Roland E. Murphy Comments on Proverbs 8:22 (Word Biblical Commentary)

Murphy translates Prov. 8:22: "The Lord begot me at the beginning of his ways, the first of his works from of old"

His comments that follow: Several questions are raised about this verse: (1) the meaning of: “create,” “begot,” and “acquired” are all possible. The LXX reads “create” (ἔκτισε), and this caused some turmoil in early christological disputes. In view of the following verb ( , “I was brought forth,” vv 24–25), “beget” seems preferable (cf. also Gen 4:1), despite the arguments of B. Vawter (JBL 99 [1980] 205–16) for “acquired,” which was also the understanding of Symmachus, Aquila, and Theodotion. (2) “Beginning” ( ) is the preferred translation, but it can also be rendered as “first” (born) or “best.” The above translation construes it as being in apposition to “me” (a reference back to Gen 1:1?) or as an accusative of time. For a discussion of the various renditions of v 22, see G. Baumann, Weisheitsgestalt, 116–20.