The Blessed Virgin Mary as Created wisdom and Christ as Eternal Wisdom personified

Daniel Marsh

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Sirach 24

24 Wisdom praises herself,
and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
2 In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:
3 ‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
and covered the earth like a mist.
4 I dwelt in the highest heavens,
and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
5 Alone I compassed the vault of heaven
and traversed the depths of the abyss.
6 Over waves of the sea, over all the earth,
and over every people and nation I have held sway.
7 Among all these I sought a resting-place;
in whose territory should I abide?

8 ‘Then the Creator of all things gave me a command,
and my Creator chose the place for my tent.
He said, “Make your dwelling in Jacob,
and in Israel receive your inheritance.”
9 Before the ages, in the beginning, he possessed me,
and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.

10 In the holy tent I ministered before him,
and so I was established in Zion.
11 Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting-place,
and in Jerusalem was my domain.
12 I took root in an honoured people,
in the portion of the Lord, his heritage.

13 ‘I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon,
and like a cypress on the heights of Hermon.
14 I grew tall like a palm tree in En-gedi,[c]
and like rose-bushes in Jericho;
like a fair olive tree in the field,
and like a plane tree beside water[d] I grew tall.
15 Like cassia and camel’s thorn I gave forth perfume,
and like choice myrrh I spread my fragrance,
like galbanum, onycha, and stacte,
and like the odour of incense in the tent.
16 Like a terebinth I spread out my branches,
and my branches are glorious and graceful.
17 Like the vine I bud forth delights,
and my blossoms become glorious and abundant fruit.[e]

19 ‘Come to me, you who desire me,
and eat your fill of my fruits.
20 For the memory of me is sweeter than honey,
and the possession of me sweeter than the honeycomb.
21 Those who eat of me will hunger for more,
and those who drink of me will thirst for more.
22 Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame,
and those who work with me will not sin.’

Wisdom and the Law
23 All this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God,
the law that Moses commanded us
as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob.[f]
25 It overflows, like the Pishon, with wisdom,
and like the Tigris at the time of the first fruits.
26 It runs over, like the Euphrates, with understanding,
and like the Jordan at harvest time.
27 It pours forth instruction like the Nile,[g]
like the Gihon at the time of vintage.
28 The first man did not know wisdom[h] fully,
nor will the last one fathom her.
29 For her thoughts are more abundant than the sea,
and her counsel deeper than the great abyss.

30 As for me, I was like a canal from a river,
like a water channel into a garden.
31 I said, ‘I will water my garden
and drench my flower-beds.’
And lo, my canal became a river,
and my river a sea.
32 I will again make instruction shine forth like the dawn,
and I will make it clear from far away.
33 I will again pour out teaching like prophecy,
and leave it to all future generations.
34 Observe that I have not laboured for myself alone,
but for all who seek wisdom.
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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Sirach - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Sirach

The Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Yeshua ben Sira, commonly called the Wisdom of Sirach or simply Sirach (/ˈsaɪræk/), and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (/ɪˌkliːziˈæstɪkəs/; abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 BCE, written by the Jewish scribe ...
just a footnote:
i.e. not Scripture, sometimes rather opposed to Scripture.
 
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hedrick

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Why do you see "Lady Wisdom" as the pre-incarnate Christ? I disagree, but would be interested to see what scripture people use to allude to this.

There's little question that both Wisdom and the Word acted as "intermediaries" in post-Exilic Judaism. One or both seem to be the background of the Logos as used in John 1. Brown argues in his commentary on John that the whole Gospel is structured around the concept of Jesus as Wisdom. Wisdom is portrayed as God's agent for creation. Much of this is non-Biblical, but Prov 8:27-30 is a Biblical example. Given the common understanding in the NT that the pre-incarnate Word is the agent of creation, it seems reasonable to equate them.

For brevity, I'm only quoting part of the evidence. It's not just John 1, but a number of places in the NT, but I'm quoting only the part involving John 1.
"Anyone familiar with the way lady Wisdom is portrayed in Jewish tradition will appreciate that the prologue of John’s Gospel also draws heavily on key strands of Jewish reflection on Wisdom. Like the Word in John 1.1, Wisdom was present when God made the world (Wisd. 9.9), and it was through Wisdom that the world was created (Prov. 3.19; Wisd. 8.4–6). Like the Word in John 1.4, Wisdom was conceived to be the true light.67 Like the Word in John 1.11, Wisdom sought a dwelling place among the children of men, but found none (1 Enoch 42.2). Like the Word in John 1.14, Wisdom had been told to pitch her tent in Jacob (Sir. 24.8). Similarly the rather striking terms to describe the Son in Hebrews 1.3 – ‘he is the radiance (apausgama) of God’s glory and the stamp (charaktēr) of his nature’ – are best explained as drawn from language used to describe Wisdom." (Dunn, James D.G.. Did the First Christians Worship Jesus?)

There's little question that Jesus is seen in the NT as Wisdom incarnate. The same is not true of the Holy Spirit. While the NT sees it as present in Jesus and acting through him, he is never shown as the Holy Spirit incarnate.
 
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Virgil the Roman

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Ecclesiasticus is part of the canon of the Holy Bible. The Church has immutably and infallibly shewn that it is inspired and apart of the canon of Holy Writ by the Holy Ghost.

Various men, because they care not for sundry books of scripture, heap teachings to their "itching ears" by jettisoning the scripture books they privately judge and say aren't apart of Scripture because they conflict with their own personal beliefs of how Scripture ought to be read or what portions they privately think ought to be intended in the canon.
 
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Athanasias

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Sirach - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Sirach

The Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Yeshua ben Sira, commonly called the Wisdom of Sirach or simply Sirach (/ˈsaɪræk/), and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (/ɪˌkliːziˈæstɪkəs/; abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 BCE, written by the Jewish scribe ...
just a footnote:
i.e. not Scripture, sometimes rather opposed to Scripture.
Many apostolic Churches do view it as the word of God( ie scripture). The early Church sure did as well.
 
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Virgil the Roman

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One cannot pit Holy Writ against Holy Writ; claiming in one's own personal or private judgment that certain Scripture books do not belong in one's own opinion. The Canon of Scripture has already been determined by Christ's Holy Body, the Holy Church. She errs not for Christ is her head; and she the body, obeying her Lord and Master, the Head who is Christ without whom she cannot do any one thing at all with respect to immutable doctrine and truth. :wave:
 
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prodromos

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Bought a bag of venom and I wish I really, really, really didn't (It turns out)
Nobody has a good reason to own a bag of venom (It's poison)
You've been watching Bad Lip Reading on Youtube
 
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