Proverbs · Chapter 9

V. 1. Her house-For the reception of her guests. Seven-Many pillars; whereby is intimated the beauty and stability of the church. Pillars-Prophets, and apostles, and ministers.

Verse 1. Wisdom hath builded her house] The eternal counsel of God has framed the universe.

She hath hewn out her seven pillars] Every thing has been so constructed as to exhibit a scene of grandeur, stability, and durableness.

Verse 1. Wisdom, &c. — Wisdom here, under a most splendid allegory, is represented “as a queen, sitting in her royal palace, and inviting mortals to a banquet, plentifully furnished with the richest dainties, that they may be fed with celestial delights for a blessed immortality. Various have been the endeavours of commentators to apply every circumstance in this description; but it has been well observed, that whoever would do so, will find themselves in a great error, and quite ignorant of the nature of parabolical writings; for parables may be compared to history paintings, which are intended to convey a general idea, which is to be gathered from the collective body of images, not from any particular figure; the minute circumstances are to be considered only as heightenings of the piece; but the conclusion or general maxim is to be drawn from the scope and assemblage of the whole:” see Schultens and Dodd. Hath builded her house — For the reception and entertainment of her guests; she hath hewn out her seven pillars — That is, many pillars, the number seven being put for any perfect number. Hereby the beauty and stability of the building are signified. Or, perhaps, it is to be understood of the erection of a portico, in which the banquet was to be prepared. This house is opposed to the harlot’s house, mentioned Proverbs 7:8, and was considered by many of the ancient fathers, as it has also been by many modern commentators, as representing the church, which Christ, the Wisdom of the Father, hath erected and established in the world, which is termed God’s house, (1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 3:3, 4,) in which the prophets, apostles, and ministers of religion are pillars, (Galatians 2:9,) and in which a feast of fat things is provided for all that will partake of it: see Isaiah 25:6, and especially the parables, Matthew 22:1-14, and Luke 14:16-24, which greatly illustrate this allegory of Solomon.

Verse 1. Wisdom hath builded her house. This chapter opens with a sublime allegory. We see the princess, the mother of angels and men, enthroned in her temple, “the church which is the pillar and ground of truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15. It presents a front of seven pillars, a favourite and mystical number in the Hebrew sanctuary. She prepares a royal festival, and invites a world to be her guests. She stands in every form of grace; she spreads her hands and cries in all high places, inviting the misguided and the poor to eat of her bread and drink of her wine. Oh, vile is the heart, perverse is the mind, which, for a moment, lingers or delays! See how the world run in myriads to feasts: and shall the feast of wisdom be slighted by fools, that know not what they do? How long, alas, shall scorners hate the man that would make them wise?

1. Wisdom — twmkj, hhokmoth, literally, wisdoms, the plural of excellency, according to the Hebrew manner, (comp. Proverbs 1:20,) but the verbs and pronouns connected with it are in the singular, as usual, showing that, though the form is plural, the sense is singular. Hath builded her house — Compare Proverbs 14:1. Palace, rather than temple, in which she resides like a queen in royal state, carrying out the idea suggested in Proverbs 8:34. Seven pillars — Seven is probably used here, as often, as the mystical or complete number. The sentiment is that of the stability and beauty of the building.

Many, both among the ancients and moderns, fond of running out the allegory in every particular, have found in this “house” and its “seven pillars” a subject for the exercise of their ingenuity. But some, not satisfied with such general idea, have conjectured that the seven pillars were seven schools of the prophets then in existence: while others, again, considering Wisdom as identical with the Logos of the New Testament, have supposed that the building typified the Church, which is called God’s house, (1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 3:3, 4,) in which the prophets, apostles, and ministers are pillars, (Galatians 2:9,) and in which a feast of fat things is provided for all that will partake of it. Isaiah 25:6; and the parable, Matthew 22:14; Luke 14:16-24. This much may be said concerning this application, that the principles involved are the same in both cases; and if these expositions are only used in an illustrative way, no great harm is done. But, inasmuch as they are altogether conjectural, they have no logical force when used dogmatically in support of any particular doctrine. Miller, who spiritualizes every thing, gives us on verses 2 and 3 a fair specimen of this allegorizing: “‘She has killed her’ killing; namely, Christ. ‘She has mingled her wine;’ namely, his atoning blood. She has, in every respect, a banquet, just as the strange woman offers her banquet. ‘She has spread her table;’ Christ and his cross not being efficient unless administered to men, she has established Churches and ordinances as the mere dishes and seats of the expected banquet. ‘She has sent forth her maidens;’ namely, sermons and providential strokes; the whole heraldry of the doctrine of salvation.”

