Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 8:12

"I wisdom have made prudence my dwelling, And find out knowledge [and] discretion." — Proverbs 8:12 (ASV)

Wisdom first speaks warnings (Proverbs 1:24), next promises (Proverbs 2:1); but here she neither promises nor threatens, but speaks of her own excellence. Prudence is the subtilty, the wiliness of the serpent (Genesis 3:1), in itself neutral, but capable of being turned to good as well as evil. Wisdom, occupied with things heavenly and eternal, also dwells with the practical tact and insight needed for the life of ordinary people. Witty inventions are, more accurately, counsels. The truth intended is, that all special rules for the details of life spring out of the highest Wisdom as their source.