The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 77

bring-s her forwnrd ns the meilium of creation, tion of the waters from the citrth, when "the And henoe in her relation to God. By wisdom, waters were gathered togcthel' unto their (b'kol;/1moh); Vulg1tte, ~11.pienti&; LXX., "'ff own place," as recorded in Gen. i. 9. So crocplf!-. It is evident that Wisdom is here Munster, Zookler, Wnrdletw. But it seema something more than an attribut.e of Jehovah. better to understand it (as Mcrcerus, Lapide, " By ,visdom" me,ms "by, or through, the Dcl!t~sc~, and Authorized Version) of the instrumentality of Wisdom." While the cor- fertlltza~1on of the earth by rivers, streams, responding nnd parallel expressions, "under- etc., which burst forth from the interior of 11tanding," "knowledge," militate against the ~he earth. In this sense the conespondence idea of an h~·postatizing of Wisdom, i.e. 1s preserved with the second hemistich, assigning to Wisdom a concrete and objective where the atmospheric influence is referred personality, yet the language is sufficiently to as conducing to the same end. The strong, when we connect this passage with teacher passes from the creation to the eh. i. e.nd viii., to warr·ant our regarding wonderful means which Jehovah employs Wisdom as something apart from yet inti- through Wisdom to sustain his work. The mately connected with Jehovah, as an active depths (t'homoth)'.; Vulgate, abyssi; LXX,, agency employed by him, and henoe this li/!ucrcro,, are here "the internal water stores description may be looked upon as an antici- of the earth" (Delitzsch), and not the depths pation of that which is more fully developed of the ocean, as in oh. viii. 24, 27, 28, and in in eh. viii., where the characteristics which Gen. i. 2. ,fre broken up ( niv'kau) ; properly, are wanting here Are there worked out at were brolcen tip, niph. perfect of baka, (1) to length. The rabbins evidently connected cleave osunder, (2) to break forth, as water, the passage before us, as well es eh. i. and in Isa. xxxv. 6. The perfect describes a viii., with Gen. i. 1, by rendering b'reshith, past act, but one th1Lt is still continuing in "in the beginning," by b'kokhmah, "by effect. Cf. Vulgate eruperunt, "they burst Wisdom." Our Lord identifies himself with forth;'' LXX., •p~cl.'Y'lcra.v, aorist 2 passive the Divine Sophia, or Wisdom (Lnke xi. of ~~'Y"uµ.,, "to burst forth," Targum, rupti 49). And the language of St. John, "All sunt; and Eiyriao, ruptm BU,nt. The idea of things were made by him, and without him division or separation is present, but it is not was not anything made the.t was made" the predominant idea. There seems to be (John i. 3), which assigns to the Logos, or no allusion here either to the Deluge (Beda), Word of God. i.e. Christ, the act of creation nor to the cleaving of the waters of the Red ( cf. John i. 10, and especially the language of Sea (Gejerus), though both of these historical St. Paul, in Col. i. 16), argues in favour of events were undoubtedly well known to the the view of some commentators who under- teacher. And the clouds drop down the dew. ~tand Wisdom to refer to the Second Person 1'he clouds · (sh'kl,akim) are properly the of the Trinity. The Logos was understood ether, the higher and colder regions of the by Alexun<lrian Judai8m to express the atmosphere, and then "the clouds," as in manifestation of the unseen God, the Absolute Ps. lxxvii. 15, which nre formed by the con- Being, in the creation and government of densation of vapours drawn by sola.r influence the world; and the Christian teachers, when from the surface of tho earth-sens, rivers, they adopted this term, assigned to it a etc. The singular shakhalc signifies "dust," "oncrete m~aning as indicating the Incarnate and secondly "a cloud," evidently from the Word (s<e Bishop Lightfoot, in Col. i. 15). minute particles of moisture of which o For the passoge, see Ps. xxxiii. 6; civ. 24; cloud is composed. Drop down (yir' aphu, c=xvi. 5; and especially Jer. x. 12, "He kal future of raaph, used as a present or bath established the world by his wisdom," imperfect); LXX:., fp~{rr,cro.Y, "let flow." The etc.; li. 55; Ecclus. xxiv. 2, seq. Hath clouds discharge their contents in showers, or founded (yaBad); Vulgate, f•~ndavit; LXX., distil at evening in refreshing dew, Modern •8•µ.•11.ic,,cr•. The same verb is used in Job science agrees with the meteorologio!Ll foct .:xxxviii. 4; Ps. xxiv. 2; lxxviii. 69, of the here alluded to, of the reciproool action of creation of the earth by God. While the the heavens and the earth. The moisture primary meaniQg of yasad is "to give fixity drawn from the earth returns again II to to," " to lay fast," that of konen, rendered water the earth, that it may bring forth 1md "he bath established," is "to set up," "to bud, to give seed to the sower, and bread to erect," and so "to found," from kun, or the eater" (Iso., Iv. 10). Dew; tal, here referring to the Arabic and Ethiopic cognate used not only of dew, but of rain in gentlo root, "to exist," "to give existence to," and fructifying showers. The Arobio word The marg-inal reading, "prepared," corre- signifies" light ro.in:" LXX., Bp&crov,, "dew." sponds with the LXX. 1-roCµ.a.cr,. The Vul- Mobes, in describing the blessing of lsmel, gate is suihilivit, "he bath established." snys, "His heavens shall drop down dew" Yer. 20.-Byhisknowledgethe depths are in the some senso (Dent. xxxviii. 28; cf. broken up. This is u~ually taken ~o refer Job xxxvi. 28), The fertilization of the to tliut priIBary act in creation, the sepnra,- eorth is ordered by the Divine Wii;<lom. oa. un 1-35.] THE PROVERBS. 63