Rui de Menezes, S.J.
Functions of the Word in the Bible

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1. Introduction

For us Christians the whole Bible, consisting of the Old and the New Testaments, is the Word of God. Most Christians however are satisfied with repeating the cliché that the Bible is the Word of God: few would take time out to reflect and investigate into the meaning of the term ‘word'. What do we actually mean when we say that the Bible is the Word of God? Or again what are the different functions which our Bible attributes to the Word? When we analyze the data we shall be surprised at the results of our investigation. And we shall be even more astounded to realise that both the Testaments seem to attribute identical functions to the Word, that is, the Word is instructive, the Word is salvific and the Word is creative. Of course the climax of it all is that finally the Word is personified for us Christians, but it must not be forgotten that the personification of the Word in Jesus Christ has an interesting prehistory in the Old Testament. Let us now begin our investigation.

Part I: The Word in the Old Testament

2. Word as Instructive

2.1. Introduction

It is quite possible that the interpretation of the term ‘word' has gone off the track precisely because former New Testament scholars were accustomed to interpret the Greek word logos from the perspective of Greek philosophy, either Platonism, or Neoplatonism, or Stoicism or even that of Philo of Alexandria¹ who was himself influenced by the Greeks. But today we are almost certain that the New Testament term logos should be interpreted against the background of the Hebrew dābār not however denying that Greek philosophy did exert directly or indirectly some influence on the New Testament.

2.2. Prophet and Word

If anyone it is the Prophets of Ancient Israel who instructed the people of Israel in the name of Yahweh from whom they claimed to have received the dābār, that is, the ‘word' or the message. In fact according to Jeremiah three classes of people were involved in instructing the people of God, that is, priests, prophets and sages. But in so far as the priest propounded the tôrâh or law, and the sage gave his ‘esâ or advice, it is the prophet who passed on to the people the dābār or ‘word' of God (cf. Jer 18:18). In other words the prophet is par excellence ‘the man of the word'! No wonder that the redactors who composed or rather compiled the message of the prophets constantly inform us that "the word of Yhwh came to the prophet" (cf. Jer 1:1; 2:1; 7:1; 14:1; 18:1, 5; Ezek 12:1; 13:1; italics ours). We are accustomed to this formulation or better this translation. But it must not be forgotten that the Hebrew has: way^ehî d^ebar yhwh 'el, which literally means, "and the word of YHWH was unto". The JB sometimes renders this as: "and the word of Yahweh was addressed to" (cf. Jer 14:1). The prophets themselves are quite aware that the word which they are passing on to the people has come to them from God himself. This is precisely why they introduce their oracles with the phrase kô 'āmaryhwh, which literally means: "thus has Yahweh said" (cf. Amos 1:6), and conclude their message with the phrase 'āmarvhwh, "Yahweh has said" (Amos 1:8). Sometimes they conclude it with the phrase d^ebar yhwh, "word of YHWH", or n^e'um yhwh, "whisper of YHWH" (Amos 2:11). Unfortunately the latter phrase is rendered into English as "says the LORD" in the NRSV, and as "it is Yahweh who speaks" in the JB. According to the prophets the dābār, that is, the word or the message which they are relaying to the people is always instructive. They are exhorting the people how to live their lives as individuals and as members of the covenant.

We have of course taken for granted that the message which the prophet gave to Israel had come to the prophet in an audition. But it must not be forgotten that quite often it came to him in a vision. In fact the term dābār a polyvalent word which can mean both ‘word' as well as ‘vision', besides of course ‘commandment', ‘promise', covenant' etc. Thus, in the Book of Isaiah we are told that Isaiah saw (hāzāh) the word (dābār) concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the eschatological times (cf. Is 2:1). Similarly too Amos is reported as having seen (hāzāh) the words (d^ebárîm), which in English should be rendered as ‘the visions which he saw!' (cf. Amos 1:1). In Jeremiah too we have an instance where dābār has the meaning of vision and not word (cf. Jer 38:22). Probably because Yahweh was understood as having no form,² audition rather than vision took precedence in Israel's theology. The prophets constantly instruct the people to listen to the word, that is, the message, of Yahweh (cf. Amos 3:1; 4:1; 5:1). The prophet is given a special invitation to be present at the secret council (sôd) of Yahweh, and then to report on this, that is, Yahweh's words, to the people (cf. Jer 23:21-22; cf. also Amos 3:7 8).

