Exegesis sobre Proverbios 8:22
Algunos líderes religiosos alegan que Proverbios 8:22 es una simple alusión a la sabiduría y no tiene nada que ver con Jesucristo, el motivo principal de que rechacen este texto se basa en la clara muestra de la sabiduría es creada o producida por Dios (y por ende enseña que Jesús tuvo un origen), lo cual contradice la doctrina de la trinidad. Sin embargo la realidad es que este texto nos enseña una idea fundamental que armoniza con las escrituras, que Jesús si tuvo un origen, o fue creado, analicemos a continuación los motivos por los cuales planteamos esto:
Primero analicemos Proverbios 8:22:
Yahvé me creó, primicia de su actividad, antes de sus obras antiguas. (BJ)
Yahweh me creó al comienzo de su acción, antes que sus obras más antiguas. (CAB)
Dios fue quien me creó. Me formó desde el principio, desde antes de crear el mundo. (TLA)
The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. (NRSV)
Jehová mismo me produjo como el principio de su camino, el más temprano de sus logros de mucho tiempo atrás. (TNM)
Sin duda muchos concuerdan con la idea que se presenta de algo que llega a ser creado o producido en estos versículos de texto hebreo.
“Prov. 8:22f, in which Wisdom is created before all things and delights in God… Wisdom is created like human beings but is a part of the creative process and is the mediator of wisdom between God and humanity.” (The Blackwell companion to the Hebrew Bible / edited by Leo G. Perdue, pg. 420, 2001)
"Ya en el libro de los Proverbios (cf. Prov. 8,22, citado anteriormente), la sabiduría de Dios ha dejado de referirse exclusivamente a la cualidad de ser sabio. La sabiduría posee una existencia independiente con respecto a Dios, a la vez que incluye una relación con el mundo creado... y la Sabiduría se va convirtiendo progresivamente en un ser personal al lado de Dios y frente al mundo creado" (El Evangelio según San Juan, Escrito por Ch. K. Barrett, Charles Kingsley Barret, pg. 231,232, 2003)
The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways, for the sake of his works. (A NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE SEPTUAGINT, Oxford University Press)
The LORD created me as the first of his creations, before all of his works (The Deluxe Study Edition of the Modern New Testament from the Aramaic, Aramaic Bible Society)
Notamos que la idea de que dicho texto propone que la sabiduría fue creada o producida está bastante clara en muchas traducciones, y en las últimas dos citas queda claro que posee el respaldo de las traducciones al griego (LXX) y al arameo (peshitta) que utilizan términos que implican un significado de “crear” (implicando que ese algo tuvo un comienzo). Incluso posteriormente en el siglo 4to y 5to, el sentido en el que entendían dicho término aquellos que apoyaron el concilio de Nicea y posteriores seguía siendo el mismo, lo que variaba, era la aplicación del pasaje, como encontramos en las Confesiones de Augustín en el libro 7: "What is a human wretch to do? Who will free him from this death-laden body, if not your grace, given through Jesus Christ our Lord, whom you have begotten coeternal with yourself and created at the beginning of all your works? [127] -> "Prov . 8:22 , “ The Lord created me at the beginning of his ways , ” had been an important text in the Christological debates concerning Christ's divinity of the early fourth century. Augustine here applies it to Christ's humanity." (Christ Meets Me Everywhere, Augustine's Early Figurative Exegesis, Michael Cameron, Associate Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Portland in Oregon, pg. 342, 2012), "See Prv 8:22. The Arians had appealed to this verb "created" in support of their doctrine of the subordination of the Son; Augustine in common with Athanasius, Ambrose, and others interprets it of Christ's humanity." (The Confessions of Saint Augustine Villanova Edition for Students and Teachers, Alan Fitzgerald, Noël Dolan, Paul Camacho, 2021).
