The ancient Hebrew name for Wisdom is Khokhmah, a feminine
noun. In Jewish scripture, it was Khokhmah who personified the female
Divine. She is understood as an emanation of God, yet she resonates with
the Hebrew Goddess who is otherwise assailed in the Bible, especially
Asherah, she of the sacred Tree. Proverbs 3:18 calls up an image of Khokhmah
that originates in the oldest core of Jewish culture: “She is a
Tree of Life to all who lay hold of her.”
In the same book, Khokhmah sings, “The one who finds me, finds life.”
Wisdom is another form of the Shekhinah, the divine Presence. Both are
“expressed in light and glory,” both involved in creation,
enthroned in heaven, intermediaries between god and the world, ascending
and descending, and winged.
The Book of Wisdom of Solomon, written by Alexandrian Jews in the Hellenistic era, renames Khokhmah as Sophia, the Greek word for Wisdom.
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