The verb qanani is the theological crux of the chapter and one of the most contested words in the Hebrew Bible. From the root qanah, it most commonly means 'to acquire/possess,' but the same root in Genesis 4:1 ('I have gotten/borne a man') and Genesis 14:19 ('El Elyon, Creator/Possessor of heaven and earth') carries the sense of 'to create/beget/bring forth.' The LXX translates it ektisen me ('He created me'), which became the centrepiece of the Arian controversy of the 4th century: if Wisdom was 'created,' could the pre-existent Logos be eternal? The surrounding verses (vv.24–25) use cholalti ('I was brought forth') — birth-language that leans toward origination rather than mere possession. F.O.G. preserves 'possessed,' honouring the primary Hebrew sense; F.O.G.M. chooses 'brought me forth,' following the birth-imagery the poem itself immediately develops.

The verb qanani is the theological crux of the chapter and one of the most contested words in the Hebrew Bible. From the root qanah, it most commonly means 'to acquire/possess,' but the same root in Genesis 4:1 ('I have gotten/borne a man') and Genesis 14:19 ('El Elyon, Creator/Possessor of heaven and earth') carries the sense of 'to create/beget/bring forth.' The LXX translates it ektisen me ('He created me'), which became the centrepiece of the Arian controversy of the 4th century: if Wisdom was 'created,' could the pre-existent Logos be eternal? The surrounding verses (vv.24–25) use cholalti ('I was brought forth') — birth-language that leans toward origination rather than mere possession. F.O.G. preserves 'possessed,' honouring the primary Hebrew sense; F.O.G.M. chooses 'brought me forth,' following the birth-imagery the poem itself immediately develops.