An Alexandrian Rereading of Prov 8:22 and Its Christological Implications

In the early years of the Christian Church, it was difficult to reach a consensus on the relationship between God, the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ. One focus of the discussions was the pre-established relationship between God and his wisdom, as described in Prov 8:22–25 and Sir 24. An original contribution was the Council of Nicaea’s approach to the terms ‘creator’ and ‘creature’, both of which were related to the understanding of the Hebrew verb קנה and the Greek verb κτίζω in those passages. This study employs novel linguistic methods to elucidate the meaning of both verbs, providing fresh insights into how the Alexandrian Jewish and Christian communities interpreted the relationship between God and his wisdom, and how this influenced the terminology of the Nicene Creed.