V. 2. Killed-Made provision for the guests. Mingled-With water, as they used to do in those hot countries. Furnished-With all necessaries, and now waits for the guests.

Verse 2. She hath killed her beasts] God has made the most ample provision for the innumerable tribes of animal and intellectual beings, which people the whole vortex of created nature.

Verse 2. She hath killed her beasts — That is, made provision for her guests: namely, instruction in things the most important, satisfying, improving, and consolatory truths, declarations, and promises; refreshing, cheering, and exhilarating discoveries and communications. If applied to the church of Christ, it signifies the ordinances and means of edification appointed therein, with the gifts, graces, and comforts, and the spiritual and eternal blessings which God hath prepared for his true people, and which he offers to all mankind, to be accepted in the way of repentance, faith, and new obedience. Reader, they are free for thee. She hath mingled her wine — With spices, to make it cheering, invigorating, and delightful, this mixed wine being represented as the best, Proverbs 23:29, 30; or, with water, as they used to do in those hot countries, both for refreshment and wholesomeness: whereby may be intimated to us, that wisdom teaches us temperance in the use of our comforts. She hath also furnished her table — With all necessaries, and now waits for guests.

Ver. 2. She hath mingled her wine. It was usual with the ancients to mix their wine with water in various proportions; generally two parts wine to three parts water. Wisdom is represented as so doing. The Hebrew word Ësm masac also signifies wine mixed with the lees, which was turbid and intoxicating. They also mixed the wine with spices and with drugs, both to flavour it, and to give it a stupifying effect. This was the cup of the strange woman, whose guests are in the depths of hell: ver. 18.

2. Killed her beasts — Slaughtered her slaughterings, that is, animals to be slaughtered. “Killed her victailes.” — Geneva Bible. The terms used indicate slaughtering for food rather than for sacrifice. Mingled her wine — Wine was an essential part of every entertainment. Sometimes it was mixed with water, sometimes with milk, and was sometimes flavoured with spices, (spiced wine, mixed wine,) or other ingredients. The object of the first kind of mingling or mixing was to reduce its strength; of the second, to make it more palatable, or to increase its strength and exhilarating power. The light wines of that vine-bearing country were, we suppose, generally used diluted, (about as we use tea and coffee,) as the usual beverage for their meals, especially at their feasts. (Comp. Proverbs 23:30; Isaiah 5:22.) But Fausset says: “Not mixed with water, which is the emblem of degeneracy.” Isaiah 1:22. The sentiment expressed by the woman is, that she has thoroughly prepared a rich feast.

V. 3. Maidens-Her servants to invite the guests, ministers of the word whom he calls maidens for the decency of the parable; for wisdom being compared to a great princess, was fit to be attended upon by maidens. Highest places-From such high seats as those from which judges delivered their sentences, and officers made proclamations.

Verse 3. She hath sent forth her maidens] The wisdom of God has made use of the most proper means to communicate Divine knowledge to the inhabitants of the earth; as a good and gracious Creator wills to teach them whence they came, how they are supported, whither they are going, and for what end they were formed. It is a custom to the present day, in Asiatic countries, to send their invitations to guests by a company of females, preceded by eunuchs: they go to the doors of the invited, and deliver their message.

Verse 3. She hath sent forth her maidens — Her servants, to invite the guests, namely, the ministers of the word of God, whom he calls maidens, for the decency of the parable; for Wisdom being compared to a great princess, it was fit she should be attended on by maidens. She crieth upon the highest places — Upon the tops of the houses, (which were flat,) conformably to what our Lord says, Matthew 10:7, What ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. Or, from such high seats and places as those from which judges delivered their sentences, and officers made proclamations for the convenience of the people’s better hearing.

3. Sent forth her maidens — hytr[n, her young women. Wisdom being personified as a woman, a queen, it is fitting that her attendants should also be women. She crieth — That is, by her maidens. Hasselquist says, that at Alexandria (Egypt) he saw, on one occasion, ten or twelve women going about the city inviting people to a banquet by a peculiar cry or noise. The office of announcing and celebrating glad tidings among the Hebrews, says Bishop Lowth, belonged peculiarly to the women. On occasion of any great victory or other joyful event, the women went forth with music song, and dance, to celebrate the occurrence. So did Miriam and “all the women,” after the passage of the Red Sea. Exodus 15:20, 21. So Jephthah’s daughter. Judges 11:34. So, after David’s victory over Goliath, it is said “that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music; and the women answered one another as they played, [in alternate chorus:] —

“Saul has slain his thousands,

And David his ten thousands.”

