Wisdom begotten or created
Whether the wisdom acquired or begotten before the world is the Son, and what the verb carries.
Proverbs 8:22-31
22“Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of his work, before his deeds of old.
23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth existed.
24When there were no depths, I was born, when there were no springs abounding with water.
25Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was born;
26while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
27When he established the heavens, I was there. When he set a circle on the surface of the deep,
28when he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong,
29when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him,
31rejoicing in his whole world. My delight was with the sons of men.
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
Rabbi Hoshaya reads amon as artisan (uman). The Torah says, “I was the tool of craft of the Holy One blessed be He,” just as a flesh-and-blood king builds a palace by an artisan’s knowledge, not his own.
Midrash Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah 1:1, Rabbi Hoshaya), Midrash Rabbah, Genesis - Sefaria 2022 translation — Bereshit Rabbah 1:1 (on Prov. 8:30, amon)
Patristic
Athanasius states that the Word of God created all things, not being a creature, but an offspring. No created thing is equal or like Him. It belongs to a Father to beget, while it belongs to a workman to create.
Athanasius, Statement of Faith (in NPNF II/4, Athanasius: Select Works and Letters) — § 4 (on Prov. viii. 22)
Catholic
Haydock reads "possessed" in Proverbs 8:22 as referring to Christ, who was with God and equal to him in eternity. He notes the Septuagint's "created," which many Fathers explain of the incarnate Word, or "placed me" (Athanasius, Eusebius), a pattern of all virtues. The Septuagint generally renders kana "possessed," as Aquila does here.
George Leo Haydock, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary (1859) — On Proverbs 8:22
Orthodox
John of Damascus says the Father is the source and cause of the Son and the Holy Spirit: Father of the Son alone and producer of the Holy Spirit. He calls the Son Son, Word, Wisdom, Power, Image, Effulgence, and Impress of the Father, derived from the Father. Thus the Son is named Wisdom and derives from the Father.
John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (NPNF II/9) — Book I, ch. 12 ('Concerning the Same')
Reformed / Protestant
Matthew Henry reads Proverbs 8:22-31 as the Son of God declaring that he was engaged in the creation of the world. Since he was the Creator, the Son is able and fit to be the Savior of the world. The Son of God was ordained before the world to that great work.
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible — On Proverbs 8:22-31
Evangelical
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown read Proverbs 8:22 as saying the Word was already with God, possessed by the Father from eternity. He did not first begin to be in the beginning of creation. Rather, He was Himself "the Beginning of the creation of God."
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible — On Proverbs 8:22