ḥokmāh

Semantic range

1. 1practical skill — of a craftsman, sailor or administrator
2. 2prudence in living
3. 3wisdom personified, calling in the streets (Proverbs 8)

The first person in the Bible said to be filled with the Spirit of God is Bezaleel, filled "in wisdom, and in understanding... and in all manner of workmanship" to build the tabernacle (Exodus 31:3). Hebrew wisdom is competence before it is contemplation.

Proverbs 8 personifies wisdom as present at the creation, "rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth" — a passage later Christian writers read Christologically. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10) sets the whole enterprise inside covenant reverence, which is also how D&C 88:118 frames learning: by study, and also by faith.

See also

• תּוֹרָהtôrāh
• יָדַעyādaʿ
• רוּחַrûaḥ