Proverbs 8:30
Then I was a skilled craftsman at His side, and His delight day by day, rejoicing always in His presence.
Then I was
This phrase introduces a reflective and personal account, suggesting a presence and participation in the divine act of creation. The Hebrew word for "I" here is "אָנֹכִי" (anokhi), which is often used in the Old Testament to denote a personal and intimate involvement. This sets the stage for understanding the speaker, traditionally interpreted as Wisdom personified, as an active participant in God's creative work.

a skilled craftsman
The Hebrew term "אָמֹן" (amon) is translated as "skilled craftsman" or "master workman." This word conveys the idea of an artisan or architect, someone who is not only skilled but also integral to the process of creation. In the context of Proverbs, Wisdom is portrayed as having a foundational role in the order and beauty of the universe, reflecting God's own creative genius.

at His side
The phrase "at His side" indicates proximity and partnership. The Hebrew "אֵצֶל" (etzel) suggests closeness and collaboration. This imagery reinforces the intimate relationship between God and Wisdom, highlighting Wisdom's role as a co-worker in creation, emphasizing the harmony and unity in the divine plan.

and His delight
The word "delight" comes from the Hebrew "שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים" (sha'ashu'im), which implies joy and pleasure. This suggests that Wisdom is not only functional but also a source of joy to God. The presence of Wisdom brings satisfaction and happiness to the Creator, indicating the value and beauty of Wisdom in God's eyes.

day by day
This phrase emphasizes continuity and constancy. The Hebrew "יוֹם יוֹם" (yom yom) suggests a daily, ongoing relationship. It implies that Wisdom's presence and role are not temporary but perpetual, underscoring the eternal nature of Wisdom in the divine order.

rejoicing always
The Hebrew word "מְשַׂחֶקֶת" (mesacheket) is translated as "rejoicing," which conveys a sense of joy and celebration. This word suggests an active, exuberant joy that is continuous ("always"). It reflects the delight and satisfaction found in the presence of God, highlighting the joy that comes from being aligned with divine purpose.

in His presence
The phrase "in His presence" is derived from the Hebrew "לְפָנָיו" (lefanav), meaning "before Him" or "in front of Him." This indicates a direct and intimate relationship with God. Being in God's presence is portrayed as the ultimate place of joy and fulfillment, where Wisdom finds its true expression and purpose.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Wisdom
Personified in Proverbs 8, Wisdom is depicted as a divine attribute or being that was present with God during creation. Wisdom is portrayed as a skilled craftsman, indicating an active role in the creative process.

2. God (The LORD)
The Creator who delights in Wisdom. The relationship between God and Wisdom is intimate and collaborative, highlighting the divine nature of Wisdom.

3. Creation
The context of Proverbs 8 is the creation of the world, where Wisdom is described as being present and active alongside God.
Teaching Points
The Divine Nature of Wisdom
Wisdom is not merely an abstract concept but is portrayed as a divine attribute that is integral to God's nature and work. As believers, we are called to seek and value divine wisdom in our lives.

The Joy of Creation
The passage highlights the joy and delight in the creative process. We are encouraged to find joy in our work and creativity, seeing them as reflections of God's creative nature.

The Presence of God
Wisdom rejoices in God's presence, reminding us of the importance of living in constant awareness of and communion with God. Our daily lives should be marked by a sense of God's presence and delight.

Christ as Wisdom
Understanding Christ as the embodiment of divine wisdom can deepen our relationship with Him. We are called to follow Christ, who is the ultimate expression of God's wisdom.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the personification of Wisdom in Proverbs 8:30 enhance our understanding of God's creative work?

2. In what ways can we seek to embody the "skilled craftsman" aspect of Wisdom in our daily lives and work?

3. How does the relationship between God and Wisdom in Proverbs 8 inform our understanding of the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ?

4. What practical steps can we take to cultivate a sense of joy and delight in God's presence, as Wisdom does?

5. How can the connection between Wisdom in Proverbs 8 and the Logos in John 1 influence our approach to studying and applying Scripture in our lives?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 1
The creation account in Genesis parallels the role of Wisdom in Proverbs 8, emphasizing the order and intentionality in creation.

John 1:1-3
The Word, which is with God and is God, is involved in creation, similar to the role of Wisdom in Proverbs 8. This connection suggests a link between Wisdom and the Logos (Word) in the New Testament.

