When examining Proverbs 8:22-31, some have argued that this passage isn't talking about Jesus but rather Wisdom itself personified. They further may point out that Wisdom may previously have been referred to in the feminine gender.
However, in Prov. Chap.8, Wisdom is manifest only by being expressed in some way. God's own wisdom was expressed in creation (Prov. 3:19, 20) but through his Son. But as for Prov. 8:22-31, many professed Christian writers of the early centuries of the Common Era understood this section to refer symbolically to God's Son in his pre-human state.
It is true that in Hebrew, which assigns gender to its nouns (as do many other languages), the word for "wisdom" is always in the feminine gender. This would continue to be the case even though wisdom is personified and so would not rule out wisdom's being used figuratively to represent God's firstborn Son. For instance, the Greek word for "love" in the expression "God is love" (1 John 4:8) is also in the feminine gender but that does not make God feminine.
Also, Jehovah God is the Creator of all things. He is uncreated, without beginning (Rev. 4:11). Job 36:26 says, "In number his years are beyond searching." It is impossible to place an age upon him, for there is no starting point from which to measure. Because He is ageless, He is properly called "the Ancient of Days" since His existence stretches endlessly into the past. (Dan. 7:9, 13) And so, since Jehovah God has existed forever, therefore wisdom had to have always existed within Jehovah forever. (Ps. 90:2)
So we could ask those using these trinitarian arguments: If Prov. 8:22-31 is really talking about literal wisdom itself, than how could wisdom even have been "begotten"? How could it have even been "produced", "set up", "created", or "made"? If this was talking about literal wisdom itself, then how could wisdom be "beside" God or "before" Him? How could wisdom be "the one He was specially fond of"?
So instead of literal Wisdom itself (of which God had to already have in order to "beget", "produce", "set up", "create", or "make" anything), when Prov. 8:22 also says that the subject is, "the earliest of his achievements of long ago", this corresponds more to the description of Jesus in Col. 1:15 where it says that he is "the first-born of all creation". Or when Prov.8:23 says, "From time indefinite I was installed, from the start, from times earlier than the earth", this corresponds more to the description of Jesus in Micah 5:2 where it says that his "origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite". Or when Prov. 8:22 says, "Jehovah God himself produced me as the beginning of his way," this corresponds more to the description of Jesus in Rev. 3:14 where it says that Jesus is "the beginning of the creation by God".
And as for the Hebrew word 'qanah', it can mean either to "produce, aquire, create" or "possess". Context is key in finding out which one it means. Bibles which are biased toward the Trinity do not want to render it as "Produce" or something similar because that would mean that Jesus has a beginning, and that would contradict the Trinity doctrine.
Yet, because the context of Prov. 8:22-31 so overwhelmingly supports the translation of the word 'qanah' as "create", even scores of trinitarian bibles have decided to render it as such:
(1) "[Jehovah] created me at the beginning of his work" - RSV;
(2) "[Jehovah] created me" - NRSV;
(3) "[Jehovah] made me" - MLB;
(4) "Yahweh created me" - JB; "Yahweh created me" - NJB;
(5) "[Jehovah] created me" - NEB;
(6) "[Jehovah] created me" - REB;
(7) "I was the first thing made" - ETRV;
(8) "[Jehovah] created me as the first of his creations" - Lamsa;
(9) "[Jehovah] created me first of all" - GNB;
(10) "[Jehovah] formed me as the first of his works" - AT;
(11) "[Jehovah] formed me first of his creation" - Mo;
(12) "Jehovah framed me first" - Byington;
(13) "[Jehovah] created me" - The Reader's Digest Bible;
(14) "[Jehovah] brought me forth as the first of his works" - The NIV Study Bible. It also explains in a footnote for Prov. 8:22: "brought...forth. The Hebrew for this verb is also used in Ge 4:1; 14:19, 22 (`creator')." - Zondervan, 1985;
(15) "[Jehovah] made me the beginning of his ways for his works" - The Apostles Bible;
(16) "[Jehovah] made me as the start of his way, the first of his works in the past. - BBE;
(17) "Yahweh created me first, at the beginning of his works" - Christian Community Bible;
(18) "[Jehovah] made me as the beginning of his way, the first of his ancient works" - The Complete Jewish Bible;
(19) "[Jehovah] made me at the beginning of His creation, before His works of long ago" -The Holman Christian Standard Bible;
(20) "[Jehovah] created me as the first of his creations, before all of his works. - Peshitta - Lamsa Translation;
(21) "[Jehovah] sovereignly made me—the first, the basic— before he did anything else." -The Message;
(22) "[Jehovah] created me as the beginning of his works, before his deeds of long ago." -NET;
(23) "I, wisdom, was with [Jehovah] when he began his work, long before he made anything else. 23 I was created in the very beginning, even before the world began." - New Century Version;
(24) "[Jehovah] created me as the first of his works, before his acts of long ago." - New International Reader's Version;
(25) "[Jehovah] made me at the beginning of His work, before His first works long ago." -New Life Bible;
(26) "[Jehovah] formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else. - New Living Translation;
(27) "Jehovah created me in the beginning of his way, before his works of antiquity." - New Simplified Bible;
(28) "[Jehovah] created me as the head of His ways, to perform all of His works" - 2001 Translation.
