Abstract
The characteristics of Wisdom in the Syriac translation of the Bible
may be explored by comparing the Syriac text with the two recognised
sources, Hebrew and Greek. In the main, Syriac Wisdom is very similar
to Hebrew Wisdom and many of the Greek innovations are not employed.
She was made before the universe to work with God and to be close to
humans. In Syriac her role in creation is more evidently in parallel
God’s own constructive activity. Canonical Wisdom in Syriac may be
understood as a distinct biblical portrait, not as a collage of
sources.
The poem where Personified Wisdom describes her unique relationship
with the creator God is one of the best-known passages in the book of
Proverbs. In Hebrew Proverbs 8:22-31, Wisdom explains where her
authority comes from and why she is to be trusted. She was created
before anything else and was by the side of God at every stage of
creation. For this reason speaking Wisdom can claim a hearing. In the
history of the reception of Proverbs, this text gained importance
through its use in Christology. [1] We are unable in this study to
detail the evidence of the reception of Lady Wisdom in Syriac
Christianity. We intend only to focus on some aspects of the
vocabulary and structure of a text that has been canonical for
important Christian churches over many centuries. Our method is one of
intertextual comparison. It is generally agreed that Syriac Proverbs
shares features of the standard Hebrew Massoretic Text and features of
the Septuagint. Assuming the dependence of Syriac Proverbs on Greek
Proverbs, the extent of that dependence is debated, and no doubt
varies from passage to passage. Richard J. Clifford writes that the
Syriac translator rendered the Massoretic Text into transparent
Syriac, using the Septuagint as a help to understand the MT. [2] Jan
Joosten sees a somewhat greater dependence of the Syriac on the Greek,
and asks if Syriac Proverbs could not be better understood as a
collage of Hebrew Proverbs and Greek Proverbs. [3] Our method of
comparing the Syriac with the Hebrew and Greek seems well founded in
the actual process of composition. We will compare the Syriac with the
Hebrew and Greek in order to discover in this way some of the enduring
features of Syriac Wisdom. It is not our direct aim to examine the
translator’s intent or the translation technique. Before beginning to
read the three texts, however, we will sketch in broadest strokes the
historical background to the appearance of the Syriac bible and Syriac
Proverbs.
Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic. Aramaic is the language of the Church
and of Judaism that spread eastward to the edge of the Roman Empire,
and even to India and China. Syriac was spoken in the early centuries
of the Christian era in the principality of Edessa, corresponding to
the present-day northern Syria and Iraqand southern Turkey. References
in early literature to the growth of the church east of Syria suggest
that Christianity reached Edessa some time before 200 AD. Fourth
century legends attribute the introduction of Christianity to Addai
(Thaddeus), an Aramaic speaking Christian from Syro-Palestine. In the
legend, Addai healed and converted King Abgar. If there is anything in
this tradition, Addai’s visit may have taken place between A.D. 190
and 211. [4]
The translation of the Bible into Syriac (the Peshitta) may be dated
in the second or third century and by the fifth or sixth century this
translation would have reached its permanent form. It is unclear
whether Syriac Proverbs was the work of Christians or Jews. An
interesting suggestion is that Syriac Proverbs was translated from
within a Jewish community that was in the process of adopting
Christianity. [5]
Wisdom in Hebrew Prov 8:22-31
In the terms of Richard J. Clifford, Hebrew Wisdom’s unique role at
time of the world’s creation is expressed in two complementary
cosmogonies, vv. 22-26 and vv. 27-31. Vv. 22-26 emphasise the birth of
Wisdom before all else, and vv. 27-31 present Wisdom’s being with
Yahweh during the creation of the universe. [6] The first section is
as follows:
NRSV Proverbs 8:22 The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no
springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil.
This text describes Wisdom’s temporal priority through a series of
negatives. Yahweh honours Wisdom by making her before anything else.
There were no cosmic waters (v. 24), no pillars of the earth
(mountains and hills, v. 25), and no habitable surface of the earth
(v. 26). Four Hebrew verbs are used to describe Wisdom’s origin,
“created”, “set up”, and a repeated “brought forth”. [7]
The second cosmogony in Hebrew (vv. 27-31) describes Wisdom’s presence
at creation in positive terms. [8]
27 When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle
on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the
fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not
transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the
earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his
delight, rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.
After the description of Wisdom’s presence throughout creation in vv.
