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Wisdom be pronounced the perpetual delight of God, in so emphatic a manner as it is in this passage, without inducing us to think of "the beloved Son?" When Wisdom is represented as rejoicing in his sight, does it not naturally lead us to think of a distinct Person? Is it not inconsistent to affirm of an attribute of God, that it at all times rejoices in his sight? When we add, likewise, that this Wisdom was the "fabricator" of the world, and learn, from other parts of Scripture, that all things were made by the Son, how can we hesitate to regard it as a description of the eternal Logos?

31. Rejoicing in his whole creation]-When the Triune God had finished the work of creation, he “ saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”—(Gen. i. 31.) Every thing answered the end for which it was made, and the almighty Architect viewed his work with pleasure and approbation. He rejoiced in the whole creation; yet his peculiar delight is in mankind, the noblest of his creatures; and when we reflect upon all that he has done for us, his protection, mercy, sanctification, and redemption, we must acknowledge, that although "he is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works," (Ps. cxlv. 9,) yet he has been particularly gracious to man, whom he created" in his image, after his likeness."-(Gen. i. 26.)

his whole creation]-an does not mean "the cultivated parts of the earth," as some suppose, but the whole world, ver. 26; Ps. xviii. 15, l. 12, lxxxix. 11, xciii. 1; Isaiah, xxxiv. 1; Jer. x. 12, li. 15; though in other passages it has a more restricted sense, as Isaiah, xiii. 11, xiv. 17, xxiv. 4; Ps. xxiv. 1. It is joined with Ps Ps. xc. 2, and exactly as in the present instance Job, xxxvii. 12, rendered by Dathe and Rosenmuller "per totum terrarum orbem;" and so it should be translated here," the whole world," or "the whole creation."

The whole world is said to be his, (i. e. God the Father's,) on account of the privilege which the Father hath by reason of his divine Paternity. See the note on verse 24.

32. And now, O children, &c.]-It is not certain whether this and the following verses are spoken by hypostatical Wisdom; or whether the royal sage descends from the contemplation of the eternal Logos, and again introduces abstract wisdom personified. The terms employed are suitable to both; but it seems more probable, that, as the magnificent delineation of the Son was preceded by a personification of wisdom, as it were the harbinger of the mighty Being that was to follow; so, after the disappearance of that august Personage, it is not unlikely that abstract wisdom should be again introduced. As this, however, is a point of minor importance, and as the foregoing interpretation of verses 12-31 is nowise affected by the decision, it may be safely left to the opinion of each individual reader.

33. And reject it not]-This line seems defective, as Dimock observes; or rather, perhaps, the verse constitutes only one line, thrown in, as it were parenthetically, between verses 32 and 34.

34. Watching daily at my gates]-No one can be at a loss about the meaning, but it is not easy to say whence the imagery is taken; whether from the practice of lovers, who watch at the doors of their mistresses; (Job, xxxi. 9;) or of ministers at the palaces of sovereigns; or of pupils waiting at and earnestly frequenting the schools of their preceptors; or of clients who watch at the doors of their advocates and patrons, if such habits of life obtained at the age of Solomon: or whether it is not an allusion either to the door of the tabernacle, where the people of Israel assembled for worship; or to the gates of the temple, where the priests and Levites

watched, Exod. xxix. 42; Ps. c. 4, cxxii. 2.-(See Gill's Bible.) Some translate "pw and “ad invigilandum," "ad observandum," as Schultens; or "ut vigilet," as Le Clerc, Michalis, Not. Uber.; but better by the LXX,

αγρυπνων, τέρων.

36. But he that wanders from me]-Non, in its primary sense, is aberrare a scopo vel via, as in Arabic, conj. 4. -(See Schultens on Job, v. 24, and Opera Minora, p. 14.) Hence on means my wanderer, i. e. he who wanders

from me. Dr. Hodgson says, "when this word is used for sinning against it is followed by a preposition;" but it means sinning against or injuring with an accusative without a preposition ch. xx. 2. The Polyglott versions also render it like our authorized version, " he that sinneth against me;" but they may have understood it elliptically for by sun, as 'pp Ps. xviii. 40, for hy 'pp. The meaning of these versions appears to be, That he who sins against wisdom, by rejecting her counsel, and deserting her paths, injures his soul; adikes Luxmv avrov, Aquila, Symmachus.

love death]-That is, act in the same way as if they loved death; since by wandering from wisdom they subject themselves to misery and death. "Hoc est, ita se gerit, quasi mortem amaret et vitæ præferret; cum a legum neglectu, nihil nisi malum nascatur, et sæpe etiam misera, ac immatura mors."-Le Clerc.