In Psalm 68:11, the word rendered “those publishing it,” twrcbmh, (hambhasseroth,) is a feminine plural participle, and might be translated, female heralds of good news. The same word in the singular is also used. Isaiah 40:9, is rendered by Lowth, “O daughter, that bringest glad tidings.” All these passages recognise the fact that to women belonged, by custom, the proclamation of joyful news. To women, also, was it first given to proclaim the gospel of the resurrection. Luke 24:1, seq.; John 20:17, 18.

V. 4. Simple-Ignorant, and weak.

Verse 4. Whoso is simple] Let the young, heedless, and giddy attend to my teaching.

Him that wanteth understanding] Literally, he that wanteth a heart; who is without courage, is feeble and fickle, and easily drawn aside from the holy commandment.

Verses 4-6. Whoso is simple — Ignorant, weak, and liable to be deceived, but willing to learn; let him turn in hither — For there is no man so ignorant but he is welcome to come and receive instruction. By this manner of speaking, Wisdom shows that she rejects those scholars who are proud and self-conceited. As for him that wanteth understanding — Hebrew, that wanteth a heart, which is put for understanding, Jeremiah 5:21; Hosea 7:11, and elsewhere. She saith to him, Come, eat of my bread — Partake of the provision which I have made; my nourishing and strengthening instructions; and drink of the wine which I have mingled — Receive my refreshing and invigorating comforts. Forsake the foolish — The ignorant and wicked; shun their company and their practices; converse not with them; conform not to their ways; have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, or with those that do such works. The first step toward virtue is to shun vice, and therefore to avoid the company of the vicious. And live — Arise from the dead and live indeed; not a mere animal life, such as brutes live, but now at length live the life of men, the life of Christians. Live a spiritual life, in union with God, and you shall live an eternal life in the enjoyment of him. And go in the way of understanding — Govern thyself by the rules of religion and right reason. It is not enough to forsake the foolish, but we must unite ourselves with those that walk in wisdom, and walk in the same spirit, and the same steps.

4. Simple — Uninstructed, a novice. (See on Proverbs 1:4.) Wanteth understanding — Hebrew, lacketh heart, intelligence, sense. (See note on Proverbs 7:7.) Compare verse 16.

Verse 5. Come, eat of my bread] Not only receive my instructions, but act according to my directions.

Drink of the wine—I have mingled.] Enter into my counsels; be not contented with superficial knowledge on any subject, where any thing deeper may be attained. Go by the streams to the fountain head. Look into the principles on which they were formed; investigate their nature, examine their properties, acquaint thyself with their relations, connections, influences, and various uses. See the skill, power, and goodness of God in their creation. And when thou hast learned all within thy reach, know that thou knowest but little of the manifold wisdom of God. Let what thou hast learned humble thee, by showing thee how very little thou dost know. Thou hast drunk of the provided wine; but that wine was mingled with water, for God will hide pride from man. He dwells only on the surface of religious and philosophical learning, who does not perceive and feel that he is yet but a child in knowledge; that he see through a glass darkly; that he perceives men like trees walking; and that there are lengths, breadths, depths, and heights, in the works and ways of God, which it will require an eternity to fathom. Here below the pure wine is mingled with water: but this is God’s work. Yet there is enough; do not therefore be contented with a little. To this subject the words of the poet may be well applied:— A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

For scanty draughts intoxicate the brain,

But drinking largely sobers us again.

POPE

Among the ancient Jews, Greeks, and Romans, wine was rarely drank without being mingled with water; and among ancient writers we find several ordinances for this. Some direct three parts of water to one of wine; some five parts; and Pliny mentions some wines that required twenty waters: but the most common proportions appear to have been three parts of water to two of wine. But probably the Ësm יינ yayin masach, mingled wine, was wine mingled, not with water, to make it weaker; but with spices and other ingredients to make it stronger. The ingredients were honey, myrrh, mandragora, opium, and such like, which gave it not only an intoxicating but stupifying quality also. Perhaps the mixed wine here may mean wine of the strongest and best quality, that which was good to cheer and refresh the heart of man.

