Wisdom tradition in the letters of Paul

[Michael BG]

According to John Ziesler Pauline Christianity (1990) Paul includes the idea of Wisdom from Jewish traditions in his theology. He states that Proverbs includes wisdom as an attribute of God, but which can be seen alongside God:

Prov 8:22f 29c-30: (Wisdom is speaking)
‘The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
…

when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master workman;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always

… In Ecclesiasticus, wisdom comes down to earth from God …

… In some Jewish circles wisdom ideas went even further….Wisdom of Solomon, wisdom appears virtually as another heavenly being … his agent in creation …

p 33.

It has been suggested that Phil 2:6-7 and Col 1:15-17,19-20 are examples of this in the writings of Paul.

The identification of Christ with wisdom may well be one of the crucial things that leads Paul to talk of him in more than human terms: Christ was with the Father from the beginning … 1 Cor 8:6 … Rom 11:36 …

p 34.

I expect there are other signs within the letters of Paul that Paul has equated Jesus with the Wisdom figure of Judaism, but I am not an expert and it is not an area I have studied.

Please can other people post other examples of where Paul uses Wisdom language about Christ?

[Ben C. Smith]

1. Paul calls Christ the Wisdom of God in 1 Corinthians 1.22-24:

22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

G. A. Wells based a lot of his mythicist theory upon the early Christians ascribing Wisdom's traits to Jesus. He writes in Did Jesus Exist?:

Paul himself was strongly influenced by the Wisdom traditions, and regards Wisdom as incarnate in Christ, whom he calls ‘the wisdom of God’ (1 Cor. 1:24), ‘in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (Coloss. 2:3). Schweizer has shown (364) that statements made about Wisdom in Jewish literature (e.g. that all things came to be through her) are made of Jesus in the Pauline letters. Paul, then, found Jesus portrayed in terms of Wisdom in some already existing Christ hymns, and assimilated them because they accorded well with his own thinking.

2. 1 Enoch 42.1-3 describes the career of Lady Wisdom in a nutshell:

1. Wisdom found no place where she might dwell;
Then a dwelling-place was assigned her in the heavens.
2 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.
3 And unrighteousness went forth from her chambers:
Whom she sought not she found,
And dwelt with them,
As rain in a desert
And dew on a thirsty land.

The whole scenario is reminiscent of Jesus descending and ascending. (This applies to various threads of early Christianity, not just to Paul. But of course the Christ hymn has parallels here.)

3. Wisdom of Solomon 2.10-22 speaks of the fate of the righteous man, Wisdom's ideal representative, and that fate sounds a lot like that of Jesus... and notice the connection to these men not knowing the mysteries of God:

10 Let us oppress the poor righteous man, let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the ancient gray hairs of the aged.
11 Let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth.
12 Therefore let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings: he upbraideth us with our offending the law, and objecteth to our infamy the transgressings of our education.
13 He professeth to have the knowledge of God: and he calleth himself the child of the Lord.
14 He was made to reprove our thoughts.
15 He is grievous unto us even to behold: for his life is not like other men's, his ways are of another fashion.
16 We are esteemed of him as counterfeits: he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness: he pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed, and maketh his boast that God is his father.
17 Let us see if his words be true: and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him.
18 For if the just man be the son of God, he will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies.
19 Let us examine him with spite and torture, that we may know his meekness, and prove his patience.
20 Let us condemn him with a shameful death: for by his own saying he shall be respected.
21 Such things they did imagine, and were deceived: for their own wickedness hath blinded them.
22 As for the mysteries of God, they knew them not [1 Corinthians 2.7-8]: neither hoped they for the wages of righteousness, nor discerned a reward for blameless souls.

Compare 1 Corinthians 2.7-8:

7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

4. Wisdom of Sirach 2.5 is evidence that Paul used the wisdom literature in other respects, as well:

For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity.

Compare 1 Corinthians 3.12-13:

12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.

Just a few scattered items....

Ben.

[Secret Alias]

Of course as every Jew knows, חָכְמָה is feminine.

[iskander]

Feminine nouns in one language may become masculine nouns in another language.