2.3. Torah and Word

In the Pentateuch the Hebrew term dābār has primarily the meaning of miswâ or ‘commandment' as can be seen from the most important set of laws that are in it. These are the Ten Commandments or in Hebrew ‘the Ten Words' (cf. Ex 34:28). When they were being promulgated to Moses they were introduced as follows: "Then God spoke all these words" (Ex 20:1). ‘Decalogue' which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew also means ‘ten words', that is ten commandments.³ These commandments as we well know are instructions or guidelines whose aim is to protect the rights of Israelite individuals living in a covenant community. In fact at the ratification of the covenant the Israelites assure Moses and Yahweh that they would accept them as their covenant ethos. This is their response: "All the words (d^ebárîm) that the LORD has spoken we will do!" (Ex 24:4). And so Moses ratifies the covenant between Israel and Yahweh "in accordance with all these words" (Ex 24:8). Later on the Deuteronomist will refer to the whole Torah as the word (dābār). This ‘word', he reassures us, is not inaccessible to the Israelites. It is neither in heaven above nor across the deep wide ocean: "No, the word (dābār) is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe" (Dt 30:14). And in the introduction to this section instead of dābār or word we have miswâ or commandment (Dt 30:11). In fact the general introduction to the whole Book of Deuteronomy which contains both the Decalogue and the minute instructions given by Moses calls all of them d^ebárîm or words: "These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan" (Dt 1: 1). By way of conclusion to this section we could stress the fact that the Decalogue retained the highest status among all the laws in Ancient Israel. No one is allowed to tamper with them or to reinterpret them in a new sociological or historical situation. They are absolute and categorical. That is why only the Ten Words are given direct divine sanction and origin. On the other hand we realise that the Code of Deuteronomy (Dt 12:1 26:15) is a later working over from the time of the late Monarchy, and a re interpretation of the earlier Book of the Covenant (Ex 20:22 23:33) which seems to go back to the time of the Settlement.⁴

3. Word as Salvific

Coming as we do from our New Testament background with its polemics against the Pharisees we are inclined to interpret the Law in the context of legalism. And so we are almost bowled over when we hear the Book of Deuteronomy telling us how proud the Israelite should be of the Torah because no other nation has something similar to it (cf. Dt 4:68). And further, choosing the Law of Yahweh is tantamount to choosing life! (Dt 30:15 20). But the most forceful and clearest statement about the Law giving us life is to be found in the late Psalm on the Law, which is the longest psalm of the Psalter. Most laconically we see the sentiments of the Psalmist reflected in the following sentence which is a prayer to Yahweh: "Revive me according to your word (dābār)!” (Ps 119:25b). The JB rendering reflects the original Hebrew (hayyenî kid^e barekā) better: "Give me life by your word" (Ps 119:25b JB). A very strange text in the Book of Ezekiel in which Yahweh speaks ironically, also proves that the Israelites believed that the purpose of laws was to give life. "Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live!" (Ez 20:25).

Second Isaiah is the first to give us a personification of the Word. He shows that the Word is salvific or, in other words, life giving. And just like the rain and the snow which Yahweh sends down from heaven in the long run fructify the earth to give food for humans, so too God's word is effective and salvific. The Word here goes from God's mouth, in other words, it is God's word. It is sent by God to carry out God's orders. In the context, the message is that the Word will see to it that the Exile comes to an end and that the Jews return to their homeland (cf. Is 55:10 11).

In the Wisdom Literature it is normally hokmā or wisdom rather than the word, that is salvific (Wis 9:18). It is the principle of wisdom that grant us long life and happiness (Prov 3:1 2; 4:4; 7:1 2). But there is a unique text in the deutero canonical book, the Wisdom of Solomon, where this salvific function is attributed to the Word of God. There the liberation of the Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians is attributed to God's all powerful Word, who (for here too the Word is personified), sword in hand, leapt down from the royal throne of heaven to inflict the devastating plagues that brought destruction upon Egypt. We quote this important and unique text:

For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, your all powerful Word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior, carrying the sharp sword of your authentic command, and stood and filled all things with death, and touched heaven while standing on the earth (Wis 18:14 16).

