Dictionary entry

σοφία

G. Abbott-Smith's A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament

σοφία, -ας, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for חׇכְמָה;]

skill, intelligence, wisdom, ranging from knowledge of the arts and matters of daily life to mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense;

(a) of human wisdom: I Co 2:1, 4, 5, Ja 3:15, Re 13:1817:9; σ. Σολομῶνος, Mt 12:42, Lk 11:31; Αἰγυπτίων, Ac 7:22; Ἕλληνες σ. ζητοῦσιν, I Co 1:22; σ. λόγου, I Co 1:17; τ. σοφῶν, ib. 19(LXX); τ. κόσμου, ib. 20, 213:19; ἀνθρωπίνη, I Co 2:13; σαρκική, II Co 1:12;

of wisdom in spiritual things: Lk 21:15, Ac 6:3, 107:10, I Co 2:6, Col 1:282:233:164:5, Ja 1:53:13, 17, II Pe 3:15; λόγος σοφίας, I Co 12:8; πνεῦμα σοφίας, Eph 1:17; σ. καὶ φρόνησις, Eph 1:8; σ. καὶ σύνεσις, Col 1:9;

(b) of divine wisdom: of God, Ro 11:33, I Co 1:21, 242:7, Re 7:12; πολυποίκιλος, Eph 3:10

of Christ, Mt 13:54, Mk 6:2, Lk 2:40, 52, I Co 1:30Col 2:3, Re 5:12;

of wisdom personified, Mt 11:19, Lk 7:3511:49.†

SYN.: σύνεσις, intelligence; φρόνησις, prudence, which with σ. make up (Arist., N. Eth., i, 13) the three intellectual ἀρεταί. σ. is wisdom primary and absolute; in distinction from which φ. is practical, σύνεσις critical, both being applications of σ. in detail (cf. Lft., and ICC on Col 1:9; Lft., Notes, 317 f.; Tr., Syn., § lxxv; Cremer, 870 ff.).