Jehovah’s Witnesses in their denial of the deity of Christ will invariably resort to one of four proof texts in their effort to deny Jesus’ deity. These four texts are Proverbs 8:22, John 14:28, Colossians 1:15 and Revelation 3:14.
Each of these texts, according to the Witnesses, say Jesus is a created being who is less than the Father in his nature. Each of them is completely misunderstood. At Colossians the Watchtower even tampers with God’s Word to make it say what they want it to say. For now, however, we will examine Proverbs 8:22 which says,
”The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.”
The Watchtower’s New World Translation renders this text,
“Jehovah himself produced me as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago.”
In a recent conversation with a Jehovah’s Witness at my front door this verse came up. The Witness tried to explain that “produced” meant created. I pointed out that I had a wife and I could “produce” her if I needed to prove it, therefore the word “produced” meant manifest. The lady was becoming flustered and waved for her daughter to come to the front door to help. The daughter thought her mother was in trouble with a hostile homeowner and came ready to defend her. She was argumentative and told me she was not going to waste hers and her mother’s time arguing with someone who would not listen! That is the way it ended. I was mystified at her reaction for a few minutes. Later she returned and apologized for her argumentative tone. She thought her mother was in trouble. A Witness actually returning and apologizing was a first for me.
To interpret this passage we begin with the clearest texts on Jesus’ eternity. That Jesus, the Logos of God, is the eternal and almighty Creator of all is clear in John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:15-17. He cannot be one of the “things” created and the Creator of “all things” or you would have a violent contradiction.
Context is a vital tool in interpretation. It is also the first place to look when a text is used to affirm something that is questionable. In Proverbs 8:1 Solomon said, “Doth not wisdom cry? And understanding put forth her voice?” “Her” voice? If this is speaking of Jesus then why is the feminine gender used?
If wisdom is referring to Jesus then in verse 12 we have another person mentioned, Prudence. It says, “I wisdom dwell with prudence, …” Clearly we have in chapter eight what is called a personification of something that is not actually a person. A personification is to speak of something as if it were like a person, having the attributes of intellect, emotion and will.
In verse 23 we read that wisdom is “from everlasting”. This is an expression of unknowable time and eternity and is used of God on a number of occasions. Isaiah 40:28 is a clear example. A companion point to this is the question of whether God was ever without wisdom? Of course not. Verse 30 says wisdom was “rejoicing always before him.” Does “always” mean always, or just recently?
So, how do we understand the words “possessed” or “produced”, and the “beginning of his way”? God began His creative acts in eternity. When He began creating time itself began. Before that only eternity existed. In God’s creative work He utilized His wisdom, power, and foreknowledge to create a universe of incredible unity and complexity. He manifested, made evident, and displayed His wisdom by His creative acts. In this sense wisdom was produced or brought forth.
By David Henke