The Word here personified is clearly an agent of salvation for the Israelites.

4. Word as Creative

As Gerhard von Rad long ago showed, the idea of God as Creator is one of the latest developments in the theology of Israel.⁵ The most important text for studying the doctrine of creation in the Old Testament is the Priestly Author's Account of Creation in Gn 1:1 2:4a. First of all the narrative does not describe creation as such. The author is reflecting theologically on the ordered universe that human beings daily experience. Secondly this account of creation which uses the Hebrew verb bārā’ which literally means ‘to do something stupendous' either in the realm of nature or of history (cf. Ex 34:10; Num 16:30), also uses the Hebrew verb ‘āsāh, ‘to make'. Thus God made the rāqî ‘a or sky's dome (Gn 1:7), the two great lights, that is, sun and moon (Gen 1:16), and every kind of animal, both wild and domestic (Gn 1:35). But above all it must be noticed that when he speaks of the creation of 'ādām, or the human being he uses both verbs, bārā' (Gn 1:27) and ‘āśāh (Gn 1:26). But let us go back to our topic. Whatever might be described in this Account of Creation, clearly the Priestly Author wants to stress that God gives a command and creation follows on its heels. In other words God's Word is creative. And that is precisely the reason why he uses the stereotyped formula wayy'ōmer ' ělóhîm, "and God said" ten times! (Gn 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29). It is quite possible that the Priestly Author picked up the idea of ‘creation by word' from earthly monarchs who issue a command and things are done without they themselves having to lift a finger. And so after issuing his command, as for example, ‘Let there be light!" with a jussive (y^ehî 'ôr) or command in the third person, the execution is reported in the indicative immediately, way^ehî 'ôr, ‘and there was light'! (Gn 1:3). It would be even more transparent were we to translate thus: ‘Let light begin to exist!' and ‘Light began to exist!'

The idea of creation by word is expressed even more explicitly in a late Psalm. It reads: "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth" (Ps 33:6). There is a parallelism here between dābār (word) and rûah (breath). In the Wisdom Literature of course creation takes place through God's hokmā, wisdom, or its synonyms like ‘discernment' (t^ebûnâ) or ‘knowledge' (da ’at), as we see in the Book of Proverbs (cf. Prov 3:19 20). In the classical text of this book where creation by wisdom is propounded, Wisdom is personified but the word ‘wisdom', that is, hokmā itself is absent, but from the context it is obvious that the first personal pronoun refers to Wisdom. Wisdom herself is the first of all God's creatures but it is through her that the rest of the creatures are created (cf. Prov 8:30).⁶ It is not to be forgotten that the phrase ré'shît darkô (Prov 8:22), which is translated as `beginning of his work' can also mean chef d'œuvre or ‘masterpiece', as in the Book of Job (cf. Job 40:19). And so we see that the three terms hokmā (wisdom), rûah (spirit) and dābāt (word) are parallel and are all considered as agents of creation. We are here but a step from the New Testament speculation of creation by the Logos as in the Prologue of John's Gospel.

Part II: The Word in the New Testament

1. Word as Instructive

The New Testament renders the Hebrew dābār by the Greek term logos, but we must always keep in mind that even though the authors of the New Testament are using Greek language their point of reference and their background is usually the Old Testament.⁷ First of all the term logos is used for the message of instruction that was given by Jesus to the crowds that were flocking to hear him. And so when we are told that Jesus was proclaiming to the crowds the logos, it is better to translate this against the background of the Hebrew Old Testament and render logos as ‘message' rather than ‘word'. Thus we read in Mark's Gospel: "With many such parables he spoke the word (logos) to them..." (Mk 4:33). Earlier in the chapter we have the following expressions, "when they hear the word" (v. 16), "on account of the word" (v. 17), "hear the word" (vv. 18 and 20), "choke the word" (v. 19). In all these cases one should render the Greek word logos by ‘message' and not ‘word', which is obviously an instruction from Jesus. The message of Jesus is a new message. It is new wine that has to be put into new wineskins (Mk 2:22; Mt 9:17; Lk 5:38). It involves a break with the traditions of the ancestors. Basically it is the Gospel, the good news of the Kingdom (Mt 4:23; 9:35), which will include Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, Romans, Syrophoenicians and anyone from whatever race, culture or religion, from the east or from the west who believes the salvific message of Jesus (cf. Mt 8:11).

