Similarities Between Proberb’s Wisdom & the Son of God

Proverbs 1:20-21 Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares. She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words

Like the last sentence above, Luke 7:12 specifically mentions Jesus’ ministry at a city gate.

The Proverbs quote speaks of streets. Jesus went from town to town preaching and teaching (e.g. Luke 8:1). The quote and Proverbs 8 (cited below) both speak of Wisdom raising her voice. Before microphones, preaching to crowds involved raising one’s voice:

John 7:37 Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out . . .

The Proverbs quote continues:

Proverbs 1:23; 30-33 Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. . . .
They despised all my reproof. Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way . . . For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will dwell securely . . . (Emphasis mine.)

This reminds me of:

Acts 2:38  . . . Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 4:17 From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 23:37-38  . . . How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. (Repeated in verse 5.)

Proverbs 8:35 For whoever finds me, finds life, and will obtain favor from the Lord.

Compare this with:

John 14:6  . . . I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

Romans 5:17, 21  . . . so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.
 . . . so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Titus 3:6-7  . . . he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

1 John 5:11  . . . God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Some theologians even believe that what Proverbs says about Wisdom influenced John’s dissertation about the Word (logos) in the beginning of his Gospel. For example, in his commentary on this Gospel C. K. Barrett, lists three possible influences on John’s use of logos and then moves to a fourth, saying:

“A much more important line of approach is given by the Jewish concept of Wisdom . . . Already in Proverbs (see 8:22 . . .) the Wisdom of God has ceased to be merely the quality of being wise; Wisdom has an independent existence in the presence of God, and also bears some relation to the created world. She remains also a blessed gift to man (8:4)”

Source: C. K. Barrett The Gospel According to St. John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text SPCK, London, 1965, page 128

Likewise, George Turner writes:

“In what is prob. [probably] the closest literary approximation to the prologue in John’s gospel, wisdom appears in the role of a young woman . . . (Prov 1:20; 5:3; 7:10; 8:1-3; 9:4) ”

Source: George Turner in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible in Five Volumes, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1975, 1976, Vol 3, page 955

Again, Edwyn Hoskyns writes:

“The texture of the prologue [the opening verses of John] is taken from the Old Testament Scriptures . . .” He then proceeds to cite Genesis 1 and Proverbs 8.

Source: Edwyn Clent Hoskyns The Fourth Gospel Faber and Faber, London, 1940, Vol 1, page 130