Wisdom in the Bible

The Bible is a book of wisdom. From Genesis to Revelation, the verses are inspirational, educative, guiding or cautioning. The word wisdom appears in 222 different verses of the Bible. The most popular and referenced verse is James chapter 1 verse 5. Making reference to the King James Version, it says; “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” There is no excuse therefore for anyone to lack wisdom. Interestingly, there are plenty of Christians out there who do not have wisdom and unfortunately, do not ask for it.

Out of the books of the Bible, Proverbs is regarded as the book of wisdom. The word is referenced in 52 verses.  It was written thoughtfully with very encouraging and words full of wisdom from the very first chapter all the way to last. The book particularly stresses on the need for someone to get wisdom and keep. It even suggests that wisdom is better than any other possession one can have including gold or riches untold. Reading from the scriptures, one will notice that wisdom goes hand in hand with understanding. This can clearly be seen in Proverbs 4:5, Proverbs 4:7, Proverbs 16:16 and Proverbs 19:8.  

The world today is continually increasing in knowledge. Greater discoveries are being made as well as scientific ventures. The Bible cautions against this; in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 18, King James Version states; “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.” This implies that the more one increases their knowledge, their sorrows multiplies. This does not in any means imply that people should seize from making discoveries or creating new things. It simply means that one should not put all their efforts in gaining worldly knowledge but rather focus on the wisdom given from God.

The wisdom that comes from God is noble and profound. It comes along with peace and great understanding. When one possess this wisdom, they become gentle, merciful, straightforward and have good character in general. James chapter 3 verse 17, King James version starts; “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” Christians should therefore ask for wisdom and strive to keep it.