If we consider the mixed wine as meaning this strong wine, then the import of the metaphor will be, a thorough investigation of the works of God will invigorate the soul, strengthen all the mental powers, enlarge their capacity, and enable the mind to take the most exalted views of the wonders of God’s skill manifested in the operations of his hand.

Verses 4-6. Whoso is simple — Ignorant, weak, and liable to be deceived, but willing to learn; let him turn in hither — For there is no man so ignorant but he is welcome to come and receive instruction. By this manner of speaking, Wisdom shows that she rejects those scholars who are proud and self-conceited. As for him that wanteth understanding — Hebrew, that wanteth a heart, which is put for understanding, Jeremiah 5:21; Hosea 7:11, and elsewhere. She saith to him, Come, eat of my bread — Partake of the provision which I have made; my nourishing and strengthening instructions; and drink of the wine which I have mingled — Receive my refreshing and invigorating comforts. Forsake the foolish — The ignorant and wicked; shun their company and their practices; converse not with them; conform not to their ways; have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, or with those that do such works. The first step toward virtue is to shun vice, and therefore to avoid the company of the vicious. And live — Arise from the dead and live indeed; not a mere animal life, such as brutes live, but now at length live the life of men, the life of Christians. Live a spiritual life, in union with God, and you shall live an eternal life in the enjoyment of him. And go in the way of understanding — Govern thyself by the rules of religion and right reason. It is not enough to forsake the foolish, but we must unite ourselves with those that walk in wisdom, and walk in the same spirit, and the same steps.

5. Come — The sense is continued from the preceding verse. The sentiment, stripped of metaphor, is: Wise instructions, received with relish, will afford comfort, satisfaction, and pleasure of the highest and noblest kind. Comp. Isaiah 55:1, seq. “Not for the first time in John 6, or in the last supper, were bread and wine made the symbols of fellowship with eternal life and truth.” — Speaker’s Com. The wine I have mingled — There is considerable diversity of opinion among commentators as to whether this mingling of wine was to make it stronger or weaker. In general, the Europeans — English, Scotch, and Germans — favour the idea of strengthening: and the Americans, of the later class especially, incline to the opinion of dilution: though Muenscher (American) says, The temperate nations of antiquity were not in the habit of drinking wine drugged, or even undiluted, except at feasts of drunkenness and debauchery, in which they sometimes indulged, when the wine was mixed with potent ingredients to increase its strength. Whether the greater or less progress of temperance principles has any thing to do with the exegesis in these two classes, we know not. The Hebrews were essentially a temperate people, and can hardly be supposed to have imposed less restraint on their appetites than did the Greeks and Romans. So also Dr. A. Clarke. Instead of “the wine I have mingled,” the Geneva has, “wine I have drawn.” The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic add to this chapter the following: “But hasten away; delay not in the place; neither fix thine eye upon her: for thus thou shalt go through strange waters: and do thou return from strange waters, and drink not at a strange fountain, that thou mayest live long, and years of life be added to thee.” Very good advice, but not in the original Hebrew.

Verse 6. Forsake the foolish] For the companion of fools must be a fool. And live] Answer the end for which thou wert born.

Verses 4-6. Whoso is simple — Ignorant, weak, and liable to be deceived, but willing to learn; let him turn in hither — For there is no man so ignorant but he is welcome to come and receive instruction. By this manner of speaking, Wisdom shows that she rejects those scholars who are proud and self-conceited. As for him that wanteth understanding — Hebrew, that wanteth a heart, which is put for understanding, Jeremiah 5:21; Hosea 7:11, and elsewhere. She saith to him, Come, eat of my bread — Partake of the provision which I have made; my nourishing and strengthening instructions; and drink of the wine which I have mingled — Receive my refreshing and invigorating comforts. Forsake the foolish — The ignorant and wicked; shun their company and their practices; converse not with them; conform not to their ways; have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, or with those that do such works. The first step toward virtue is to shun vice, and therefore to avoid the company of the vicious. And live — Arise from the dead and live indeed; not a mere animal life, such as brutes live, but now at length live the life of men, the life of Christians. Live a spiritual life, in union with God, and you shall live an eternal life in the enjoyment of him. And go in the way of understanding — Govern thyself by the rules of religion and right reason. It is not enough to forsake the foolish, but we must unite ourselves with those that walk in wisdom, and walk in the same spirit, and the same steps.

6. The foolish — Same word as in verse 4, rendered “simple,” but here in the plural abstract, follies. And go — wrva, (ishrou,) go straight forward.

