The Way of Wisdom
1 The discipline, 4 and doctrine of wisdom. 13 The custom, 16 and error of folly.
Pro 9:1 Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars.
It is sufficient to see in this “house” a poetic figure personifying wisdom and representing her as dwelling in a place at whose doors the eager searcher for truth waits (see ch. 8:34).
Seven pillars. These have been the subject of much conjecture. Seven frequently denotes completeness. Consequently, the house of wisdom may be said to be fully and perfectly built and firmly supported, since the pillars are of hewn stone. But to find a representation for each of these pillars is to indulge in conjecture.
Pro 9:2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
Wisdom is represented as having prepared a great feast. In warm climates animals had to be slaughtered just before the time for the feast, for the flesh quickly decayed.
Pro 9:3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city,
By poetic figure, because “wisdom” is feminine, her servants are also represented in the feminine.
Pro 9:4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,
Only those who recognize their lack of understanding respond to the invitation. The others decline because of empty confidence in their own superiority.
Pro 9:5 “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
A slight change in figure from food and wine (v. 2) to bread and wine, not necessarily a change in representation.
Pro 9:6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.”
Only as men separate from the ways and the company of those who reject the appeals of their Saviour is it possible for them to live a full and satisfying life.
Heeding the call of wisdom and partaking of her bread and wine give rich rewards both in this present life and in the world to come (see John 6:51). 7. Wisdom interrupts her counsel to those who recognize their need, to explain why she addresses only the simple instead of casting pearls of truth before the obdurate (see Matt. 7:6).
When a man is known to hold religion in derision, any attempt to correct him is likely to be met with such a tirade of abuse that the result can be only harm for all concerned. The experience leaves the Christian shamed and the sinner more hardened than ever.
Such men are often more easily reached by the indirect appeal of the consistent, humble life of some Christian (see Matt. 5:16).
Pro 9:7 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
Pro 9:8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
Pro 9:9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.
Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
The LXX, however, regards qedoshim as an ordinary plural noun and renders the second part of the verse thus, “The counsel of saints is understanding, for to know the law is [the character] of good thought.”
“A knowledge of God is the foundation of all true education.”
Pro 9:11 For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.
Wisdom returns to her statement of the reasons why the simple should come to the feast. Long life is offered as a reward for wisdom and the fear of God (see chs. 3:2, 16; 4:10; 10:27).
Pro 9:12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.
Though the results of foolish ways and opposition to God are shared by many innocent sufferers and the blessings of a good life extend to many others, it still remains true that wisdom and folly primarily affect the one who practices them.
Happiness and length of life in this world and eternal life or eternal death in the age to come are personal rewards, as also is the remorse felt in the judgment (Eze. 18:4; Matt. 12:36).
The Way of Folly
Pro 9:13 Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing.
In contrast with the call of the good woman, who represents wisdom, Solomon presents the noisy, passionate call of folly. Every man must make his choice between these two.
Simple.
The word is here obviously used in a bad sense as denoting a lack of moral fiber (see on ch. 8:5). The woman knows nothing that she ought to know. The LXX has a different reading, “A foolish and bold woman, who knows not modesty, comes to want a morsel.”
Pro 9:14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city,
Wisdom sent her maidens through the city and cried from the highest places (v. 3). Folly sits at her door in haughty, overdressed splendor and calls to those as foolish as herself.
Pro 9:15 calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way,
Pro 9:16 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,
Pro 9:17 “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”
The feast that folly offers consists only of stolen waters and the bread of secrets in contrast with the satisfying food prepared by wisdom (see on ch. 5:15). Pro 9:18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead. Unlike the well-built, stone-pillared house of wisdom, full of light and air, the establishment maintained by folly is a gloomy, secretive abode haunted by the memory of those who have died, dupes of her temptations.