“Wisdom” can mean different things depending on the context. There’s biblical wisdom, such as that of King Solomon, and Biblical wisdom as literary genre. And then there’s the kind of wisdom that Greek translations of Scripture refer to as Wisdom or “Sophia.”
For some of us, Sophia (Wisdom) may be familiar. For others, it may be a new discovery. In Scripture, Sophia is not a goddess, but is the Greek word for divine Wisdom personified. Take a moment to absorb this astonishing concept: Holy Scripture uses a feminine noun, in conjunction with feminine verbs, to refer to Holy Wisdom as a woman! Why on earth have so many of us never heard of this before? Because this feminine imagery for divine Wisdom was lost when our sacred texts were translated into English.
What can we learn from feminine references to holy Wisdom? Answer: from the very beginning of creation to the present time, God’s vision, work, and very essence include the feminine!
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “Just L.I.F.E (Liberation is for everyone!)” by Angela T. !Khabeb in the June 2021 Gather magazine.
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