V. 7. A former-He shews whom he meant by the foolish, ver. 6, even scorners and wicked men, and presses his last advice of forsaking them because there was no good, but hurt to be got from them.

Verse 7. He that reproveth a scorner] xl lets, the person who mocks at sacred things; the libertine, the infidel; who turns the most serious things into ridicule, and, by his wit, often succeeds in rendering the person who reproves him ridiculous. Wisdom seems here to intimate that it is vain to attempt by reproof to amend such: and yet we must not suffer sin upon our neighbour; at all hazards, we must deliver our own soul. But no reproof should be given to any, but in the spirit of love and deep concern; and when they contradict and blaspheme, leave them to God.

Verse 7. He that reproveth a scorner — “This and the following verse supply us with a reason for the conduct of wisdom, in addressing herself only to the simple. She invites not the pretendedly wise, those who think they are ignorant of nothing; to invite them to the feast of wisdom, would be to expose herself to their insults and censures. They would receive the invitation with disdain; they would despise the lessons of wisdom; they would reject with disgust her wine and her viands. The scorners admirably represent the genius of libertines and professed infidels.” — Dodd. But Solomon may also be considered as showing us, in these verses, whom he meant by the foolish, verse 6, even scorners and wicked men; and here he presses the advice last given of forsaking them, because there was no good, but hurt, to be got from them. He that reproves such a one, he says, getteth to himself shame — Namely, both from the scorner himself, who will revile and deride him; and from others, because he is frustrated in his design and hope, and hath, by his imprudence, brought an inconvenience upon himself. He that rebuketh a wicked man — A man wilfully, obstinately, and determinedly wicked; getteth himself a blot — Censure or reproach. Instead, probably, of convincing or reforming such a one by his reproofs, he will find himself accused of the same, or of similar iniquities, by the person whom he endeavours to amend. “A scorner,” says Lord Bacon, “only makes us lose our labour, but a wicked man (that is, one obstinately wicked) repays us with a stain of dishonour; when a man instructs a scorner, his time, indeed, which he thus employs, is thrown away, and others deride his pains as a labour ill placed; and the scorner himself also despises the knowledge which he is taught; thus a man is put to shame. But the matter is transacted with greater danger in the reprehension of the other; because he not only gives no ear to the advice, but turns his head against his reprehender, now made odious to him; whom he either wounds presently with contumelies before his face, or traduces afterward to others behind his back.” — Advancement of Learning, 50. 8. chap. 2. par. 9.

7. Reproveth — Correcteth. A scorner — This seemingly abrupt transition is like that in Proverbs 1:24, where see note. It probably implies a dramatic pause, in which certain things, readily imagined, are supposed to have taken place; namely, the acceptance of the invitation by some, the rejection of it, with contempt and scorn, by others. Hence the severe reflections that follow on the one hand, in this verse and the next, and the commendations and consoling ones on the other, in verse 9, et seq. The words are evidently intended as the language of Wisdom, as appears from the 11th and 12th verses, and not of the writer in his own per-son. Shame — Or, contempt; that is, from the scoffer. A blot — Patrick, in his old-fashioned way, expresses the idea: “Whoever rebukes (warns) one of these impious wretches hath commonly all the dirt thrown upon him that their malice can rake together.” It is not probable that the “scorner” and the “wicked” here mean classes of persons very variant in their character, or of different degrees of baseness; nor that “shame” and “blot” are of different degrees of intensity. It is what is called the parallelism synonymous, wherein the idea of the first member is usually only slightly varied or modified in the second, for esthetic ends.

V. 8. A scorner-An obstinate and incorrigible sinner.

Verses 8, 9. Reprove not a scorner — An incorrigible sinner, who despises and scornfully rejects the means of amendment. Thus physicians deny physic to persons in a desperate condition; lest he hate thee — Whereby thou wilt not only expose thyself, without necessity, to his malice and rage, but also make thyself utterly incapable of doing that good, which, possibly, thou mightest do by other more prudent and proper means. Rebuke a wise man — Who is opposed to the scorner, to intimate that scorners, however they are thought by themselves or others to be witty or wise, yet, in God’s account, and in truth, are fools; and he will love thee — Both for that faithfulness and charity which he perceives in thee, and for that benefit which he receives from thee. Give instruction to a wise man — In the Hebrew it is only give; for, as receiving is put for learning, (Proverbs 1:3,) so giving is put for teaching. And he will be yet wiser — This is an undoubted maxim, that a man disposed to learn, who and has already hearkened to the instructions of wisdom, will grow wiser by reprehension; and the advice given to a just, or righteous man, one truly desirous of knowing and practising his duty, will make him yet better, and much improve him in every branch of piety and virtue.