But the term logos is also used for the message proclaimed by the members of the Primeval Church. Thus Paul is aware that the disciples of Jesus are entrusted with the logos tês katalogês, "the message of reconciliation" as the NRSV renders it (cf. 2 Cor 5:19). His proclamation is also the logos tou staurou, the ‘message of the cross' (1 Cor 1:18). Paul knows that the message he is passing on is not a human (logos anthrôpôn) but a divine message (logos theou) to the people who hear him, in this case, the Thessalonians (cf. 1 Thess 2:13; see also 1:6 8).

The early disciples are conscious that they were entrusted with the diakonia tou logou or ministry of the word (Act 6:2 4). This means that they are commissioned to proclaim the salvific message of God which came to them through Jesus Christ. Of course in their minds there is not the slightest doubt that this logos or message used absolutely (1 Thess 1:6) is always the logos tou theou, ‘word of God' (I Thess 2:13) or logos tou kuriou, ’word of the Lord' (I Thess 1:8). And so we have seen that the term logos can refer both to the message proclaimed by Jesus as well as the message about Jesus which the early Christian Church proclaimed.

2. Word as Salvific

In the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia Paul at the request of the synagogue officials addresses the Jews and the pagan proselytes⁸ gathered there. He proclaims to them that he is bringing to them the logos tês sôtêrias, "the message of salvation" (Act 13:26). A little further we are informed that those among the Gentiles who had heard Paul's message are counted worthy of eternal salvation (cf. Act 13:48).

During the public ministry of Jesus we are told how once a Roman centurion approached Jesus with a request to heal his paralysed servant. But he insisted that there was no need for Jesus to come personally to his house but that Jesus should only give a command as a result of which his servant would be healed (cf. Mt 8:5 13). This is how he puts it: "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word (alla monon eipe logô), and my servant will be healed (iathêsetai)!" (Mt 8:8). What is interesting is that not a New Testament theologian but a pagan centurion is formulating the theology of the word as salvific! He believes that once Jesus issues his word, eipe logô, that is, his command, healing or salvation will be the immediate result.

Jesus too shows that by just giving a command healing follows. Thus Jesus casts out the spirits with a word (Mt 8:16). Jesus gives a command to the paralytic as a result of which the man picks up his mat and walks away (Mt 9:6 7). By a simple command, "Stretch out your hand!, "Jesus heals the man with a withered hand (Mk 3:1 6). To a leper Jesus says "Be made clean!" and the leprosy instantly left him (Mk 1:40 42). To the daughter of Jairus who had just died Jesus gives orders: "Little girl, get up!" and the dead child comes back to life (Mk 5:41 42). There is no need to multiply examples. The word of God uttered by Jesus is beyond the shadow of a doubt salvific. But it is interesting that the formulation this theology was first formulated by a pagan centurion.

3. Word as Creative

Just as in the Old Testament so too in the New the latest development is the interpretation of the word as creative and personified. Let us now examine these two ideas. Most important for the development of these two ideas is the Prologue of John. But John is not the only New Testament theologian who treats of this. These ideas are also to be found in particular in the Deuteropauline Letters⁹ as well as in the Letter to the Hebrews and in the Apocalypse of John.

By way of introduction it must be stated that the Greek concept of logos is of no help in understanding this development of the Word of God as Personified and as Creative. As we read in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,

It is to be noted however — and this is of absolutely decisive importance — that these statements do not rest on a concept of the ‘Word' [emphasis ours]. If they are understood conceptually, they are wholly and hopelessly distorted. They arise, and derive their life, only from the event [emphasis ours] which is given in the person of Jesus. At the head of the train of thought sketched by the term logos, there stands, not a concept, but the event which has taken place, and in which God declares Himself, causing His Word to be enacted.¹⁰

