The Messianic daughter

One of the important passages to be aware of in thinking about the logos who was with God in the beginning, is Proverbs 8. Here, in the NETS version from the Septuagint, is the song of wisdom, or sophia, who was in the beginning with God,

²³I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

²⁴When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

²⁵Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

²⁶While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

²⁷When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

²⁸When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

²⁹When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

³⁰Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

³¹Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

But verse 30 is the one that I am having the most difficulty with. In the Greek, the first clause is ἤμην παρ' αὐτῷ ἁρμόζουσα ἐγὼ. This is translated in the NETS as "Then I was by him, as one brought up with him" but it could also read, "Then I was with him as the joiner" - as the one who crafts creation. The participle is in the feminine form agreeing with sophia, wisdom.

There is a broad range of offerings for this verse, and I will post only a representative smattering,

Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: KJV
then I was beside him, like a master workman ESV, NASB, RSV
Then became I beside him, a firm and sure worker, Rotherham
then I was by him [his] nursling Darby
Then I was by Him, as a nursling JPS
Then was I with him as a nourisher, Geneva
I was with him ordring all thinges Bishop's, Coverdale

This poses lots of questions. Why does our English translation represent sophia, clearly feminine, as a "workman?" Was the pre-incarnate Christ feminine or masculine? Is there some metaphorical significance to the movement from the feminine sophia to the masculine logos?

Perhaps the author of John's gospel had a choice of whether to write about sophia or logos, who had been there in the beginning; and chose to write logos, because it was masculine. But that is no reason for modern English Bibles to dress sophia in the clothes of a man and disguise her gender, labeling her a "workman."

For me, "God" is beyond gender, and I have no quibble with accepting that Jesus was a male. But, is there some theological weight to gender? I don't think so. I'll leave it at that. However, as a translator, we need to do justice to metaphorical gender when appropriate. Gender is expressive and speaks to us.

If this is the case, then we need to share what gender is saying to us, we need to allow the feminine voice, without paganizing it or subjecting it.

If the logos is the sophia, then we need to signal that sophia, the pre-incarnate "expression" of God is feminine; just as Jesus, the logos become flesh, is masculine.

I'll pass you along to El Shaddai's post on this topic, Reflections on the Messianic daughter and the image of God.