WISDOM (in the Bible). - An ideological-ethical attitude among the ancient Israelites (Heb. hokhmáh); it was not merely an intellectual endowment, but also the foundation and at times the whole complex of an individual's morality. It has its origin in God (Ex. 28:3; 1 Kings 3:9; 5:9; Is. 28:26; Ecclus. 38:6); its basis is the "fear of God" (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; Job 28:28; Ecclus. 1:16-22; Ps. 110:10). Especially after the exile, wisdom became the favorite theme of the inspired scribes. At times it is presented as a person, as well as an intrinsic attribute of God.
Five texts are especially characteristic in this regard. In Job 28:20-27 wisdom is personified and described as inaccessible to man, who always remains within a material sphere; God alone knows it perfectly, and He created the world through it. According to the majority of exegetes, what is involved here is a simple poetic personification of this essential attribute of God. The same concept reappears in Bar. 3:9-4:4, which adds to it the idea that the Mosaic Law constitutes a more evident manifestation of it for men (ibid. 3:37). In Prov. 8:22-36 the personification of wisdom is much more accentuated, described as the idea that guided God in His work; while insisting on wisdom as a divine attribute, the hagiographer presents it as something distinct, invested with its own personality (ibid. 8:27-31). In Ecclus. 24:1-47 the same concepts are given in a somewhat different form: wisdom is something eternal and intrinsically divine; and its personification is accentuated even more (cf. ibid. 24:3-4). This concept takes a new step in Wis. 7:22-8:1, where wisdom is described as "intelligent (νεξός), holy, unique, manifold, immaterial, noble, perspicacious, immaculate, diaphanous, almighty, which watches over all things, which penetrates all pure intelligent spirits...; it is a vapor of the power of God and a pure emanation of the majesty of the universal Ruler"; such expressions leave no doubt about the personification of wisdom. Already the ancient apologists and writers on the Trinitarian dogma used similar texts to prove the personal existence of the Son of God.
The question remains alive among exegetes whether in such books what is involved is a simple poetic personification or the revelation of the personality of the Son of God. Some authors (F. S. Patrizi, R. Cornely, E. Tobac, U. Lattanzi) maintain that at least in a "fuller sense" (sensus plenior) there is here the partial revelation of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity: "The divine personal Wisdom of the Old Testament is the incarnate Word" (U. Lattanzi [v. op. cit. in bibl.], p. 38). For other authors (A. Vaccari, J. Lebreton, P. Heinisch, F. Ceuppens, P. Van Imschoot, etc.) what is involved is the poetic personification of a divine attribute, and the whole ensemble constitutes a providential preparation for the revelation that came with the New Testament; the application to Christ is possible by virtue of the "fuller sense." Only in the "consequent sense" can the various texts be applied to the B. V. Mary, as has been done in the liturgy.
The difference between the two opposing opinions lies principally in the different way of fixing the limits of the literal sense of the Bible. If one determines the latter according to what the ancient Israelites or the hagiographers were able to understand, it is illogical to see in wisdom a divine person; this would clash with rigorous Hebrew monotheism. If, on the other hand, one takes the literal sense more broadly, including in it what God Himself intended without regard to whether the immediate hearers understood it or not, one can recognize in the cited texts something much deeper than a simple poetic personification.
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Angelo Penna