This is most clearly expressed by the author of the Apocalypse of John who speaking of Jesus says: "He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God" (Apoc 19:13; emphasis added). It is fashionable today to speak of the ‘Christ event', but it must not be forgotten that this makes sense only against the background of the Hebrew term dābār which can mean many things like concept, word, message, vision, covenant, and, most important for us, event.¹¹ This does not make sense against the Greek concept of logos (in the Pentateuch) or rhêma (in the Books of the Prophets) which are the Greek renderings of the Hebrew dābār.¹²

According to the New Testament God's fullest manifestation has been made in the person and life of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is God's incarnated message for us as we read in John's Prologue (Jn 1:1 14). What is said here of the logos was said of hokmā in the Wisdom Literature (cf. Prov 8:22 31). Thus the creation of the world through Wisdom is now attributed to the Word. And instead of Wisdom being with God from the beginning, it is now the Word that is with God from the beginning. Whereas formerly Wisdom was the light guiding human beings along their path of life it is now the Word which assumes this function.

In addition to this, the Deuteropauline Letters expound the view that Christ is the prôtotokos pasês ktiseôs or first born of all creation (Col 1:15). This of course should not be taken as a chronological but rather as a theological category. In fact Arianism which denied divinity to Jesus Christ based itself on this literal understanding of the text. In the Hebrew Old Testament there is a very close link between first fruits (rē'shît) and first born (b^ekôr).¹³ It is a question of relationship and status rather than chronology that is stressed. It is in this context that the Greek expression prôtotokos should be interpreted. Thus Israel is called Yahweh's firstborn even though it was a late comer as a nation on the stage of history. In the words of Jeremiah: "Israel was holy to the LORD, the first fruits (rē'shît) of his harvest (t^e`'bu’atô)" (Jer 2:3). So also the Code of Deuteronomy while speaking of the rights of the b^ekôr or first born calls the latter rē'shît 'ōnô, the first fruits of his father's strength or as the NRSV puts it "the first issue of his virility"! (Dt 21:15 17). And so we see that bikkûrîm or first fruits and rē'shît are synonyms in Hebrew (cf. Dt 18:4). It is also to be noted that rē'shît also signifies high quality as for example when Amos speaks of rē'shît sh^emanîm or choicest of oils (Amos 6:6; cf. also Job 40:19-14) or when Wisdom Literature speaks of rē'shît hokmā or choice wisdom (cf. Prov 4:7).¹⁴ And so coming back to our topic, the Deuteropauline Letter to the Colossians is propounding the view that Christ, the Word of God, holds the supreme position in God's creation. That there is no talk here of chronology is made clear by the verse that follows which tells us that "all things have been created through him and for him" (Col 1:16). God's beloved Son is the image (eikôn) of the invisible God (v. IS) or as the Letter to the Hebrews puts it: "He is the reflection (apaugasma) of God's glory and the exact imprint (charaktêr) of God's very being (hupostasis)" (Hebr 1:3). And in the previous verse we had been told that God "created the worlds (tous aiônas)" through him (Hebr 1:2).

4. Conclusion

The theme of the Word of God is a vast and complex subject that is covered both in the Old and in the New Testament. The Old Testament teaches that the Word of God was revealed to us by the prophets and that its function was to instruct the people of God along the path of life. Further it propounds that the Word of God as found in the Torah or Law is not only instructive but also life giving or salvific. It is personified by Second Isaiah when he tells us that Yahweh sends his word to achieve salvation. Finally the Priestly Author is par excellence the theologian of Creation through God's Word as we see clearly in the First Account of Creation (Gn 1:1 2:4a). The New Testament also maintains that God's Word whether spoken by his Son Jesus or by the early disciples of Jesus is both instructive and salvific. Here too the climax comes when we are shown how through God's Word all beings have their origin. And so by way of summing up we could say that the Prologue of John is the quintessence of the theology of the Word of God. All three ideas that we have treated upon, the Word as instructive, the Word as salvific and the Word as creative are to be found in it and indeed in it the Word is personified. The Word is the light of human beings for it is indeed to phôs alethinon or the real light. It is salvific in so far as it gives humans power (exousia) to become children of God. Finally it is creative, for nothing can come into being except through him. It is this Word of God who appeared in human form and who pitched his tent to dwell among us humans (Jn 1:14; cf. Sir 24:8/12 13), for like the Wisdom of old, his delight is to be among the children of humans (Prov 8:31).