Ahora pasemos a analizar que pensaban los escritores del NT respecto a este versículo:
El apóstol Juan, escritor de su propio evangelio, algunas cartas y el libro de revelación sin duda estaba de acuerdo al identificar a la sabiduría (sophia) de proverbios con la palabra (logos haciendo referencia a Jesús), puesto que compuso la introducción a su propio evangelio (Juan 1:1) basándose en proverbios 8:22 en adelante (nótese también que los conceptos de palabra y sabiduría están muy relacionados), basta leer ambos textos para darse cuenta de ello, por este motivo el apóstol Juan es un fiel testigo de que proverbios 8:22 tiene mucho que enseñarnos a cerca de Jesucristo (también hacen referencia en Rev. 3:14). Lo mismo sucede, aun que de manera un poco menos notable con los escritores de los otros evangelios.
"John 1:1,14. The Christology of the prologue, with its obvious echoes of the figure of divine wisdom (Prov 8; Sir 24;Wis 7)" (Essays on John and Hebrews, Escrito por Harold W. Attridge, pg. 9, 2010)
"Many scholars see personified Wisdom of the Jewish tradition behind John's Logos. As she appears in Proverbs 8:22-36 and other Jewish wisdom literature, Wisdom existed in the beginning before creation of the earth. Like John's Logos, she is compared to light, and like Jesus in John, she speaks in long discourses." (An introduction to the New Testament and the origins of Christianity, Escrito por Delbert Royce Burkett, pg. 220, 2002)
“Christ is Logos, wisdom and truth. (THE SPIRITUAL GOSPEL, MAURICE F. WILES, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, pg. 92, 2006)
“And the Gospel of John identifies him with God’s ‘word’, a term which had developed in Judaism along similar lines to ‘wisdom’ (Ps. 33:6; Isa. 55:10–11; John 1:1–14).” (COMPANION ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEOLOGY, pg. 169, 1995)
“Bultmann (1967) has demonstrated the influence of the wisdom tradition over John’s prologue, not only through the personification of Wisdom” (Encyclopedia of Christian theology / Jean-Yves Lacoste, pg. 1720, 2005)
“but Jesus is proclaimed as the divine Logos or Word, who has become incarnate (John 1:1-18). This interpretation was served by the personification of wisdom (Prov. 8; Ecclus. 24; Bar. 3:9-4:4; Wisd. of Sol. 7-9).” (The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition, PAUL J. ACHTEMEIER, Th.D., Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, pg. 1215, 1996)
"Es seguro que el versículo inicial de Juan trata de reproducir el primer versículo de Genesis; y también es probable que refleje el comienzo del evangelio según Marcos. Es más, dado el paralelismo entre Logos y Sabiduría (véase más adelante), también se puede pensar en una alusión a Prov 8,22." (El Evangelio según San Juan, Escrito por Ch. K. Barrett, Charles Kingsley Barret, pg. 229, 2003)
"In [the] beginning [Proverbs 8:22 LXX] the Word existed, and the Word faced toward the Supreme Deity, [Exodus 4:16 LXX] and the Word was god-like." (Nazarene Commentary, Escrito por Mark Heber Miller, pg. 477,478, 2010)
"In biblical and Jewish tradition, this Word was closely associated with,
and sometimes identified with, the creative Wisdom of God" (e.g. Prov. 8:22;" (The People's New Testament Commentary, Escrito por M. Eugene Boring,Fred B. Craddock, pg. 289, 2010)
"The allusions to Genesis 1:1 and Proverbs 8:22 would imply the Logos was the first of the Supreme Deity's creations." (Nazarene Commentary, Escrito por Mark Heber Miller, pg 479, 2010)
"The role of the Logos is parallel to that of divine Wisdom in the late Old Testament" (New Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament, Escrito por Daniel Durken, pg. 311, 2009)