8. Reprove not a scorner — This is not to be understood as an imperative prohibition, to be observed in all cases; but as a strong way of stating the effects of reproof upon a scoffer: if thou reprove, etc. So the next clause, also. Rebuke — If thou admonish or advise a wise man, he will love thee, will appreciate thy fidelity, even though at first it may wound him. Compare Psalm 141:5. Zockler’s interpretation of the drift of thought here is, that it is an invitation to abandon intercourse with such persons, for you will gain nothing but contempt and insult by their association. Comp. Matthew 7:6.

Verse 9. Give instruction to a wise man] Literally give to the wise, and he will be wise. Whatever you give to such, they reap profit from it. They are like the bee, they extract honey from every flower.

Verses 8, 9. Reprove not a scorner — An incorrigible sinner, who despises and scornfully rejects the means of amendment. Thus physicians deny physic to persons in a desperate condition; lest he hate thee — Whereby thou wilt not only expose thyself, without necessity, to his malice and rage, but also make thyself utterly incapable of doing that good, which, possibly, thou mightest do by other more prudent and proper means. Rebuke a wise man — Who is opposed to the scorner, to intimate that scorners, however they are thought by themselves or others to be witty or wise, yet, in God’s account, and in truth, are fools; and he will love thee — Both for that faithfulness and charity which he perceives in thee, and for that benefit which he receives from thee. Give instruction to a wise man — In the Hebrew it is only give; for, as receiving is put for learning, (Proverbs 1:3,) so giving is put for teaching. And he will be yet wiser — This is an undoubted maxim, that a man disposed to learn, who and has already hearkened to the instructions of wisdom, will grow wiser by reprehension; and the advice given to a just, or righteous man, one truly desirous of knowing and practising his duty, will make him yet better, and much improve him in every branch of piety and virtue.

9. Give — The word instruction being supplied. A noun, which is the complement of a verb, is often omitted, when it may be readily supplied from the context. Instruction — Perhaps admonition, or admonitory counsel, would be suggested by the connexion. The sentiment of the verse may be thus expressed: A man disposed to learn will grow wiser even by admonition; and instruction given to a good man will make him better. It is too often the reverse with scoffers and the wicked. “Every thing blesses the wise man.” — Miller.

Verse 10. The fear of the Lord] See on Proverbs 1:7. The knowledge of the holy; µyvdq kedoshim, of the holy ones: Sanctorum, of the saints.—Vulgate. Boulh agiwn, the counsel of the holy persons.

Verses 10-12. The fear of the Lord, &c. — The very first, and, indeed, the principal thing which is to be instilled into all men’s minds, (without which they will make no progress in true wisdom,) is a serious sense of the Divine Majesty, and an awful regard toward him. And next, that no knowledge deserves the name of understanding but that which disposes us to devote ourselves, in holy obedience, to God; or the knowledge and practice of true religion, and the duties of it: see notes on Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself — Thou dost not profit me, but thyself by thy wisdom. I advise thee for thine own good. But if thou scornest — If thou despisest and deridest the advice which I give thee, thou alone shalt bear it — The blame and mischief of it will fall wholly upon thee, not upon me, or my word, or ministers, who have warned thee.

Ver. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; words of frequent occurrence, which mark their excellence. The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil; to say in temptation, How shall I do this wickedness, and sin against God! The fear of the Lord marks piety of the highest degree. The deceased prophet feared the Lord. 2 Kings 4. Obadiah feared the Lord greatly from his youth. 1 Kings 18. Religion always begins with wisdom.—The knowledge of the Holy, Hebrews µyvdq Kadoshim, the Holy One, is understanding. That man only is wise who makes God his portion, and his hope: yea, he who glories in being called a fool by the world, sacrificing unhallowed interests for the bright rewards of the world to come.