Notes

¹ Philo of Alexandria, known also as Philo the Jew was trying to prove to the Greeks that the Law of Moses in particular was a philosophy of high calibre, comparable to any Greek philosophy, which the Greeks would do well to accept. His aim being apologetic he used Greek categories to explain the Hebrew Scriptures.
² It is the Deuteronomist more than any other theologian in Israel who insisted that Yahweh had no form but He only let Israel hear his word (cf. Dt 4:12). It is here that his iconoclasm and his prohibition of statues is based (cf. Dt 5:8f.; 7:5).
³ The English term Decalogue is derived from the Greek deka logoi, literally ‘ten words'.
⁴ In the Book of the Covenant there is no mention of the melek or king (Dt 17:14) but we have instead the word nāśi or leader (Ex 22:27-28). Similarly Deuteronomy shows that Israelite society had shifted from the barter system to the monetary system (cf. Dt 14:25). So too we see the higher status of women in Deuteronomy in contrast to that of Exodus. For in Exodus women slaves are not given their freedom after six years of service (Ex 21:7), which is legislated in the Code of Deuteronomy for both men and women slaves (Dt 5:12 17). Women are mentioned alongside men as members of the Covenant (cf. Dt 31:12).
⁵ "The Theological Problem of the Old Testament Doctrine of Creation," in Gerhard von RAD: The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays, London: SCM Press, 1966, pp. 131 143. But the article itself appeared in German in 1936.
⁶ We are of course aware that the word 'amôn or ‘ammān (Prov 8:30; Song 7:2; Jer 52:15), which is a loanword from the Akkadian ummanu and is translated as ‘master craftsman' (JB) or ‘master worker' (NRSV), technitês in Greek and artifex in Latin, when pointed as 'āmûn can also mean ‘darling'. The Book of Kings has changed hā’ āmôn (‘the artisan') to hehāmôn, ’the crowd' (2 Kings 25:12). Gerhard von Rad renders the Hebrew term in German, as Liebling or Haetschelkind, that is, ‘pampered child'. He points to the Greek translation of Aquila as tithenoumenê (cf. von Rad, Weisheit in Israel, Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen Vluyn, 1970, p. 198). But one gets the impression that the author is playing on both meanings. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Vol. 1, Sheffield Academic Press, 1993, renders 'amôn as 'confidant'.
⁷ It is not so in the case of Philo of Alexandria, who is dialoguing with Greek philosophy and so uses Greek terms and is influenced by Stoicism and Neoplatonism.
⁸ The Greek expression phoboumenoi ton theon, "those who fear God" is a technical term for proselytes.
⁹ Modern New Testament exegetes consider the Letters to the Ephesians and Colossians as well as the Second Letter to the Thessalonians as Deuteropauline, for in them the ideas of Paul are developed further. Let it be noted that the Pastorals and the Letter to the Hebrews are not considered Pauline. Cf. Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, Bangalore: TPI, 2000, pp. 585 637. But it must not be forgotten that German critical scholarship had long ago propounded this view. Cf. Willi Marxsen, Einleitung in das Neue Testament, Guetersloher Verlagshaus, Guetersloh, 1963, "Die deuteropaulinischen Briefe," pp. 153 86.
¹⁰ See Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. by Gerhard Kittel, Vol. IV, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967, p.125.
¹¹ t is interesting to note that the name of Chronicles in Hebrew is dibrê hayyāmîn, which means, ‘the events of the years'.
¹² See Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. IV, p. 92, under 2: "The General Use of dābār as a Rendering of logos and rhema."
¹³ See Nicolaus KEHL, Der Christushymnus im Kolosserbrief, Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1967, ch. 3, Der Erstgeborene, pp. 82 93.
¹⁴ The rendering of the English versions as "the beginning of wisdom" (JB and NRSV) does not really give us the sense of the original Hebrew which stresses quality rather than chronology. Thus the JB has: "The beginning of Wisdom? The acquisition of wisdom," and the NRSV: "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom" (Prov 4:7).

Ref.: Vidyajyoti (Journal of Theological Reflection), Vol. 66, n. 11 (November 2002), pp. 873 883.