Wisdom 7:22-8:1
New Catholic Bible
22 for Wisdom, who fashioned all things, instructed me.
Reflection of God’s Light[a]
[b]Within Wisdom is a spirit that is
intelligent, holy,
unique, manifold, subtle,
mobile, clear, unstained,
certain, invulnerable, benevolent, shrewd, irresistible, beneficent, 23 kindly,
steadfast, secure, tranquil,
all-powerful, all-surveying,
and penetrating all spirits
that are intelligent, pure, and very subtle.
24 For Wisdom has more mobility than any motion;
she is so pure that she pervades and penetrates all things.
25 She is the breath of the might of God
and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore, nothing that is defiled can enter into her.
26 For she is the reflection of eternal light,
the spotless mirror of the active power of God
and the image of his goodness.
27 Although she is only one, she can do all things;
while unchanging herself, she makes all things new.
Generation after generation she enters into holy souls,
and turns them into friends of God[c] and prophets.
28 For God loves nothing more
than one who dwells with Wisdom.
29 She is more beautiful than the sun
and outshines every constellation of the stars.
In comparison with the light she is far superior,
30 for light is supplanted by the night,
but evil cannot overpower Wisdom.
Chapter 8
1 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other,
and she governs all things exceedingly well.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 7:22 Scholars will recognize herein the questions and the vocabulary of Greek philosophers, astounded by the inexhaustible mystery of the human conscience. But our author goes so far as to admire the source that gives rise to the spiritual condition of human beings—which is divine.
In this description of Wisdom, the reflection is oriented toward a new understanding of the divine mystery: the New Testament would eventually reveal the existence in God of the personality and action of the Holy Spirit, and above all, of the Son, image of the Father and creative Word (Jn 1; Rom 8; Col 1:15). Subsequently, Christian tradition has almost always recognized in Wisdom (Greek, sophia) the second Person of the Trinity. - Wisdom 7:22 The attributes given for Wisdom are twenty-one in all, which constitutes a most perfect number (three times seven).
- Wisdom 7:27 Friends of God: like Abraham (see 2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23; see also Jn 15:14-15).