Colossians 1:16-17
Christ is described as the agent of creation, which aligns with the depiction of Wisdom as a craftsman in Proverbs 8, suggesting a Christological interpretation of Wisdom.
Christ's Eternal FelicityFrancis Taylor, B. D.Proverbs 8:30
Eternal Wisdom Rejoicing in the Events to be RevealedR. S. McAll, LL. D.Proverbs 8:30
The Happiness of Christ Antecedent to His IncarnationProverbs 8:30
Wisdom and ChristAlexander MaclarenProverbs 8:30
Christ the Wisdom of God: No. 2W. Clarkson Proverbs 8:22-31
The Excellency of Divine Wisdom: No. 3W. Clarkson Proverbs 8:22-31
The Autobiography of WisdomD. Thomas, D. D.Proverbs 8:22-36
Wisdom in Eternity and in TimeE. Johnson Proverbs 8:22-36
Wisdom the First Creation of GodR. F. Horton, D. D.Proverbs 8:22-36
People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Always, Beside, Craftsman, Daily, Delight, Filled, Master, Nursling, Playing, Presence, Rejoicing, Workman
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Proverbs 8:30

     1325   God, the Creator

Proverbs 8:1-32

     8365   wisdom, human

Proverbs 8:22-31

     1180   God, wisdom of
     4006   creation, origin
     5272   craftsmen

Proverbs 8:30-31

     1070   God, joy of
     5830   delight

Library
Wisdom's Gift
'That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance.'--PROVERBS viii. 21. The word here rendered 'substance' is peculiar. Indeed, it is used in a unique construction in this passage. It means 'being' or 'existence,' and seems to have been laid hold of by the Hebrew thinkers, from whom the books commonly called 'the Wisdom Books' come, as one of their almost technical expressions. 'Substance' may be used in our translation in its philosophical meaning as the supposed reality underlying appearances,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Wisdom and Christ
'Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31. Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.'--PROVERBS viii. 30, 31. There is a singular difference between the two portions of this Book of Proverbs. The bulk of it, beginning with chapter x., contains a collection of isolated maxims which may be described as the product of sanctified common sense. They are shrewd and homely, but not remarkably
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"But Whereunto Shall I Liken this Generation?"
Matth. xi. 16.--"But whereunto shall I liken this generation?" When our Lord Jesus, who had the tongue of the learned, and spoke as never man spake, did now and then find a difficulty to express the matter herein contained. "What shall we do?" The matter indeed is of great importance, a soul matter, and therefore of great moment, a mystery, and therefore not easily expressed. No doubt he knows how to paint out this to the life, that we might rather behold it with our eyes, than hear it with our
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Fragrant Spices from the Mountains of Myrrh. "Thou Art all Fair, My Love; There is no Spot in Thee. " --Song of Solomon iv. 7.
FRAGRANT SPICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MYRRH. HOW marvellous are these words! "Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee." The glorious Bridegroom is charmed with His spouse, and sings soft canticles of admiration. When the bride extols her Lord there is no wonder, for He deserves it well, and in Him there is room for praise without possibility of flattery. But does He who is wiser than Solomon condescend to praise this sunburnt Shulamite? Tis even so, for these are His own words, and were
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

Wisdom. Pr 8:22-31

John Newton—Olney Hymns

The Invitation of Wisdom. --Prov. viii.
The invitation of Wisdom.--Prov. viii. To us the voice of Wisdom cries, Hearken, ye children, and be wise; Better than gold the fruit I bear, Rubies to me may not compare, Happy the man who daily waits To hear me, watching at my gates; Wretched is he who scorns my voice, Death and destruction are his choice. To them that love me I am kind; And those who seek me early find; My Son, give me thine heart,--and learn Wisdom from folly to discern. The Lord possess'd me, ere of old, His hand the firmament
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Having Said This, when they had Kissed Him...
92. Having said this, when they had kissed him, he lifted up his feet, and as though he saw friends coming to him and was glad because of them--for as he lay his countenance appeared joyful--he died and was gathered to the fathers. And they afterward, according to his commandment, wrapped him up and buried him, hiding his body underground. And no one knows to this day where it was buried, save those two only. But each of those who received the sheepskin of the blessed Antony and the garment worn
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 Continued. Absurdity of Supposing a Son or Word Created in Order to the Creation of Other Creatures; as to the Creation
Chapter XVII.--Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 continued. Absurdity of supposing a Son or Word created in order to the creation of other creatures; as to the creation being unable to bear God's immediate hand, God condescends to the lowest. Moreover, if the Son a creature, He too could not bear God's hand, and an infinite series of media will be necessary. Objected, that, as Moses who led out the Israelites was a man, so our Lord; but Moses was not the Agent in creation:--again, that unity is found
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 Continued. Contrast Between the Father's Operations Immediately and Naturally in the Son...
Chapter XVIII.--Introduction to Proverbs viii. 22 continued. Contrast between the Father's operations immediately and naturally in the Son, instrumentally by the creatures; Scripture terms illustrative of this. Explanation of these illustrations; which should be interpreted by the doctrine of the Church; perverse sense put on them by the Arians, refuted. Mystery of Divine Generation. Contrast between God's Word and man's word drawn out at length. Asterius betrayed into holding two Unoriginates; his
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Texts Explained; Sixthly...
Chapter XIX.--Texts explained; Sixthly, Proverbs viii. 22. Proverbs are of a figurative nature, and must be interpreted as such. We must interpret them, and in particular this passage, by the Regula Fidei. He created me' not equivalent to I am a creature.' Wisdom a creature so far forth as Its human body. Again, if He is a creature, it is as a beginning of ways,' an office which, though not an attribute, is a consequence, of a higher and divine nature. And it is for the works,' which implied the
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Texts Explained; Sixthly...
Chapter XXI.--Texts Explained; Sixthly, Proverbs viii. 22, Continued. Our Lord not said in Scripture to be created,' or the works to be begotten.' In the beginning' means in the case of the works from the beginning.' Scripture passages explained. We are made by God first, begotten next; creatures by nature, sons by grace. Christ begotten first, made or created afterwards. Sense of First-born of the dead;' of First-born among many brethren;' of First-born of all creation,' contrasted with Only-begotten.'
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Of the Council of Antioch and what was done There against the Holy Meletius.
At this time, [586] Constantius was residing at Antioch. The Persian war was over; there had been a time of peace, and he once again gathered bishops together with the object of making them all deny both the formula "of one substance" and also the formula "of different substance." On the death of Leontius, Eudoxius had seized the see of Antioch, but on his expulsion and illegal establishment, after many synods, at Constantinople, the church of Antioch had been left without a shepherd. Accordingly
Theodoret—The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret

