Reading for January 22nd

Read Proverbs 8.1-36. In 8.1-36: Woman Wisdom and her blessings for her loyal disciples. The speech at personified Wisdom promising blessings balance her first speech (1.20-33) threatening those who left her. She appears in the busiest part of the city (vv. 1-3) and addresses the entire populace there, but singles out the simple (vv. 4-5). She establishes her credibility (vv. 6-11), promises her hearers skill in goverening along with riches and honor (vv. 12-21), explains her high status by her closeness to God at creation (vv. 22-23), and asks her followers to wait at her door as disciples (vv. 32-36). Unlike the seductive women in ch. 7 who speaks to a single youth in the dark of night, Wisdom addresses everyone in broad daylight, speaks trustworthy words and grants life rather than death. In verses 22-31: the verses are a cosmogony or creation account, which was used in ancient literature to explain and vailidate important aspects of reality. The first hall of the cosmogony (vv. 22-26) emphasizes the birth of Woman Wisdom before all else, thus underlining her unique priority. The second half (vv. 27-31) stresses her presence with God, I was there (v. 27)and i was beside him (v. 30). In verses 30-31: I was daily his delight ... delighting in the human race: The repetition of the words delight and rejoicing establishes a correspondence between Wisdom's delighting inthe Lord and her delighting in the human race. She bestows on the human race the wisdom and goodness that God put into creation. Comments or Questions..