It may not be improper, at the end of this noble chapter, to recapitulate our conclusions. From some characters attributed to the Wisdom described verses 12—31, and it is only that portion of the chapter to which these observations relate, it was inferred, that it has reference to the Divine Nature; and if so, it must be either an attribute, or one of the Persons in the ever-blessed Trinity. In the course of a

minute examination, several circumstances were pointed out, which can by no means belong to an attribute. An attribute cannot be the beginning, origin, or efficient cause of God's operation in the work of creative power; it cannot be born; it cannot be by or near the Deity; it cannot rejoice in his sight; it cannot be called the fabricator or framer of the world; by all which characters Primæval Wisdom is designated.

On the other hand, after a full investigation, not one single expression has been found incompatible with the character and attributes of the divine Logos; and this would be a most astonishing circumstance, if an attribute had been the subject of the representation. But several ascriptions of personal acts have been discovered, which cannot be accounted for by the nature of figurative language. Thus Wisdom is said to hate, (ver. 13,) to love, (ver. 17,) to have power, (ver. 14,). to appoint kings and princes, (ver. 15, 16,) and we know that "the powers that be are ordained of God."-(Rom. xiii. 1.) Should it still be argued, that some of these may be accounted for on the grounds of Oriental prosopopœia; yet when it is added, that Wisdom was by or near the Deity, and rejoices in his sight, it must be acknowledged, that these imply a personality which can only belong to a real, subsisting Being.

Some particulars, also, have been discovered, which can only be affirmed of the second Person in the Trinity. As, for instance, Wisdom is declared to have been produced by an eternal generation; (ver. 22, 24, 25;) to have been anointed, set apart and ordained to certain offices, and invested with power and dignity from everlasting; (ver. 23;) and to have been the efficient cause or creator of the world, (ver. 22, 30.) When we reflect, likewise, that our blessed Lord is characterized by similar qualities, and in similar terms, in other places of the holy Scriptures, we are surely justified in the

conclusion, that such a description was designed by the Spirit to carry our thoughts beyond the contemplation of abstract wisdom, even to the coeternal and consubstantial Word.

Our confidence in this conclusion will be strengthened, should it appear to be sanctioned by the authority of Jewish and Christian antiquity. As the subject is important, and the inquiry may be amusing, perhaps useful, I shall endeavour to collect the prevailing sentiments of the primitive ages in regard to the passage under consideration.

The sacred writings of the New Testament offer themselves, in the first place, to our examination, since, if the apostles and evangelists have applied the eighth chapter of Proverbs to our blessed Lord, either by express reference or evident allusion, its application to him will be confirmed by an authority altogether decisive. No express reference, it must be acknowledged, can be found; but it seems to be alluded to in a way which tacitly implies such an application. Our Saviour styles himself the " Wisdom of God" Luke, xi. 49, as is evident by comparing the parallel passage in Matt. xxiii. 34.-(See Wolfii Curæ Philol. in loc.) St. Paul likewise, in 1 Cor. i. 24, calls him the "Wisdom of God." It scarcely admits of doubt, that the apostles, from their familiar acquaintance with, and great veneration for the Hebrew Scriptures, would adopt those titles of Christ by which he is there characterized. Is it not probable, then, in styling him "Wisdom" they alluded to Proverbs, where he is distinguished by that appellation? If this be granted, they certainly understood Solomon's picture of Wisdom as relating to the Son of God. Some, moreover, have thought, that the title of our Lord in the beginning of St. John's Gospel is an allusion to this chapter of Proverbs, that which in the former is called o Xoyoc being in the latter n oopia.-(Campbell's Transl. of the Gospels, note in loc.) While I readily accede to Dr. Campbell's observation, that "there is such a coincidence

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