"Early Christians gave their own answer to the question where wisdom is to be found-not in the Rorah, but in Jesus... The Gospel of John, for example, drew on 8:22 to portray Jesus as Wisdom incarnate. as Wisdom was with God "at the beginning," so Jesus is the word/wisdom "in the beginning," (John 1:1) with the Father before the world existed (John 17:5). John combines Gen. 1:1 and Prov. 8:22-23." (Proverbs: A Commentary, Escrito por Richard Clifford, pg. 98, 1999)
“These titles, which may have been inspired by Proverbs 8:22, are also found in Colossians 1:15 and Revelation 3:14, where they are applied to the person of Christ. Bultmann (1967) has demonstrated the influence of the wisdom tradition over John’s prologue, not only through the personification of Wisdom” (Encyclopedia of Christian theology / Jean-Yves Lacoste, pg. 1720, 2005)
Como primera posible alusión al respecto tenemos en el evangelio de Mateo el primer relacionamiento entre la Sabiduría y Cristo, como notamos a continuación en Mateo 11:19:
(Christology, Controversy, and Community, Supplements to Novum Testamentum, David G. Horrell, Ph.D. (1994), University of Cambridge, is Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Exeter. Christopher M. Tuckett, Ph.D. (1979), University of Lancaster, is Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Oxford, pg. 128, 2000)
(A critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew Vol. 2, William David Davies was Professor of Advanced Studies and Research in Christian Origins at Duke University, Dale C. Allison (PhD, Duke University) is the Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 1991)
“In Matt. 11:2-19, and Luke 7:18-35 Jesus is implicitly designated as wisdom (cf. Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22). What appears as a threat by wisdom in Luke 11:49-51 is a means for Matthew to identify Jesus with wisdom (Matt. 23:34-36). Like wisdom in Proverbs 8, Jesus issues an invitation to all to follow him and take up his yoke (Matt. 11:28-30).”
(The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition, PAUL J. ACHTEMEIER, Th.D., Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, pg. 1215, 1996)
Algo todavía más claro es lo que nos muestra el apóstol Pablo en sus cartas, identificando no solo en contexto, sino directamente a la sabiduría de Proverbios con Jesús, demostrando así que la idea de relacionar a la sabiduría con el Cristo está fundamentada en las escrituras, y esto va mas allá cuando lo llama primogénito de la creación, o la primera criatura creada aludiendo a Proverbios.
1Corintios 1:30 De él, pues, vosotros sois en Cristo Jesús, que nos fué hecho sabiduría de parte de Dios: justicia y santificación y redención, (NT PB)
1Corintios 1:30 Mas por obra suya estáis vosotros en Cristo Jesús, el cual se hizo para nosotros sabiduría de Dios, y justificación, y santificación, y redención, (LBLA)
1Corintios 1:24 En cambio para los llamados, tanto judíos como griegos, Cristo es poder y sabiduría de Dios (RV 1995)
1Corintios 1:24 mas para los llamados, lo mismo judíos que griegos, un Mesias, fuerza de Dios y sabiduría de Dios. (CJ)
Colosenses 1:15 el cual es la imagen del Dios invisible, el primogénito de toda la creación (VM)
Colosenses 1:15 El es la imagen de Dios invisible, primogénito de toda criatura;" (NC)
"También Pablo cita y se hace eco del libro... y cuando habla de "Cristo poder de Dios, y sabiduría de Dios", el capítulo 8 de Proverbios le inyecta un sugestivo significado a estas palabras." (Nuevo comentario bíblico, Escrito por Guthrie, Wiseman, J. Alec Motyer, Alan M. Stibbs, pg. 412, 1986)
