Many commentaries refer to Proverbs 8:22-31 as a celebration of Wisdom from the primordial beginnings. It is as though the scribes are saying, “Look, we are only celebrating in our day, what the Lord has provided for us since the dawn of creation.” This shift of focus is marked by the change from “I” (vv.12, 17) to the Lord (vv. 22–31). The section begins with “the Lord” and ends with b^enê ʾādām (“I found delight in the sons of men”), the climax and aim of God’s creative works.

This section, unified thematically by wisdom’s connection with God’s creative works, falls into two equal stanzas. The first pertains to her origin before creation (vv. 22–26); the second, to her presence and celebration during the creation (vv. 27–31). These two halves are linked by a thematic chiasm: 

A, Wisdom’s origins (vv. 22–23); 
B, the negative state of the creation (vv. 24–26); 
B′, positive presentation of the creation (vv. 27–29); 
A′, Wisdom’s celebration of humanity’s origins (vv. 30–31).

²² “The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; ²³ From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth. ²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,  when there were no fountains or springs of water; ²⁵ Before the mountains were settled into place, before the hills, I was brought forth; ²⁶ While as yet the earth and the fields were not made, nor the first clods of the world.