Summary: I had some other ambition in the post, but I ended up focusing on the idea of Woman Wisdom. This is not a complete post on this topic, but hopefully something that whets your appetite for more reading!
Key Word
σοφια (wisdom): Most Christians -- myself included -- likely grew up in a church that did not emphasize the personification of Wisdom in the bible. But in the Old Testament, Wisdom not only personified, but almost deified. This happens most clearly in Proverbs but also in other "wisdom literature". I have included long form Bible quotes because these are likely less familiar to many of us.
- Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: "To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live..." Proverbs 8:1-4
- While I was still young, before I went on my
travels, I sought wisdom openly in my prayer. Before the temple I
asked for her, and I will search for her until the end. From the
first blossom to the ripening grape my heart delighted in her; my foot
walked on the straight path; from my youth I followed her steps. I
inclined my ear a little and received her, and I found for myself much
instruction. I made progress in her; to him who gives wisdom I will
give glory. For I resolved to live according to wisdom, and I was
zealous for the good, and I shall never be disappointed. My soul
grappled with wisdom, and in my conduct I was strict; I spread out my
hands to the heavens, and lamented my ignorance of her. I directed
my soul to her, and in purity I found her. With her I gained
understanding from the first; therefore I will never be forsaken. Sirach 51:13-20 (Sirach is a book in the apocrypha)
That wisdom is to be desired is not necessarily a surprise. But the Old Testament wisdom literature makes three crucial shifts. First, the writers begin talking about wisdom as a woman; there is a big contrast in fact, between woman wisdom and the foolish woman (harlot)! This is in itself interesting, but might be seen as a literary device to get the focus of young men. But then the writers go further and begin to speak about Wisdom as one to be worshiped. This might seem like a misguided step to worship an attribute of God. But the writers double down and begin speaking about Wisdom's role in creation.
- The LORD created me (wisdom, identified in 8:2) 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
- It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. Jeremiah 10:12, 51:15
- O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Psalm 104:24
- Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south? Job 39:26
For most of us as Christians we would associate the entity through whom God made all things as the "Word." Yet, it is identified as wisdom here. It seems as if there two schools of thought over time, one that emphasized the Word as a potentially divine agent within the God-head; another that emphasized Wisdom as a potentially divine agent within the God-head. Both existed without great conflict, or at least, I cannot find any conflict.
The New Testament seems to break in the direction of the Word tradition. It is the Word through which all things were made (John 1). In fact, it is a bit pointless to find quotes explaining the importance of the Word within the New Testament understanding of God. They are everywhere.
Yet the idea of a personified and feminine Wisdom remains. There are a number of reflections on God's wisdom (notable 1 Corinthians 1). Most importantly for this post, there are some strange verses about a seemingly personified Wisdom:
- Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,' so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, Luke 11:49-50
- ...for I will give you words and (the) wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. Luke 21:15 (note the indefinite article in front of "a wisdom" is not in the Greek, although the lack of a definite article could allow one to translate it with "a")
- The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! Matthew 12:42
- And there verse from this week's pericope: "Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." Matthew 11:19
Where does this leave us? Well, one can go all sorts of ways with this. One can identify wisdom with the Spirit, allowing for a feminization of the Spirit. One can identify wisdom with the Word and therefore Jesus, allowing for a feminization of Jesus. Like all things with wisdom, it takes a bit of work to process!
One last connection to reflect on. Jesus ends this section of teaching in Matthew's Gospel with an invitation to come to him, all who are weary. Likewise, Woman Wisdom extends an invitation as well:
- "You that are simple, turn in here!" To those without sense she says, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight." Proverbs 9:4-6
And Proverbs nearly ends with someone complaining of their weariness:
- Thus says the man: I am weary, O God, I am weary, O God. How can I prevail? Surely I am too stupid to be human; I do not have human understanding. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the holy ones. Proverbs 30:1-3
That weary man must return to wisdom, as the weary in Matthew's Gospel must return to Jesus. So don't discard the association of Woman Wisdom and Jesus too quickly...Like I said, Jesus may be willing to make things abundantly clear, but the Wisdom of God will always take a bit more wrestling to achieve and understand.
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πραΰς (meaning "gentle", 11:29) This word has a fascinating history of modern translation and interpretation. Some wanted to use this word to emphasize a feminine nature of Christ; others, in response, then found ways to make this word actually refer to "war horses" emphasizing the masculine nature of "gentleness. "
For an excellent article rebuffing this connection between warhorses and gentleness, see this article:
Two things notable about what this author addresses:
First, how much the internet possesses a "hive" mentality; people circularly cite that gentle was a macho characteristic of warhorses without digging into the original citations
Second, she offers this great quote by Aristotle:
“Now we praise a man who feels anger on the right grounds and against the right persons, and also in the right manner and at the right moment and for the right length of time. He may then be called gentle-tempered (πρᾶος/ praos), if we take gentleness (πραότης/ praotēs) to be a praiseworthy quality—for ‘gentle’ (πρᾶος/ praos) really denotes a calm temper, not led by emotion but only becoming angry in such a manner, for such causes and for such a length of time as principle may ordain although the quality is thought rather to err on the side of defect, since the ‘gentle-tempered man’ (πρᾶος/ praos) is not prompt to seek redress for injuries, but rather inclined to forgive them.”
It highlights, as she offers, that Christians viewed forgiveness and humility as GOOD things, but the Greco-Roman world did not. In general, the Greco-Roman world praised NOT being emotional. Passion was to be avoided. Perhaps one can get there through warhorses...but not convinced that is what Jesus is talking about.
Note -- I did not look up the Aristotle quote, but trust her citation:
“Nicomachean Ethics 5.4 (1125b.25-1126a.1)” in Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 19, H. Rackham (transl.) (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, 1934) (Perseus Digital Library here and here.