27-29, vv. 30-31 tell us of the relationship between Wisdom and
Yahweh. The description of Wisdom’s cooperation with Yahweh the
creator in terms of “master-worker” in v. 30 is a disputed reading of
a difficult Hebrew term. “Child” and “sage” are alternative images. If
Wisdom is a sage, then as a trusted counsellor, she shares delightful
confidences and reminiscences with Yahweh, just because she, uniquely,
saw the world coming into existence. [9] However, if we understand
Wisdom as a child or nursling, this would continue the imagery of
gestation and birth in vv. 24-25. The NRSV reading, “master-worker”,
follows the Greek interpretation, as we shall see. Finally, in this
passage we may observe the parallel established between Wisdom
delighting in Yahweh in v. 30 and Wisdom delighting in Yahweh’s
creation, the human race, in v. 31. In short, in Hebrew, Wisdom,
brought into existence before all else is, to say the least, a
privileged witness to God’s creative activity. However, a role of
active cooperation through advice or constructive activity may be
intended.
Greek Wisdom in Prov 8:22-31 LXX (italics added)
8:22 (Brenton LXX in English) The Lord made me the beginning of his
ways for his works.
23 He established me before time [was] in the beginning, before he
made the earth:
24 even before he made the depths; before the fountains of water came forth:
25 before the mountains were settled, and before all hills, he begets me.
26 The Lord made countries and uninhabited [tracks], and the highest
inhabited parts of the world.
27 When he prepared the heaven, I was present with him; and when he
prepared his throne upon the winds:
28 and when he strengthened the clouds above; and when he secured the
fountains of the earth:
29 and when he strengthened the foundations of the earth:
30 I was by him, suiting [myself to him], I was that wherein he took
delight; and daily I rejoiced in his presence continually.
31 For he rejoiced when he had completed the world, and rejoiced among
the children of men. [10]
Having introduced Wisdom in Hebrew, we will, before turning our
attention to Syriac Wisdom, note some of Greek Wisdom’s special
features. The differences between Septuagint Proverbs and the Hebrew
Massoretic Text are explained by some authors more in terms of the
different Hebrew text used by the translator, and by others in terms
of the translator’s creativity. [11] This translation may be said to
be a faithful but a creative translation of a Hebrew text somewhat
different from the Massoretic Text. It is usually set in the context
of Greek speaking Alexandria in the second century BCE. [12] In the
view of David-Marc d’Hamonville, nowhere is the Greek translator more
innovative than in the Wisdom passage of 8:22-31, which is described
as an original and studied literary composition with philosophical and
theological import. [13] Max Küchler, too, has studied the special
features of Greek Wisdom. [14] He demonstrates that the Greek author
highlights the role of God in creation and this author tends to make
Wisdom God’s exclusive possession. We may observe some details. The
text is structured with the two mentions of “The Lord made” in vv. 22
and 26, whereas the subject “Lord” is explicit only once in Hebrew. At
the outset, God “creates” Wisdom, and any hint of God’s acquiring a
pre-existing entity is avoided. For similar reasons, there is in Greek
a switch from active verbs to passive verbs in v. 25. “I was brought
forth” in Hebrew becomes in Greek “he begets me”, and the prior
mention of “I (Wisdom) was brought forth” in v. 25 Hebrew is
altogether omitted in Greek. In Hebrew, we read that Wisdom was the
first of God’s works (v. 22). In Greek, Wisdom was made “for his
works”, so giving Wisdom’s appearance a divine finality. The
mythological imagery in Hebrew v. 29 evokes a primitive god of the
sea: “When He assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might
not transgress his command”. This sentence, perhaps considered to
impinge on Jewish monotheism, is dropped in Greek. Wisdom’s role in v.
30 is evoked in Greek in a musical image of harmony, not through the
image of the child or the sage. As regards the Greek reading,
d’Hamonville suggests that the term harmozousa may be understood in
two ways. In the active sense, Wisdom establishes harmony in the
universe, and this sense is expressed in “master-worker”. In the
passive sense of the term, Wisdom is in full accord, which is
understood in “suiting myself [to him]” in the Brenton translation
above. [15] Of particular interest is the change in v. 31. In Hebrew,
Wisdom delights in the created world and in human beings. However, in
Greek, it is God who takes pleasure in the accomplishment of (his)
creative work and it is God who takes pleasure in human beings.
Küchler argues that Greek Wisdom does retain her playful merriment and
unquenchable vital affability, but she is withdrawn from humans.
Wisdom is in the sphere of the divine, not of humanity. [16] After
noting the Greek innovations, we can only wonder if the Syriac text
will appear as a literal translation of the Hebrew or more as a
collage of Greek and Hebrew, as mentioned at the outset.
Syriac Wisdom
Prov 8:27-31 Syriac (Lansa, italics added) [17]
22. The Lord created me (brny) as the first of his creations (bryth),
before all of his works.
23. I was established (i.e., he established me, ‘tqnny) from
everlasting, from the beginning, before he made the earth.
24. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no
fountains abounding with water.
25. Before the mountains were settled (ntqnw), before the hills were
formed was I conceived.
26. While as yet he had not made the earth nor the valleys nor the
best soil of the world.
27. When he established (mtqn) the heavens, I was there; when he set a
circle upon the face of the deep.
28. When made firm the clouds above; when he strengthened the
fountains of the deep.
29. When he gave to the sea its bounds, that the waters should not
transgress his commandment; when he laid down the foundations of the
earth:
30. I together with him was establishing them (mtqn’); and daily I was
his delight, rejoicing always before him,
31. Rejoicing in his habitable earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
As in Greek, Syriac Wisdom is unambiguously a creation of the Lord,
not God’s acquisition. In v. 22 Syriac the verb br’, create, sharpens
the sense of the Hebrew, as does the Greek. Indeed Syriac reiterates
the point of Wisdom being the first creature by translating “his
acts” in v. 22 as “his creation” (bryth), using a derivative of
“create” in v. 22.
The Syriac translator evidently has no problem with Hebrew
mythological language of God restraining the tempestuous primeval
waters in vv. 27b and 29a. What is important is not the mythology, but
that Wisdom was there: “When he gave to the sea its bounds, that the
waters should not transgress his commandment…I [was] with him” (vv.
27, 30). The Syriac term in v. 30 translated above as, “was
establishing them”, merits some comment. Wisdom’s role is that of
God’s working partner. Wisdom is not the child, nor the sage. In the
context of the previous description of God’s creative activity, the
Syriac translator envisages Wisdom’s creative activity as parallel to
that of God. Lansa’s translation is correct. As is evident from the
italic insertions above, verbs of the same root (tqn) are used for the
Creator fashioning the mountains in v. 25, for the Creator fashioning
the heavens in v. 27a, and for Wisdom’s role beside God in v. 30. In
v. 31 the Syriac translator renders the Hebrew, not the Greek:
“and daily I was his delight, rejoicing always before him,
Rejoicing in his habitable earth; and my delights were with the sons
of men.” (8:30b-31, Syriac).
Syriac Wisdom rejoices at the completion of creation, she is close to
humans and rejoices in humans.
Finally, we must mention a trait of Syriac Wisdom in v. 31. Lansa
translates v. 31b as “and my delights were with the sons of men”. The
Syriac is made to parallel the Hebrew, as the context requires. The
Syriac term (mshtbh’) has a range of meanings. [18] This is the third
time it is used of Wisdom. At the beginning of chapter 8, we read:
“She cries at the gates, at the entrance to the city; she ‘cries
aloud’” (mshtbh’). In 1:20 we read: “Wisdom ‘is glorified’ (mshtbh’)
in the market places” (Lansa). Does this verb suggest that Wisdom
glories or boasts (the meaning in 1 Kgs 20:11), or Wisdom is
praiseworthy (2 Sam 14:25), or cries out (Prov 8:3), or is praised
(Matt 6:2)? [19] Lansa may well be right. Wisdom glories or delights
in the sons of men, as the Hebrew has it. However, if we detect even
an overtone of the praise of Wisdom in this text, we cannot but recall
that other woman in Proverbs who achieves renown. This woman is the
ideal human woman or wife. In the book’s final poem we read:
Comeliness is deceitful and beauty is vain
but a woman who reverences the Lord shall be praised.
Give her the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise (nshbhwnh) [20] her in the gate.
(31:30-31, Syriac, Lansa)
Who then is Syriac Wisdom? Our analysis of this passage would support
Clifford’s contention about the translation process for Syriac
Proverbs mentioned at the outset. Syriac Wisdom has the main traits of
Hebrew Wisdom, and difficult points are clarified with the help of the
Greek. The notion of creation is perhaps somewhat more extended than
demanded by textual obscurity in the Hebrew. The word collage,
however, does not seem to indicate sufficiently the limits imposed on
use of Greek. Like Hebrew Wisdom, Syriac Wisdom’s portrait is sketched
in a robust Semitic idiom. She is brought into existence by God before
the creation so as to have a role in creation. She is, like Greek
Wisdom, herself explicitly God’s creation. God made her in order to be
at work at God’s side in the fashioning of the universe. More
evidently than in Hebrew or Greek, she and God fashion the universe
together. She enjoys a relation of joyful intimacy with the creator
and with humans. There is some suggestion that Syriac Wisdom achieves
glory or praise. If so, Wisdom’s praise and renown mingle with those
of that other woman who in Proverbs is the Divine Wisdom’s human face.
[21] While we acknowledge the sources of Syriac Wisdom in Hebrew and
Greek, we may finally dwell on the finished portrait, as Syriac
readers have done. Lady Wisdom is the God’s created co-creator.
