I. Name

Wisdom, sometimes in scholarly literature referred to as ‘Lady Wisdom’ or ‘Woman Wisdom’, is the name of a biblical goddess. She figures prominently in one canonical book and several deuterocanonical writings of the OT: Prov. 1–9, Sir, Bar, and Wis. Although modern interpreters have often treated her as a literary personification, it can be argued that what later came to be considered a mere figure of speech started its career as a ‘real’ deity. Wisdom, in Heb. ḥokmâ (rarely ḥokmôt as sing. …