Historical divergence
" There are some interesting patterns in the ones which differ in gender across languages. For example, most Spanish abstract nouns ending in -or are masculine: e.g., el color, el dolor, el honor (edit: la labor is a counterexample; thanks to Stephen Houchen for pointing it out in the comments). On the other hand, the French abstract nouns ending in -eur are split between feminine and masculine: la couleur, la douleur, l'honneur (m.), la largeur, la longeur, l'ampleur (f.), le labeur.

The French Wiktionary article on the -eur suffix mentions that some masculine nouns derived from Latin -or became feminine in French during the 16th century, so quite recently:
certains mots latins en -or sont devenus masculins (honneur, amour, labeur) et les dérivés en -eur sont fréquemment masculins en ancien français mais une réfection sur le féminin a été entreprise au seizième siècle."

https://www.quora.com/Do-all-romance-la ... same-words

[Tenorikuma]

Earl Doherty's article on the Odes of Solomon deserves a read. Here, we have a Jewish document roughly contemporary with Paul that describes Wisdom in personified terms as a Virgin, along with the Son as an incarnate revelation of God who is born through the Virgin. The Virgin displays many of the characteristics that in Christianity are associated with Christ, such as proclaiming God's grace and salvation.

[Bernard Muller]

to Michael BG,

Prov 8:22f 29c-30: (Wisdom is speaking)
‘The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
…

when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then I was beside him, like a master workman;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always

From Philo:
a) "Now the image of God is the Word, by which all the world was made" (The special Laws I, ch. XVI)

b) "And even if there be not as yet one who is worthy to be called a son of God, nevertheless let him labor earnestly to be adorned according to his first-born word, the eldest of his angel, as the great archangel of many names; for he is called the authority and the name of God and the Word, and man according to God's image ..." (On the confusion of tongues, ch. XXVIII)

c) "... the second deity, who is the Word of the supreme Being" (Questions and answers on Genesis II)

d) "For the Father of the universe has caused him to spring up as the eldest Son, whom, in another passage, he calls the firstborn. And he who is thus born, imitating the ways of his father ..." (On the confusion of tongues, ch. XIV)

e) "the most ancient Word of the living God ... he will never take the mitre off from his head, he will never lay aside the kingly diadem, the symbol of an authority which is not absolute, but only that of a viceroy, but which is nevertheless an object of admiration." (On flight and finding, ch. XX)

f) "the man [the high priest] who was consecrated to the Father of the world, should have as a paraclete [intercessor], his Son, the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure forgiveness of sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings..." (On the life of Moses II, ch. XXVI).

Word = Maker of the universe = Image of God = Second Deity = Firstborn = the eldest Son = his Son = "viceroy" = High priest

to Hebrews:
1:2-3 "... he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe ["the worlds"]. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word ..."

1:6 And again, when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

1:8 "But of the Son he says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom."

There are more contact points between and 'Hebrews' (who I see as being Apollos of Alexandria), such as the Son being "high priest" and a temple in heaven such as:
- "For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God; one being this world [heaven], in which the high priest is the divine word, his own firstborn son."(On Dreams I, ch. XXXVII)
- "For we say the high priest is not a man, but is the word of God ..." (On flight and finding, ch. XX)
Another item: both Philo & Hebrews made a point about Genesis not mentioning any parents for Melchisedech.

Word = Maker of the universe = Image of God = Firstborn = Son = God = "viceroy" = High priest

to Paul:
1Corinthians 8:6 "... there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Jesus Christ [but NOT "the Son"], through whom all things (came)"
Let's notice the common "all things" and "through whom". Also, Paul stressed the Father as the initiator of the Creation, when Heb1:2 barely does (and Heb1:10 suggests the Son is the Creator!). Maybe Paul wanted to "correct" the declaration in 'Hebrews'!

Of course, Paul has also "Son", "Firstborn", "image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4)

So we have: Maker of the universe = Image of God = Firstborn = Son

I would say, advantage Philo.

It has been suggested that Phil 2:6-7 and Col 1:15-17,19-20 are examples of this in the writings of Paul.

I think because of the resemblances, Phil 2:6-7 is part of a hymn written by the author of Hebrews, such as:
Heb 5:8 "... he learned obedience from what he suffered ..."
Heb 1:4b "as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs."