10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom — See on Proverbs 1:7 and 2:5. As in the beginning of this introductory discourse (or lecture, as we would call it in modern phrase,) the author commenced with this maxim, expressed in somewhat different form, as his motto or text, so now, in drawing to a conclusion, he returns to it, and repeats it with some modification and addition. In Proverbs 1:7 the form is t[d tyvar hwhy tary, yirath Yehovah reshith da’hath, the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge. Here the form is, hwhy tary hmkj tljt, tehhillath hhokmah yirath Yehovah, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of Jehovah. The proposition being a convertible one, the subject and predicate exchange places. Possibly nothing more was intended than variety of expression. In our way it may be stated thus: To fear the Lord is the first and most important thing in order to obtain knowledge. Proverbs 1:7. The first and most important thing in order to be wise is to fear the Lord. Proverbs 9:10.

In the next member we find a synonymous parallelism. And the knowledge of the Holy is understanding — Literally, the Holy Ones; but this is undoubtedly a plural of excellency or intensity — the Most Holy One. The sentiment of the verse is: Even a beginning cannot be made in true wisdom without piety. Scorners and wicked persons, therefore, cannot attain unto it. Some commentators, and the Geneva Bible, render µyvdq, (kedhoshim,) holy things. But the other sense, given above, is better, and more generally approved.

Verse 11. For by me thy days shall be multiplied] Vice shortens human life, by a necessity of consequence: and by the same, righteousness lengthens it. There is a long addition here in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate: “He who trusts in falsity feeds on the winds; and is like him who chases the fowls of heaven. He forsakes the way of his own vineyard, and errs from the paths of his own inheritance. He enters also into lonely and desert places, and into a land abandoned to thirst; and his hands collect that which yieldeth no fruit.”

Verses 10-12. The fear of the Lord, &c. — The very first, and, indeed, the principal thing which is to be instilled into all men’s minds, (without which they will make no progress in true wisdom,) is a serious sense of the Divine Majesty, and an awful regard toward him. And next, that no knowledge deserves the name of understanding but that which disposes us to devote ourselves, in holy obedience, to God; or the knowledge and practice of true religion, and the duties of it: see notes on Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself — Thou dost not profit me, but thyself by thy wisdom. I advise thee for thine own good. But if thou scornest — If thou despisest and deridest the advice which I give thee, thou alone shalt bear it — The blame and mischief of it will fall wholly upon thee, not upon me, or my word, or ministers, who have warned thee.

11. Days… be multiplied — Sentiment: The natural tendency of knowledge is to prolong life and make it happy. Comp. Proverbs 3:2 and note, and Proverbs 4:10.

V. 12. For thyself-Thou dost not profit me but thyself.

Verse 12. If thou be wise] It is thy own interest to be religious. Though thy example may be very useful to thy neighbours and friends, yet the chief benefit is to thyself. But if thou scorn-refuse to receive-the doctrines of wisdom, and die in thy sins, thou alone shalt suffer the vengeance of an offended God.

Verses 10-12. The fear of the Lord, &c. — The very first, and, indeed, the principal thing which is to be instilled into all men’s minds, (without which they will make no progress in true wisdom,) is a serious sense of the Divine Majesty, and an awful regard toward him. And next, that no knowledge deserves the name of understanding but that which disposes us to devote ourselves, in holy obedience, to God; or the knowledge and practice of true religion, and the duties of it: see notes on Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself — Thou dost not profit me, but thyself by thy wisdom. I advise thee for thine own good. But if thou scornest — If thou despisest and deridest the advice which I give thee, thou alone shalt bear it — The blame and mischief of it will fall wholly upon thee, not upon me, or my word, or ministers, who have warned thee.

12. For thyself, etc. — There is often a feeling in the mind of children and pupils that their parents and teachers make requirements of them for selfish ends; that they and their teachers are two parties, with antagonistic interests. This is a very mischievous error. The more children and pupils can be made to feel that their own good is sought for, in all the means of instruction and discipline, the better: that if they obey and improve, they themselves will be the chief gainers; and if they are refractory and negligent they will be the great losers. This is, probably, the sentiment of the verse. Comp. Job 22:2; 35:6-8. On last clause, comp. Numbers 9:13; Jeremiah 7:19; Galatians 6:5; Proverbs 8:36. The Septuagint adds to this verse the following, not found in the Hebrew: “He that stays himself upon falsehood attempts to rule the winds, and the same will pursue birds in their flight; for he has forsaken the ways of his own vineyard, and he has caused the axles of his own husbandry to go astray; but he goes through a dry desert, and a land appointed to drought, and he gathers barrenness with his hands.”