“In 1:15–20 Paul alludes to Adam as the image of God; however, he does so in his description of Jesus, the second Adam. He also alludes to the creation of wisdom in Prov. 8:22, the firstborn of creation.” (Dictionary for theological interpretation of the Bible / Kevin J. Vanhoozer, pg. 209, 2005)
"For instance, when Paul writes, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Col. 1:15), he is using language from Proverbs 8. Similarly, Revelation 3:14, which refer to Jesus as the “ruler of God’s creation,” evokes the picture of Wisdom’s role at creation. At one point, Jesus himself draws the connection." (An Introduction To the Old Testament, Tremper Longman III and Raymond B. Dillard, pg. 275, 1994)
“Thus, Paul, the earliest Christian writer known to us, already identifies Jesus with ‘wisdom’, which, from being an attribute of God, had long been the subject of personifying or mythologizing tendencies in Judaism (Prov. 8:22ff.; 1 Cor. 1:24).” (COMPANION ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEOLOGY, pg. 169, 1995)
“Interestingly enough, in 1 Cor. 1:24, Paul calls Christ "the wisdom of God," using the Greek term sophia, mentioned above, that has close connections with logos.” (The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition, PAUL J. ACHTEMEIER, Th.D., Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, pg. 1215, 1996)
“Paul applies to the person of Christ what the Old Testament said of the Wisdom* that was present alongside God at the creation of the world and that is mysteriously personified in certain biblical passages (Prv 8:22–31; Jb 28; Bar 3:9–4:6; Eccl 24; Wis 7).” (Encyclopedia of Christian theology / Jean-Yves Lacoste, pg. 288, 2005)
“Wisdom is a serious concern in Paul's dealings with the Corinthians. Here he contrasts their worldly wisdom with the folly of the cross (1 Cor. 1:17-25; cf. 2:6-16) and affirms that Christ is the "wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:24). The OT personification of wisdom seems to lie behind the christological development in Eph. 3:8-10 and Col. 1:15-20. In Col. 4:5 and Eph. 5:15 the Christian is to walk in wisdom, and the "spirit of wisdom" (Eph. 1:17) is a gift from the Father.” (The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition, PAUL J. ACHTEMEIER, Th.D., Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, pg. 1215, 1996)
"New Testament writers have drawn freely from Proverbs to support their teachings. For instance, a number of quotations and allusions are embedded in the New Testament:... The Christ who came to fulfill... also fulfilled the wisdom writings by revealing the fullness of God's wisdom (Matt. 12:42; 1 Cor. 1:24,30; Col. 2:3)" (Old Testament survey: the message, form, and background of the Old Testament, Escrito por William Sanford La Sor, David Allan Hubbard, Frederic William Bush, pg. 470, 1996)
“The Christology of Colossians 1:15–20 draws on ancient poems about preexisting
Wisdom, principally Proverbs 8:22–31. Ephesians 1:8f., 1:12, and 3:10” (Encyclopedia of Christian theology / Jean-Yves Lacoste, pg. 1704, 2005)
"Jesus was being identified as Wisdom. Indeed, Paul seems to make the identification explicit in so many words when he proclaims' Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God' (I Cor. l.24; also 1.30)." (Christology in the Making, 2nd edition, pg. 167, 1992)
"The idea (Vorstellung) of the pre-existence of Jesus came to Paul through Wisdom speculation." (E. Schweizer, 'Herkunft', pg. 109)
Sin duda otro aspecto que nos demuestra que los cristianos de tiempos bíblicos creían que Jesús era la sabiduría personificada en Proverbios es el testimonio de aquellos cristianos de siglos posteriores (los cristianos ante-nicenos). Hallamos en la mayoría de sus escritos gran variedad de citas que identifican a esta sabiduría creada por Dios con el logos que es Cristo.
