I meant to read Psalms but I flipped too far and read Proverbs 8. It is a long chapter. I returned to Psalm 8 – not as long. What was interesting in the Proverbs passage, discussing wisdom, is the pronouns. Wisdom is personified as she. In a lifetime of feminist teachings I chuckled and thought about how many unwise men I have met in my life. The female personification of wisdom in Proverbs is surprising and varied, leading scholars to draw correlations to ancient goddesses worshipped at the time of writing. It is interesting that a woman’s voice be elicited in a male-dominated era in history. The “wisdom literature” in the Bible uses the Hebrew grammar where wisdom is a feminine noun. I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons and assuming that every cat was a girl and every dog was a boy. This is a function of language. In many languages a piece of fruit is feminine because it has a seed. Who decides this stuff? I like the idea that, by virtue of being female, I might have a better chance at being wise. There is also the language of wisdom in the Book of Job. Here wisdom is a neutral word. Job is holding on to his belief in God’s faithfulness and confidence in His wisdom. Job 28:28 says, “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'” In earlier verses of Chapter 28, I’m summarizing, wisdom is only found in God’s mind, not on earth…”But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?…God understands the way to it and He knows its place”. I did enjoy this segway by simply losing my place in God’s word! Oh, and do read Psalm 8 on God’s glory and Man’s Dignity.