Paul also knew about Philo's writings:
"There are two types of men; the one a heavenly man, the other an earthly. The heavenly man, being made after the image of God, is altogether without part or lot in corruptible and terrestrial substance; but the earthly one was compacted out of the matter scattered here and there, which Moses calls "clay."" (Allegorical Interpretation I, ch. XII, 31)
Let's compare that with:
1 Corinthians 15:46-49 (Darby) "But that which is spiritual [was] not first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual: the first man out of [the] earth, made of dust; the second man, out of heaven. Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly [one], such also the heavenly [ones]. And as we have borne the image of the [one] made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly [one]."

Common themes between Hebrews and the Pauline epistles:
- pre-existence (explained) (1:1-3a,5-10,2:5-8) => 1 Cor 8:6,10:4
- "new covenant" (explained) (8:8-13,9:1-20) => 1 Cor 11:25
- Sacrifice (explained) (1:3,5:8-9,7:27,9:11-15,10:1-14) => 1 Cor 5:7
- (Jesus') blood (9:12,10:19,29) => 1 Cor 10:16,11:25,27
- co-Creator of the universe (explained) (1:2,10) => 1 Cor 8:6
- Moses' followers dying in the wilderness (3:16-17) => 1 Cor 3:16-17
- home in heaven for Christians (12:22-23) => 2 Cor 5:1
- atonement for sins (explained) (1:3,2:17,10:12) => 2 Cor 5:19,21
- "Son of God" (explained) (1:5,8-9) => 2 Cor 1:3,19
- Christians as seed and heirs of Abraham through the "promise" (2:16,6:13-17) => 2 Cor 3:16-29
- the heavenly Jerusalem (12:22-23) => 2 Cor 4:26
- Jesus offering himself for sacrifice for atonement of sins (explained) (7:27b,10:12) => 2 Cor 1:3b-4a
- "at the right hand of God" (explained) (1:3,13,8:1,10:12,12:2) => Ro 8:34
- "firstborn" (explained) (1:6,12:23) => Ro 8:29
- Jesus interceding with God in behalf of Christians (explained) (7:25) => Ro 8:34

As you can guess, I think that Hebrews was written before the indicated verses from the Pauline epistles were. Of course I justified that at length on my webpage: http://historical-jesus.info/hjes3x.html

to Ben,

Paul calls Christ the Wisdom of God in 1 Corinthians 1.22-24:

22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Paul used the word "wisdom" 25 times in 1 Corinthians, many times relating "wisdom" to humans. So I do not think here Paul was referring to "Wisdom" as a logos, but as just "wisdom". https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/le ... lexResults

2 Wisdom went forth to make her dwelling among the children of men,
And found no dwelling-place:

Wisdom is a spirit, Jesus was a man and he found dwelling places on earth.

Cordially, Bernard

[Tenorikuma]

Ah, but Bernard, "the son of man has no place to lay his head", and Jesus was rejected in his hometown.

[Bernard Muller]

Ah, but Bernard, "the son of man has no place to lay his head", and Jesus was rejected in his hometown.

But he lived on earth for a long time, up to adulthood. In gMark, Jesus is described to have gone to Nazareth for only a visit. He already had a "home" in Capernaum, even it may have been as a guest.

Cordially, Bernard

[Michael BG]

Paul also knew about Philo's writings:
"There are two types of men; the one a heavenly man, the other an earthly. The heavenly man, being made after the image of God, is altogether without part or lot in corruptible and terrestrial substance; but the earthly one was compacted out of the matter scattered here and there, which Moses calls "clay."" (Allegorical Interpretation I, ch. XII, 31)
Let's compare that with:
1 Corinthians 15:46-49 (Darby) "But that which is spiritual [was] not first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual: the first man out of [the] earth, made of dust; the second man, out of heaven. Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly [one], such also the heavenly [ones]. And as we have borne the image of the [one] made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly [one]."

I think this shows that both Philo and Paul are within the same tradition and share the same view of what happens to those who end up in heaven. It would be surprising if Paul’s views were not shared by other Jewish people. I think is it difficult to show dependency where there is little word agreement as here.

So we have: Maker of the universe = Image of God = Firstborn = Son

I would say, advantage Philo.

What we don’t have in Paul is Philo’s “logos”.

I hope everyone will agree that Christians applied messianic titles to Jesus, such as Christ and Son of God and I don’t have to provide evidence for this.

