📖 Biblical Definition
Chokmah (חָכְמָה) is the Hebrew word for wisdom — not abstract knowledge but practical-spiritual skill at living. The same root names Bezalel’s craftsman-skill in fashioning the tabernacle (Exodus 31:3) and the moral-spiritual wisdom that fills the book of Proverbs. Chokmah is craftsmanship of the soul: knowing how to live well, speak rightly, govern a household, and walk before God. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10); without that fear, no skill is sanctified. Christ is the very chokmah of God (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30), in whom "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). Wisdom is therefore not just data — it is union with the Wise One.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Hebrew "wisdom" — practical-spiritual skill at living rightly.
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The Hebrew word for wisdom is broader than abstract knowledge. Chokmah names the practical-spiritual skill of the craftsman (Bezalel filled with the Spirit of God in chokmah for tabernacle work, Exod 31:3) and the moral-spiritual skill of right living (Proverbs). Wisdom is craftsmanship applied to soul, household, business, and worship.
📖 Key Scripture
Proverbs 1:7 — "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Proverbs 9:10 — "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."
Exodus 31:3 — "And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Reduced to abstract intellectual category; the practical-craftsmanship sense of chokmah is dropped.
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Modern "wisdom" sounds intellectual — the philosopher's commodity. Hebrew chokmah includes the craftsman's hand-skill: the seamstress, the metalworker, the woodworker filled with the Spirit. Wisdom is doing rightly, not just thinking rightly.
Recover the craftsmanship: chokmah is for the kitchen, the workshop, the field, the household. The fear of the LORD is the beginning — the rest is hand-trained skill.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew chokmah.
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['Hebrew', 'H2451', 'chokmah', 'wisdom, skill']
['Hebrew', 'H2449', 'chakam', 'to be wise']
Usage
"Chokmah is hand-skill, not just brain-skill."
"Bezalel had it; so did the Proverbs sage."
"Fear of the LORD is the beginning."