisdom the hypostatic Wisdom, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Son of God, bringing the concept of Her closer to the concept of the Word of God, which, according to the teaching of the Apostle. and the Evangelist John the Theologian, from the beginning it was with God, it was God himself, through whom “all things came into being, and without whom nothing that happened began to be” (John I, 1–3, cf. Heb. I, 2; Apoc. III, 14). Without a doubt, on Old Testament soil there could not have been such clarity and separateness, precision and certainty in the teaching about the Logos or the Word of God, which this concept received in the teaching of St. Evangelist John: for the Old Testament, even God-inspired, sage, the peace-making Wisdom of God is, first of all, the idea of ​​the world that pre-existed with God before creation - it is that beginning that was the mediating instrumental cause of all creation, this idea and beginning are depicted here personified. The Wise One could not speak deliberately about the Divine dignity of the second Hypostasis. Completely erroneously, in the 4th century A.D. X., during the Christological Councils, the Arians, on the basis of the words of Wisdom: “The Lord created (LXX, έκτισε) me the beginning of His ways” (v. 22) defended their false teaching that the Son of God is a creature. Against this, Orthodox theologians pointed to the Jewish reading of this text, understanding Heb. Ch. “kana” in the sense: acquired (εκτήσατο, as in Philo and Origen, or έκτησέ με, as in Codd. 23, 252 in Helmes. Vulg: possedit me, Russian synod.: “had Me as the beginning...”); or relating the concept of creativity itself to the incarnation of the son of God. Both of these last explanations have their meaning and basis. But it should, in any case, be remembered that in the Old Testament there could not be theological precision in the formulation of the idea of the Logos, and therefore the concept of “creation” here could be applied to Divine Wisdom. In the book of Jesus son of Sirach, the teaching of which is under the undeniable influence of the book of Proverbs, Wisdom is more than once called created by God: I,4: προτέρα πάντων έκτισται σοφιά; I,9: αυτός έκτισεν αυτήν; XXIV:8: o$ κτίσας με . However, the pre-peaceful existence of Wisdom, affirmed in Proverbs. VIII, 22–31, constitutes a true foreshadowing of the New Testament teaching about the Word or Son of God. The whole speech of Wisdom is divided into two sections: Art. 22–26 and art. 27–31, of which the first shows the pre-peaceful existence of Wisdom, and the second affirms the active participation of Wisdom in the creation of the world and individual types of created things. Wisdom was anointed (v. 23, cf. Ps. II.6), that is, she was presented by God to be the mistress of creation (cf. about the Son of God Apoc. III.14: η αρχή τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ) even before the appearance of the latter - before the creation of the earth itself in its primitive form (v. 23), before the appearance of the great world abyss, all reservoirs of water, mountains, hills and the beginning of all organic life (24–25, cf. Ps. LXXXIX:2, Job XXXVIII, 6, etc.) Wisdom existed and was born by God (vv. 24–25). Born before all creation (cf. about the Son of God: πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, Col. I, 15), Wisdom was by no means a passive witness of the creation of the world itself, on the contrary, in the entire process of peacemaking (vv. 27–30, and cf. Job XXVI, 9, 38 and gave.) She was an invariable participant in the work of God, imprinting her heavenly appearance on the deeds of God’s creations. And just as the completion and goal of the creation of the world was the creation of man (Gen. I, 26 ff.), so the special object of participation and joy of Wisdom was also precisely the creation of man - the crown of God’s creations, on which, as on the image and likeness of God, the seal of Wisdom was most perfectly imprinted (vv. 30b-31a). This special participation of Wisdom in the creation of man fully corresponds to the biblical legend about the council that took place in the Most Holy Trinity before the creation of man (Gen. I, 26, cf. Commentaries of the Bible, vol. I, p. 11). The true, original source of joy of the Hypostatic Wisdom or Logos lay precisely in His communion with God the Father (John XVII:24), and Her joy in creation and especially in people is a reflection of that supreme joy. Department of Proverbs. VIII.22–30 as a parimia and is read in churches during divine services on the days of the Circumcision of the Lord (Jan. 1), Annunciation of the Most Holy. Bogor., reminding believers that the incarnate Son of God existed from eternity in communion with God the Father. Proverbs 8:32. So, children, listen to me; and blessed are they who keep my ways! Proverbs 8:33. Listen to the instructions and be wise, and do not deviate from it. Proverbs 8:34. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching every day at my gates and standing guard at my doors! Proverbs 8:35. because whoever finds me has found life, and will receive grace from the Lord; Proverbs 8:36. but whoever sins against me harms his soul: all those who hate me love death.” To people, as the primary bearers of wisdom, imprinted by the Creator on all creation, Wisdom now turns with an admonition to listen and keep the instructions of wisdom, since in listening and keeping them all the bliss and the whole life of a person is contained (vv. 32, 34, 35, cf. Ps. CXVIII, 1-2; Luke XI, 23), while those who shirk communication with Wisdom, and thus those who hate Her more are preparing for themselves temporary and eternal death. The Midrash explains the difference in address in v. 4 – “people” or “men” (ishim) and – “sons of men” (bene-adam) like this: “if you are worthy and keep the law, you will be called, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, “men”, ishim, and if not, then “sons of men”, bene-adam, like Adam, who did not keep the Law and therefore was expelled from paradise" (Midr. s. 21) You might be interested in: