Wisdom of Solomon 7:22

Deuterocanon

20 the natures of animals and the tempers of wild animals, the powers of spirits and the thoughts of human beings, the varieties of plants and the virtues of roots; 21 I learned both what is secret and what is manifest, 22 for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. There is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, 23 beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle. 24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.

Ambrose On the Holy Spirit 3.18

Patristic

But they are unable to show us this, and demand our authority from us, namely, that we should show by texts that the Holy Spirit has not sinned, as it is said of the Son that He did no sin. Let them learn that we teach by authority of the Scriptures; for it is written: For in Wisdom is a Spirit of understanding, holy, one only, manifold, subtle, easy to move, eloquent, undefiled. The Scripture says He is undefiled, has it lied concerning the Son, that you should believe it to have lied concerning the Spirit? For the prophet said in the same place concerning Wisdom, that nothing that defiles enters into her. She herself is undefiled, and her Spirit is undefiled. Therefore if the Spirit have not sin, He is God.

 Notes and References

"... While the nineteen chapters comprising this work provided a well of wisdom for the Fathers to plumb (Augustine alone refers to Wisdom of Solomon more than eight hundred times), Wisdom of Solomon 7:22-8:1 in particular proved to be a favorite text for early Christian writers. In this passage wisdom is personified and characterized by twenty-one attributes, including such theologically provocative statements as “For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness” and, “For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty”. On hundreds of occasions early Christian writers linked Wisdom 7 with such christologically significant New Testament passages as Colossians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Hebrews 1:4, and John 14:9, 10. This christological correspondence became especially important in the fourth century with the rise of Arianism, and the Arian debate also raised pneumatological questions to which the Wisdom of Solomon could speak. For example, Ambrose linked Wisdom of Solomon 7:22-23 with 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 to explain the Holy Spirit’s role in dispensing and developing wisdom and discernment within the Church. The Donatist theologian Tyconius, a contemporary of Ambrose, made this same textual connection as well ..."

Kannengiesser, Charles Handbook of Patristic Exegesis: The Bible in Ancient Christianity (pp. 305-306) Brill, 2004

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