For more concerning Proverbs 8:22-31, see:
Jesus Christ / Wisdom personified (Jesus Christ / Wisdom personified; Insight-2 pp. 52-72; Watchtower Online Library)
“From Time Indefinite I Was Installed” (w01 3/15 pp. 25-28; Watchtower Online Library)
How do we know that the description of wisdom at Proverbs 8:22-31 applies to Jesus Christ in his prehuman existence? (How do we know that the description of wisdom at Proverbs 8:22-31 applies to Jesus Christ in his prehuman existence?; 8/1 p. 31; Watchtower Online Library)
How do we know that these words refer to God’s Son? (cf chap. 13 pp. 129-138; Watchtower Online Library)
Does "Wisdom" at Prov. 8:22-30 refer to the Messiah, and does it say that he was created? (Does "Wisdom" at Prov. 8:22-30 refer to the Messiah, and does it say that he was created?; Search For Bible Truths)
Scores of trinitarian bibles have decided to render the word 'qanah' as "create". (Scores of trinitarian bibles have decided to render the word 'qanah' as "create"; Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Prov. 8:22-30 "Wisdom" and Christ (Prov. 8:22-30 "Wisdom" and Christ; Examining the Trinity)
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However, in Prov. Chap.8, Wisdom is manifest only by being expressed in some way. God's own wisdom was expressed in creation (Prov. 3:19, 20) but through his Son. But as for Prov. 8:22-31, many professed Christian writers of the early centuries of the Common Era understood this section to refer symbolically to God's Son in his pre-human state.
It is true that in Hebrew, which assigns gender to its nouns (as do many other languages), the word for "wisdom" is always in the feminine gender. This would continue to be the case even though wisdom is personified and so would not rule out wisdom's being used figuratively to represent God's firstborn Son. For instance, the Greek word for "love" in the expression "God is love" (1 John 4:8) is also in the feminine gender but that does not make God feminine.
Also, Jehovah God is the Creator of all things. He is uncreated, without beginning (Rev. 4:11). Job 36:26 says, "In number his years are beyond searching." It is impossible to place an age upon him, for there is no starting point from which to measure. Because He is ageless, He is properly called "the Ancient of Days" since His existence stretches endlessly into the past. (Dan. 7:9, 13) And so, since Jehovah God has existed forever, therefore wisdom had to have always existed within Jehovah forever. (Ps. 90:2)
So we could ask those using these trinitarian arguments: If Prov. 8:22-31 is really talking about literal wisdom itself, than how could wisdom even have been "begotten"? How could it have even been "produced", "set up", "created", or "made"? If this was talking about literal wisdom itself, then how could wisdom be "beside" God or "before" Him? How could wisdom be "the one He was specially fond of"?
So instead of literal Wisdom itself (of which God had to already have in order to "beget", "produce", "set up", "create", or "make" anything), when Prov. 8:22 also says that the subject is, "the earliest of his achievements of long ago", this corresponds more to the description of Jesus in Col. 1:15 where it says that he is "the first-born of all creation". Or when Prov.8:23 says, "From time indefinite I was installed, from the start, from times earlier than the earth", this corresponds more to the description of Jesus in Micah 5:2 where it says that his "origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite". Or when Prov. 8:22 says, "Jehovah God himself produced me as the beginning of his way," this corresponds more to the description of Jesus in Rev. 3:14 where it says that Jesus is "the beginning of the creation by God".
