Quotation for Berakhot 109:14
אמר רבי יוחנן אין הקדוש ברוך הוא נותן חכמה אלא למי שיש בו חכמה שנא' (דניאל ב, כא) יהב חכמתא לחכימין ומנדעא לידעי בינה שמע רב תחליפא בר מערבא ואמרה קמיה דרבי אבהו אמר ליה אתון מהתם מתניתו לה אנן מהכא מתנינן לה דכתיב (שמות לא, ו) ובלב כל חכם לב נתתי חכמה:
R. Johanan said : The Holy One, blessed be He, only gives wisdom to him who has wisdom ; as it is said, "He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding" (Dan. 2:21 ). Rab Tahlifa the Palestinian heard this and repeated it in the presence of R. Abbahu. He said to him : You learn it from there ; but I learn it from the following, for it is written, "In the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom" (Exod. 31:6).
Haamek Davar on Exodus
I have also granted skill to all who are skillful: In Brachot 55 they (the sages) said that the Holy One Blessed be God only gave wisdom to those who had wisdom. (The Gemara asks) What is the basis for this? And thus the explanation is given that it is from Sefer Daniel (2:21) " “He gives wisdom unto the wise..." And the intention in this is that the root of wisdom is explained by two teachings/manners:1) logic and discernment 2) Learning and researching what others have already learned. And this is the explanation of the verse in Proverbs (4:7) The beginning of wisdom is—acquire wisdom; With all your acquisitions, acquire discernment. First comes the logical reasoning of the human as he behaves with learning - that he must first gain wisdom of others and afterwards he will be able to acquire wisdom learning one thing from another on his own intuition. ...
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