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Wisdom 7:20-22
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 7:20-22
New Catholic Bible
20 the natures of animals and the dispositions of wild beasts,
the powers of spirits and the thoughts of men,
the varieties of plants and the properties of roots.
21 All that was hidden and all that was manifest I learned,
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,
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).