Firstborn
I think Paul only uses the word once in the letters everyone agrees are authentic:
Rom 8:29
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.”
This is a strange verse – Christians are known to God who has predestined them to become the image of his Son that the Son become the first-born among the brethren (Christians in heaven). This looks to me that the Son of God is the first person who becomes a heavenly being and is followed by Christians at the time of the resurrection.
This remind me of 1 Cor 15:20 “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
It seems possible that Paul is using the word “firstborn” in the same way he used “first fruits” as the first person resurrected. Paul in 1 Cor 15:12-23 sets out that Christians know there is going to be a general resurrection for Christians because Christ has already been raised.

However I note that the term firstborn is used in Psalm 89
“And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.” (89:27)
Here the firstborn is David. I have already pointed out Christians often took titles used for David and applied them to Jesus Christ.

Wisdom is the firstborn
Proverbs 8:22-30

[22] The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
[23] Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
[24] When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
[25] Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth;
[26] before he had made the earth with its fields,
or the first of the dust of the world.
[27] When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
[28] when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
[29] 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,
[30] then I was beside him, like a master workman;
…

Marie Turner writes,

Jesus as agent of creation, the one in whom and for whom all things exist, is the subject of the hymn to be found in Colossians 1:15-20. This is another of the hymns which scholars generally term, wisdom-christological hymns. Scholars believe that these hymns were in circulation amongst the early Christians even before Paul and the disciples who used his name wrote their letters. Possibly the hymns were sung or recited in Christian liturgical celebrations. These wisdom-christological hymns describe the risen Christ in terms taken from the Jewish wisdom writings.
…
The line that describes Christ as the image of God is influenced by the wisdom literature rather than the Genesis literature where Adam is the image of God. The word eikon is used in conjunction with the phrase ‘the firstborn of creation’, taking us back to the Proverbs text where Sophia claimed that she was the first of Yahweh’s works.

http://compassreview.org/autumn08/2.html

Wisdom is described in the same way as God and is the image of God.
Wisdom of Solomon 7:24-26

[24] For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
[25] For she is a breath of the power of God,
and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.
[26] For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.

Wisdom has a role in creation:

Wisdom of Solomon 9:2a

and by thy wisdom hast formed man,

Proverbs 3:19a

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth

Paul used the word "wisdom" 25 times in 1 Corinthians, many times relating "wisdom" to humans. So I do not think here Paul was referring to "Wisdom" as a logos, but as just "wisdom".

You are correct I don’t think Paul refers to Wisdom as logos in the same way he doesn’t refer to Christ as logos either.

However Wisdom is wisdom:

Sirach 15:2-8

[2] She (Wisdom) will come to meet him like a mother,
and like the wife of his youth she will welcome him.
[3] She will feed him with the bread of understanding,
and give him the water of wisdom to drink.
[4] He will lean on her and will not fall,
and he will rely on her and will not be put to shame.
[5] She will exalt him above his neighbors,
and will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly.
[6] He will find gladness and a crown of rejoicing,
and will acquire an everlasting name.
[7] Foolish men will not obtain her,
and sinful men will not see her.
[8] She is far from men of pride,
and liars will never think of her.

Therefore when Paul talks of the wisdom of God he links into another aspect of the Wisdom tradition. But Paul often talks of the wisdom of men or human wisdom as the opposite of the wisdom of God.

[Bernard Muller]

to Michael BG,

I think is it difficult to show dependency where there is little word agreement as here.

But this is closer than any passages from the Pauline epistles relative to any parts of "Wisdom" texts.

I don't think Paul made a point anywhere that Jesus was born through his resurrection.
As for David, that can only mean the first one of his dynasty.

What we don’t have in Paul is Philo’s “logos”

Sure, Paul did not incorporate in his pre-existant/post-existant Jesus all the features of Philo's logos.

What Marie Turner wrote are just beliefs and possibilities. She seemed totally ignorant of Philo's writings.
She put a lot of weight on gJohn & Colossians but these two texts were not written by Paul.

Wisdom of Solomon 9:2a

and by thy wisdom hast formed man,

Here, wisdom is no other than just wisdom of God, not Wisdom.

Therefore when Paul talks of the wisdom of God he links into another aspect of the Wisdom tradition.

This is your opinion which I do not share.
For me there is a lot evidence that 'Hebrews' was very much influenced by parts of Philo's writings and in turn Paul was very much influenced by some of the content of 'Hebrews'. That is what I have shown in my previous post to you. However it is debatable that Paul knew about Philo's writings directly.

Cordially, Bernard