O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. 

O come to teach us the way of truth.

In the (apocryphal) Book called the ‘Wisdom of Solomon’, we find that ‘wisdom,’ a rather elusive quality, is described in various ways, often in terms of a woman. Thus, “she is a breath of the power of God” (7,25) and “She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well” (8,1). 

In Isaiah (11,2) we read: “The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” This text is used in the liturgy with reference to the Holy Spirit. Thus, on Pentecost Sunday, the Introit is: “The Spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and that which holds all things together knows what is said” (Wis. 1,7). 

However, in the context of the ‘O’ antiphons, Wisdom should be seen as referring to the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word born of the Father before all time, who became flesh for our salvation. This divine Wisdom is asked to come and “teach us the way of truth.”