"Un versículo famoso. La LXX traduce, El señor me creó, igual que la Siríaca. La clara personificación de estos versículos llevó a la mayor parte de los Padres de la Iglesia primitivos a hallar aquí una profecía de Cristo." (El Comentario Biblico Moody: Antiguo Testamento, Escrito por Charles F. Pfeiffer, pg 558, 2003)
"Church Fathers of the second century made use of Jewish allegory and typology to demonstrate that the Old Testament spoke of Christ, and thus that Christ (or the Spirit), interpreted as Wisdom, was always with God the Father." (Proverbs: A Commentary, Escrito por Richard Clifford pg. 98,99, 1999)
"Dialogue with Trypho (61.3-5) of Justin Martyr gave Prov. 8:22 a christological interpretation; the apologist Athenagoras in his Supplication (10.3; ca. 177) followed Justin." (Proverbs: A Commentary, Escrito por Richard Clifford, pg. 99, 1999)
“the Old Testament Christological exegesis of Justin, Athenagoras, and Irenaeus, and of Melito’s concept of antithetical fulfillment. Hippolytus, Contra Noetum (10.4) identifies Logos/Wisdom with the preexistent Christ in Isaiah 40:12 and Proverbs 8:22” (Dictionary of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation, Stanley E. Porter, pg. 259, 2007)
"Among the Fathers most use 'Wisdom' as a synonym for the Incarnate Word or *Logos" (The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, pg. 1755, 1997)
"In verses 24 and 25, Wisdom claims that she was given birth. The emphasis in verses 22-26 is that Wisdom was first on the scene; before the rest of the world was created, God created Wisdom. Early Christians used verse 22 to argue that Wisdom was found in Jesus (cf. John 1:1-2; Col 1:15-16)." (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs, Escrito por Dave Bland, pg 100, 2002)
Pese a toda la evidencia algunos en sus intentos por forzar la doctrina de la trinidad buscan escusas para tratar de alejar a sus feligreses de la verdad bíblica, por ejemplo tratan de argumentar que debido al lenguaje poético de proverbios este no debe ser tomado en cuenta como una enseñanza verdadera sobre Jesús. Sin embargo vale la pena resaltar que si aplicáramos dicho “sistema” tendríamos necesariamente que proponer que libros escritos en prosa como Génesis, el prólogo del evangelio de Juan y otros, son simples alegorías y cuentos que nada tienen que ver con hechos proféticos o reales (lo cual es sencillo demostrar que es absurdo, especialmente para un cristiano).
Podemos concluir entonces que existen demasiadas pruebas en las escrituras y fuera de ellas que nos ayudan a demostrar que los cristianos de tiempos bíblicos entendían proverbios 8:22 como una enseñanza verdadera sobre Cristo, que este fue la primera gloriosa creación de la deidad Yahweh/Jehová.
"Jesus appears... as bearer or speaker if Wisdom, but much more than that as Wisdom itself. As pre-existent Wisdom Jesus Sophia..." (F. Christ, Jesus Sophia, pp. 80, 99, 1 19, 1 35, 1 52, 1 53.)
"At the beginning something may be understood as applying to divine wisdom in general; but toward the close, the wisdom incarnate, in the person of Emmanuel, stands singly and boldly out." (STUDIES IN PROVERBS, Escrito por WILLIAM ARNOT, pg. 150, 1985)
"In a sense wisdom is Christ." (Exploring Proverbs: An Expository Commentary, Volumen 1, Escrito por John Phillips, pg 197, 2002)
"Certainly all the beautiful qualities of wisdom described in Proverbs are seen in Jesus Christ, and His earthly walk is a pattern for God's people to follow (1 John 2:6). The description of wisdom in Proverbs 8:22-31 suggests Jesus Christ as the eternal wisdom of God" (The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament Wisdom and Poetry, Volumen 1, Escrito por Warren W. Wiersbe, pg. 393, 2004)
"or again as the first creation or firstborn 'in or as the beginning of his way" (Christology in the Making, 2nd edition, pg 165, 1992)
“Jesus appears… as Wisdom dispensing life (Prv 8:22” (Encyclopedia of Christian theology / Jean-Yves Lacoste, pg. 207, 2005)
"It is clear therefore that the tradition of (pre-existent) Wisdom has been influential at many points in NT christology." (Christology in the Making, 2nd edition, pg. 167, 1992)
“Cristo personificado en la justicia que se cita en <200822>Proverbios 8:22.” (DICCIONARIO BÍBLICO MUNDO HISPANO, J. D. DOUGLAS MERRILL C. TENNEY, pg. 991, 1997)
"In the early Christian tradition there already was an association between Jesus and the personified Wisdom" (An Introduction to the Bible: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts, Escrito por David M. Carr, Colleen M. Conway, pg. 296, 2010)
