Walking in Wisdom

In scripture we read about Wisdom. In the Old Testament and in the New Testament. I have always wondered about Wisdom – the Being. She seems to be highly involved in our lives without us really acknowledging her involvement. Let's take a look at who she is.

Who is Wisdom?

So, let’s start in Proverbs chapter 8.

Let’s look at the English Standard Version (ESV).

1 Does not wisdom call?    Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;3 beside the gates in front of the town,  at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:4 “To you, O men, I call,  and my cry is to the children of man.5 O simple ones, learn prudence;  O fools, learn sense.

In the beginning of Proverbs 8:1-5 Wisdom is calling us. Understanding is also raising her voice. She wants us to learn prudence (the ability to govern and discipline oneself through reason, showing careful good judgment and caution to avoid unnecessary risks). Are these actually two different beings?

It’s actually a Hebraic poetic device. Where restatement is a synonymous parallelism. Yes, we are geeking out again.

What's happening grammatically in verses 1-5?

• v.1 — "Does not wisdom (chokmah) call out? Does not understanding (tebunah) raise her voice?" This is synonymous parallelism, the standard Hebrew poetic device where the second line restates the first with a different word for emphasis, not a different character. Tebunah comes from the root bin — "to discern, to separate mentally," the capacity to distinguish good from harmful, true from false. So verse 1 isn't introducing two figures (Wisdom and her attendant Understanding) — it's using two names for the same voice calling out, the way Hebrew poetry often doubles a noun for weight and depth rather than for headcount. 

• v.5 — "You who are simple, gain prudence (ormah)." This word is different in root from tebunah,. Ormah comes from arum — the very same root used in Genesis 3:1 for the serpent, who "was more crafty (arum) than any other beast of the field." It's a word for shrewdness, cunning, the ability to read a situation and respond skillfully. Used of the serpent, it's sinister; here, Wisdom offers it as a gift to the simple. The very capacity that made the serpent dangerous is the capacity Wisdom wants to hand to the naive, so they're no longer easily deceived.

A lot of times from the pulpit, we hear of Wisdom and her “handmaidens”. In reality, it is just Wisdom stated differently-using Hebrew poetry - synonymous parallelism.

Wisdom in Proverbs 8 —She Was There at the Beginning

Let’s read Proverbs 8:22 and 23 in English Standard Version (ESV):

22 “The LORD possessed 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.”

Now in the New International Version it says:

22 “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old;

23 I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be.”

Note the difference in how the Hebrew word nasak (נָסַךְ) is used. Let’s look at some differences between translations.

Here's a short comparison table:

Translation	Proverbs 8:23 rendering	Sense conveyed
KJV (1611)	"I was set up from everlasting"	Installation / enthronement
ASV / NASB95	"I was established"	Foundational, secure placement
NKJV	"I have been established"	Foundational, secure placement
ESV	"Ages ago I was set up"	Installation / enthronement
LEB	"I was set up from the first"	Installation / enthronement
NIV	"I was formed long ages ago"	Shaping / fashioning (softer)
CSB / HCSB	"I was formed before ancient times"	Shaping / fashioning (softer)
NLT	"I was appointed in ages past"	Commissioning / assignment

So, let me geek out a bit with the Hebrew word nasakti.

Hebrew root: nasak (נָסַךְ) — a word used elsewhere for pouring out a libation (Psalm 16:4), installing/anointing a king (Psalm 2:6), and casting metal (Isaiah 40:19). It's ceremonial and royal language rather than the more common "workshop" verbs for creating (bara) or forming from material (yatsar, used of the potter in Genesis 2:7).

The translations cluster into two camps — "set up / established" (KJV, ESV, NASB, NKJV, LEB) leaning into the enthronement/consecration nuance, versus "formed" (NIV, CSB) leaning softer toward a shaping image. Neither is wrong, but showing the split lets you make the point that Wisdom is being positioned with honor, not merely manufactured.

The underlying Hebrew verb in verse 23 is nasakti, from the root nasak (נָסַךְ). Apparently, this is not the ordinary word for "form" (that would be yatsar, used of the potter shaping clay in Genesis 2:7 and Jeremiah 18) or "create" (bara, Genesis 1:1). Nasak is a much more specific and evocative word. Depending on context elsewhere in the Old Testament, it carries several overlapping senses:

• "To pour out," as in a libation (Psalm 16:4) — a drink offering poured out in consecration

• "To install" or "anoint" a king (Psalm 2:6, "I have set my King on Zion")

• "To cast," as with molten metal — like casting an idol or a decree in bronze (Isaiah 40:19)

So the range of the word seems to sit somewhere between "poured out/consecrated" and "installed/enthroned" — royal, ceremonial language, not workshop language. That's why you see such a spread across translations: KJV, ESV, NASB, and NKJV go with "set up" or "established," which leans toward the installation/enthronement sense; NIV and CSB chose "formed," which leans softer and more toward "shaped into being"; NLT goes with "appointed."

I have found this whole discovery fascinating. Let’s look on further.

1. It's consecration/installation language, not manufacturing language. If the underlying image is a king being set on a throne or a libation being poured out in dedication, then Wisdom in verse 23 isn't being described as raw material being fashioned — she's being described as being installed into a role, given position and authority "before the world began." That fits the larger passage beautifully, since Proverbs 8 goes on to picture Wisdom as a craftsman/master worker (amon, v.30) standing beside God at creation — not as a passive object being made, but as an active, honored presence being set in place.

2. It pairs suggestively with verse 22's "possessed/brought forth" (qanah). Verse 22's qanah is the more theologically contested word in this passage historically (yes, I’m geeking out here) — it's the verse Arius leaned on to argue Wisdom (read: the pre-incarnate Christ) was created, and which Nicene theologians countered by arguing qanah means "possessed" or "begotten," not "made from nothing." Verse 23's nasak adds a second layer to that same argument: if the word really carries connotations of enthronement/consecration rather than fabrication, it reinforces the reading of Wisdom as eternally established rather than manufactured at a point in time.

3. The NIV's "formed" may actually undersell the word a bit. It's not wrong, but it lessens the royal/ceremonial connotation into something closer to yatsar territory, which could unintentionally nudge a reader toward the "shaped like clay" image rather than the "set on a throne / poured out in dedication" image.

My thoughts on all this…

Wisdom was with God, in the beginning, establish by God and firmly placed to help humanity when we ask for help.

In the beginning of Proverbs 8 Wisdom is calling us. She wants us to learn prudence (the ability to govern and discipline oneself through reason, showing careful good judgment and caution to avoid unnecessary risks).

A challenge to my readers: Read Proverbs 8 like a story. Then read it again looking at the character of Wisdom. Ask Father God to show you who Wisdom is to you. How does she incorporate herself in your daily life? Then, ask Wisdom. In James 1:5-6 in the English Standard Version (ESV) it says:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a waive of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind."

So begin your walk with Wisdom by asking what you don't know. Then, step by step, with one foot placed in front of the other, the two of you will begin a wonderful relationship. Even Jesus used the words: Ask and it will be given, Seek and you will find, Knock and the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7.

I believe that as you intentionally ask, seek, and knock on Wisdom's door, your life will begin to flow in a way it hasn't before.