And as for the Hebrew word 'qanah', it can mean either to "produce, aquire, create" or "possess". Context is key in finding out which one it means. Bibles which are biased toward the Trinity do not want to render it as "Produce" or something similar because that would mean that Jesus has a beginning, and that would contradict the Trinity doctrine.
Yet, because the context of Prov. 8:22-31 so overwhelmingly supports the translation of the word 'qanah' as "create", even scores of trinitarian bibles have decided to render it as such:
(1) "[Jehovah] created me at the beginning of his work" - RSV;
(2) "[Jehovah] created me" - NRSV;
(3) "[Jehovah] made me" - MLB;
(4) "Yahweh created me" - JB; "Yahweh created me" - NJB;
(5) "[Jehovah] created me" - NEB;
(6) "[Jehovah] created me" - REB;
(7) "I was the first thing made" - ETRV;
(8) "[Jehovah] created me as the first of his creations" - Lamsa;
(9) "[Jehovah] created me first of all" - GNB;
(10) "[Jehovah] formed me as the first of his works" - AT;
(11) "[Jehovah] formed me first of his creation" - Mo;
(12) "Jehovah framed me first" - Byington;
(13) "[Jehovah] created me" - The Reader's Digest Bible;
(14) "[Jehovah] brought me forth as the first of his works" - The NIV Study Bible. It also explains in a footnote for Prov. 8:22: "brought...forth. The Hebrew for this verb is also used in Ge 4:1; 14:19, 22 (`creator')." - Zondervan, 1985;
(15) "[Jehovah] made me the beginning of his ways for his works" - The Apostles Bible;
(16) "[Jehovah] made me as the start of his way, the first of his works in the past. - BBE;
(17) "Yahweh created me first, at the beginning of his works" - Christian Community Bible;
(18) "[Jehovah] made me as the beginning of his way, the first of his ancient works" - The Complete Jewish Bible;
(19) "[Jehovah] made me at the beginning of His creation, before His works of long ago" -The Holman Christian Standard Bible;
(20) "[Jehovah] created me as the first of his creations, before all of his works. - Peshitta - Lamsa Translation;
(21) "[Jehovah] sovereignly made me—the first, the basic— before he did anything else." -The Message;
(22) "[Jehovah] created me as the beginning of his works, before his deeds of long ago." -NET;
(23) "I, wisdom, was with [Jehovah] when he began his work, long before he made anything else. 23 I was created in the very beginning, even before the world began." - New Century Version;
(24) "[Jehovah] created me as the first of his works, before his acts of long ago." - New International Reader's Version;
(25) "[Jehovah] made me at the beginning of His work, before His first works long ago." -New Life Bible;
(26) "[Jehovah] formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else. - New Living Translation;
(27) "Jehovah created me in the beginning of his way, before his works of antiquity." - New Simplified Bible;
(28) "[Jehovah] created me as the head of His ways, to perform all of His works" - 2001 Translation.
For more concerning Proverbs 8:22-31, see:
Jesus Christ / Wisdom personified (Jesus Christ / Wisdom personified; Insight-2 pp. 52-72; Watchtower Online Library)
“From Time Indefinite I Was Installed” (w01 3/15 pp. 25-28; Watchtower Online Library)
How do we know that the description of wisdom at Proverbs 8:22-31 applies to Jesus Christ in his prehuman existence? (How do we know that the description of wisdom at Proverbs 8:22-31 applies to Jesus Christ in his prehuman existence?; 8/1 p. 31; Watchtower Online Library)
How do we know that these words refer to God’s Son? (cf chap. 13 pp. 129-138; Watchtower Online Library)
Does "Wisdom" at Prov. 8:22-30 refer to the Messiah, and does it say that he was created? (Does "Wisdom" at Prov. 8:22-30 refer to the Messiah, and does it say that he was created?; Search For Bible Truths)
Scores of trinitarian bibles have decided to render the word 'qanah' as "create". (Scores of trinitarian bibles have decided to render the word 'qanah' as "create"; Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Prov. 8:22-30 "Wisdom" and Christ (Prov. 8:22-30 "Wisdom" and Christ; Examining the Trinity)
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