One can only wonder what was the impact of the Proverbs’ Wisdom
imagery on the religious imagination of Syriac Christianity? In
another context, Sebastian Brock refers to “the drenching power of
symbolism for Syriac spirituality and its breathtaking pursuit of
biblical imagery.” [22] It seems that the invitation to Wisdom’s feast
(Prov 9:1-6) could be applied to the pursuit of the reception of
Wisdom in the Syriac Christian writers.
Footnotes:
[1] David-Marc d’Hamonville, La Bible d’Alexandrie: Les Proverbes. La
Bible d’Alexandrie, ed. Marguerite Harl, Gilles Dorival, and Olivier
Munnich. Paris: Cerf, 2000. See p. 208 on 8.22 LXX.
[2] Clifford, Richard J. “Observations on the Text and Versions of
Proverbs.” Wisdom You Are My Sister: Studies in Honor of Roland E.
Murphy on the Occasion of his Eightieth Birthday, ed. Michael L Barré
(Washington: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1997) 47-61,
here p. 59.
[3] Jan Joosten, “La Peshitta de l’ancien testament dans la recherche
récente.” Revue d’histoire et de philosophie religieuses 76, 4 (1996)
385-395, see p. 392.
[4] For the story of the Church’s movement east from Antioch and for
the introduction of Christianity to Edesssa, see W. Stewart
McCullough, A Short History of Syriac Christianity to the Rise of
Islam (Chico, CA: Scholars Press) 3-35.
[5] Joosten, “La Peshitta,” 390.
[6] Richard J. Clifford, Proverbs: A Commentary (Old Testament
Library; Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999)
95-97.
[7] The verb qnh translated “create” in the NRSV 8:22 may be
understood as “acquire” or “beget”. Whatever the intended original
meaning (see Clifford, Proverbs, 96) I would note that throughout
Proverbs qnh is used for acquiring wisdom (4:7, 16:16, 17:16, 23:23).
[8] See Clifford, Proverbs, 96.
[9] See William McKane, Proverbs: A New Approach (Old Testament
Library. London: SCM, 1970) 358. See also Clifford, Proverbs, 99-101.
[10] C.L.Brenton, Lancelot. The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and
English (Hendrickson, 6th printing, 1997) 795.
[11] Clifford, “Observations,” 50-51.
[12] For this question, see d’Hamonville, Bible d’Alexandrie, 24-25.
[13] d’Hamonville, Bible d’Alexandrie, 89.
[14] Max Küchler,”Gott und seine Weisheit in der Septuaginta (Ijob 28;
Spr 8),” Monotheismus und Christologie: Zur Gottesfrage im
Hellenistischen Judentum und im Urchristentum (ed. Hans-Josef Klauck,
118-143. Freiburg.Basel.Wien: Herder, 1994) 118-43.
[15] D’Hamonville, Bible d’Alexandrie, 210. On the grounds of the
grammatical and metaphorical context, this author argues for the
passive sense (“étant bien accordé”) rather than the active sense
(“mettant en accord”). He also cites the contexts of musical
instruments the term has in the Greek bible.
[16] Küchler, “Gott und seiner Weisheit”, 139.
[17] The Syriac translation here is from Holy Bible From the Ancient
Eastern Text: George M.Lansa’s Translations From the Aramaic of the
Peshitta. San Francisco: Harper & Row, nd.
[18] sbh, Ethpa’al.
[19] ed R. Payne Smith, Thesaurus Syriacus, Hildesheim : Georg Olms,
1999, first published
Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1879-1901. See vol 2, 4023-24.
[20] The word is the active form (Pa’el) of the verb sbh used of Wisdom.
[21] Thomas P McCreesh, “Wisdom as Wife: Proverbs 31:10-31.” RB 92,
no. 1 (1985): 25-46. See p. 46: “The poem’s marked concentration of
attention on the wife and on all that she does, the development of
various themes emphasising her virtues as well as her practical
prudence and ingenuity, and the remarkable similarities between the
portrait of the wife and the various descriptions of Wisdom indicate
that the poem in chapter 31 is the book’s final, masterful portrait of
Wisdom.”
[22] S. Brock, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, trans. Sebastian Brock
and Susan Ashbrook Harvey, (Uni. California Press, 1987) 11.
Alan Moss cfc teaches Old Testament and Judaism at McAuley campus. His
research has been in the area of the Wisdom Literature, especially
Proverbs. He is interested in the reception of Proverbs and in the
early translations. He is currently writing the Sheffield “Readings”
commentary on Proverbs.
Lady Wisdom as the Created Co-Creator in Syriac Proverbs
Alan Moss