A String of Pearls
'Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 2. The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul. 3. It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. 4. The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. 5. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out. 6. Most men will
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Voluntary Suffering
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. T hat which often passes amongst men for resolution, and the proof of a noble, courageous spirit, is, in reality, the effect of a weak and little mind. At least, it is chiefly owing to the presence of certain circumstances, which have a greater influence upon the conduct, than any inherent principle. Thus may persons who appear to set death and danger at defiance in the hour
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Glorious Master and the Swooning Disciple
If our conceptions of the Lord Jesus are very enlarged, they will only be his due. We cannot exaggerate here. He deserves higher praise than we can ever render to him. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high is be above our loftiest conceptions. Even when the angels strike their loudest notes, and chant his praises most exultingly on their highest festal days, the music falls far short of his excellence. He is higher than a seraph's most soaring thought! Rise then, my brethren, as on
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

His Name --The Counsellor
We shall now enter upon the discussion of this title which is given to Christ, a title peculiar to our Redeemer; and you will see why it should be given to him and why there was a necessity for such a Counsellor. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ is a Counsellor in a three-fold sense. First, he is God's Counsellor; he sits in the cabinet council of the King of heaven; he has admittance into the privy chamber, and is the Counsellor with God. In the second place, Christ is a Counsellor in the sense which
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Of the Decrees of God.
Eph. i. 11.--"Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Job xxiii. 13. "He is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." Having spoken something before of God, in his nature and being and properties, we come, in the next place, to consider his glorious majesty, as he stands in some nearer relation to his creatures, the work of his hands. For we must conceive the first rise of all things in the world to be in this self-being, the first conception
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Synagogue at Nazareth - Synagogue-Worship and Arrangements.
The stay in Cana, though we have no means of determining its length, was probably of only short duration. Perhaps the Sabbath of the same week already found Jesus in the Synagogue of Nazareth. We will not seek irreverently to lift the veil of sacred silence, which here, as elsewhere, the Gospel-narratives have laid over the Sanctuary of His inner Life. That silence is itself theopneustic, of Divine breathing and inspiration; it is more eloquent than any eloquence, a guarantee of the truthfulness
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Organic and Individual.
"Where is He that put His Holy Spirit among them?" --Isa. lxiii. 11. The subsequent activity of the Holy Spirit lies in the realm of grace. In nature the Spirit of God appears as creating, in grace as re-creating. We call it re-creation, because God's grace creates not something inherently new, but a new life in an old and degraded nature. But this must not be understood as tho grace restored only what sin had destroyed. For then the child of God, born anew and sanctified, must be as Adam was in
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Trinity
Q-6. HOW MANY PERSONS ARE THERE IN THE GODHEAD? A: Three persons, yet but one God. 'There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.' I John 5:5. God is but one, yet are there three distinct persons subsisting in one Godhead. This is a sacred mystery, which the light within man could never have discovered. As the two natures in Christ, yet but one person, is a wonder; so three persons, yet but one Godhead. Here is a great deep, the Father
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Third Exile, 356-362.
The third exile of Athanasius marks the summit of his achievement. Its commencement is the triumph, its conclusion the collapse of Arianism. It is true that after the death of Constantius the battle went on with variations of fortune for twenty years, mostly under the reign of an ardently Arian Emperor (364-378). But by 362 the utter lack of inner coherence in the Arian ranks was manifest to all; the issue of the fight might be postponed by circumstances but could not be in doubt. The break-up of
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

An Explanation of Acts ii. ...
An explanation of Acts ii. 36 and Proverbs viii. 22, which are shown to refer properly to Christ's manhood alone. 95. To no purpose, then, is the heretics' customary citation of the Scripture, that "God made Him both Lord and Christ." Let these ignorant persons read the whole passage, and understand it. For thus it is written. "God made this Jesus, Whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ." [1843] It was not the Godhead, but the flesh, that was crucified. This, indeed, was possible, because the flesh
St. Ambrose—Works and Letters of St. Ambrose

Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Links
Proverbs 8:30 NIV
Proverbs 8:30 NLT
Proverbs 8:30 ESV
Proverbs 8:30 NASB
Proverbs 8:30 KJV

Proverbs 8:30 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Proverbs 8:29
Top of Page
Top of Page