According to Proverbs, “All wisdom comes from the Lord, and so do common sense and understanding. God gives helpful advice to everyone who obeys him” (Prov 2:6,7). These verses summarize two important understandings of wisdom found in the Jewish Scriptures, which Christians call the Old Testament. First, true wisdom comes from God, and second, wisdom is based on the Law that God gave to Moses and the people at Mount Sinai (Exod 19–34). This wisdom based on God’s Law was what parents were to teach their children (Deut 5:16; 6:4-9).

The prophet Jeremiah warned that the people should not brag about their own wisdom or strength or wealth, but boast only that they worship God (Jer 9:23,24). Jeremiah goes on to say that the wisdom God used to create the world will win out over the schemes of those who rely on their own wisdom and follow other gods (Jer 10:1-15).

Over the centuries God gave special wisdom to certain people, including Joseph and Daniel. Chief among these was Solomon, who asked God for wisdom (1 Kgs 3:1-15; 10:1-10). Solomon’s wisdom included legal wisdom, understanding of how people should treat one another, and knowledge about animals and plants. In fact, many of the wise sayings collected in the book of Proverbs have been attributed to this wise king (Prov 1:1).

The book of Job mixes wise sayings about human behavior and God’s will for his people with a story of a man who remained faithful to God in spite of difficulties and sufferings. Ecclesiastes also includes many wisdom sayings, as do the wisdom writings included in the Old Testament Deuterocanon/Apocrypha. These writings, used by some Jews and Christians, are the Wisdom of Solomon, which was written in Greek and uses Greek philosophical terms, and Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus), which views the Law of Moses as the symbol and basis of all wisdom. In the book of Baruch, wisdom is identified wholly with the Law of Moses as God’s special gift to Israel (Bar 3:27—4:4).

In the New Testament, Jesus is described as one whose wisdom is greater than that of Solomon (Matt 12:42). His wisdom is described as being so great that the people in his own hometown could not understand where he got it (Matt 13:54; Mark 6:2). The writer of Colossians says that Jesus is the key to God’s mystery and “wisdom and knowledge are hidden away in him” (Col 2:3). Paul contrasted human wisdom, which is often foolishness, with the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:18—2:16). God’s mysterious wisdom is that God sent Jesus to die on a cross so that people could receive God’s forgiveness and be saved by putting their trust in Jesus. To those who don’t believe, this message seems foolish. People who think this way are using the world’s wisdom and not the wisdom God gives.