Proverbs Chapter 8 verse 30 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 30. - Then I was by him. Wisd. 9:9, "Wisdom was with thee; which knoweth thy works, and was present when thou madest the world." So John 1:2, "The Word was with God." As one brought up with him; Vulgate, cuncta componens; Septuagint, Ημην παρ αὐτῷ ἁρμόζουσα, "I was with him arranging things in harmony." The Hebrew word is אָמון (amon), "an artificer," "workman" (Jeremiah 52:15). Thus in Wisd. 7:22 Wisdom is called ἡ πάντων τεχνῖτις, "the worker of all things." The Authorized Version takes the word in a passive state, as equivalent to alumnus, "foster child." and this interpretation is etymologically admissible, and may possibly, as Schultens suggests, be glanced at in St. John's expression (John 1:18), "the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father." But as the point here is the creative energy of Wisdom, it is best to take the term as denoting "artificer." It will then accord with the expression δημιουργὸς, applied by the Fathers to the Word of God, by whom all things were made (Ephesians 3:9, Textus Receptus, and Hebrews 1:2). And I was daily his delight; literally, I was delights day by day, which may mean either as in Authorized Version, or "I had delight continually," i.e. it may signify (1) either that God took pleasure in the wisdom which displayed his workmanship, saw that it was very good (Genesis 1:4, etc.), looked with delight on the beloved Son in whom he was well pleased (Matthew 3:17, etc.); or (2) it may mean that Wisdom herself rejoiced in her power and her work, rejoiced in giving effect to the Creator's idea, and so "founding the earth" (Proverbs 3:19). Vulgate, delectabar per singulos dies. The Septuagint adopts the former of these views, "I was that wherein he took delight." But the second interpretation seems most suitable, as the paragraph is stating rather what Wisdom is in herself than what she was in the eyes of Jehovah. What follows is a parallel. Rejoicing always before him; Vulgate, ludens coram eo omni tempore, as though the work of creation was a sport and pastime of a happy holiday. The expression is meant to denote the ease with which the operations were performed, and the pleasure which their execution yielded. David uses the same word, speaking of his dancing before the ark, when he says. "Therefore will I play before the Lord" (2 Samuel 6:21; comp. Proverbs 10:23).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(30) As one brought up with him--i.e., his foster child; as Mordecai "brought up" Esther (Esther 2:7). But the word may also bear the sense of "artificer." It probably occurs in this meaning in Jeremiah 52:15 (though translated "multitude," in accordance with 2Kings 25:11), and in a slightly different form, Song of Solomon 7:1. This meaning is much more suitable, and harmonises with Psalm 104:24; Psalm 136:5, and Hebrews 1:2. . . .