CONTRASTIVE PICTURE OF WISDOM’S OPPONENT — THE SEDUCTIVE HARLOT, 13-18. The foolish woman of this passage is vividly drawn in contrast with the hhokmah, Wisdom, and may be taken as the type or incarnation of carnal pleasure, or the immoderate and unlawful indulgence of the appetites and passions. As in the preceding verses Wisdom was represented as a pure and queenly woman, enthroned in a palace, inviting all uninstructed ones to enjoy with her a pure, intellectual, and spiritual feast, the result of which would give vigour, long life, and happiness; so the opposite, this “foolish woman,” who knoweth nothing at all that is useful or virtuous — this woman, twlysk tva, (esheth kesilouth.) woman of follies — the representative of ignorant sensuality, is also placed upon her seat, ask, (kisse,) a throne. She sits in state at the door of her house, (Jeremiah 3:2; Genesis 38:14,) and that house in the most public place; in the very places where the maidens of Wisdom invite men to the feast of knowledge. Verse 3. She sits there with her lascivious arts and speech to divert men from intellectual and moral culture, and to overwhelm them in sensual pleasures. Comp. Proverbs 7:11, seq.

Verse 13. A foolish woman is clamorous] Vain, empty women, are those that make most noise. And she that is full of clamour, has generally little or no sense. We have had this character already, see Proverbs 7:11. The translation of the Septuagint is very remarkable: Gunh afrwn kai qraseia, endehv ywmou ginetai, “A lewd and foolish woman shall be in need of a morsel of bread.”

Verse 13. A foolish woman, &c. — “Here we have another allegorical picture, describing folly under the person of a harlot, who fascinates with her enticements, and offers also her dainties to her guests; but dainties tainted with the most subtle poison.” The Hebrew, twlysk tva, is literally, the woman of folly, or folly herself compared to a woman, and bearing the character of a harlot. This is opposed to that wisdom of which he has been so long discoursing, and so may include all wickedness, whether in principle or practice. Is clamorous — Speaks loudly that she may be heard, and vehemently that persons may be moved by her persuasions. She is simple, and knoweth nothing — Namely, aright; nothing that is good, nothing for her good, though she be subtle in little artifices for her own wicked ends.

Ver. 13. A foolish woman is clamorous. The LXX, “A foolish woman is bold, wanting bread, and devoid of shame.” Here is another allegory, full of dark shades. She calls to passengers, and like the syrens, allures the unwary to destruction.

V. 14. At the door-Watching for occasions of sin.

Verse 14. For she sitteth at the door of her house] Her conduct here marks at once her folly, impudence, and poverty. See above on Proverbs 7:6, &c., where the reader will find a similar character.

Verses 14, 15. She sitteth at the door of her house — Which denotes her idleness and impudence, and her diligence in watching for occasions of sin. To call passengers — Who were going innocently and directly about their own business, without any unchaste design.

V. 15. Go right-Who are going innocently about their business.

Verses 14, 15. She sitteth at the door of her house — Which denotes her idleness and impudence, and her diligence in watching for occasions of sin. To call passengers — Who were going innocently and directly about their own business, without any unchaste design.

15. To call passengers — This is her object, to draw even those aside into her haunts of folly and impurity who are going straight forward to the school of wisdom and virtue. She is, in this respect, a fair representative of the modern “saloon keeper.”

V. 16. Simple-This title is not given them by her, but by Solomon.

Verse 16. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither] FOLLY or PLEASURE here personified, uses the very same expressions as employed by Wisdom, Proverbs 9:4. Wisdom says, “Let the simple turn in to me.” No, says Folly, “Let the simple turn in to me.” If he turn in to Wisdom, his folly shall be taken away and he shall become wise; if he turn in to Folly, his darkness will be thickened, and his folly will remain.

Wisdom sets up her school to instruct the ignorant:

Folly sets her school up next door, to defeat the designs of Wisdom. Thus the saying of the satirist appears to be verified:— “Wherever God erects a house of prayer,

The devil surely builds a chapel there.

And it is found upon examination,

The latter has the larger congregation.”

DE FOE.

Verses 16-18. Whoso is simple — Which title is not given to them by her; for such a reproach would not have allured them, but driven them away; but by Solomon, who represents the matter of her invitation in his own words, that he might discover the truth of it, and thereby dissuade and deter those whom she invited. Stolen waters are sweet — A proverbial expression for unlawful pleasures, which are said to be sweet, partly from the difficulty of obtaining them, and partly because the very prohibition renders them more agreeable to man’s corrupt nature. But he knoweth not — He doth not consider it seriously, (whereby he proves his folly,) that the dead are there — The dead in sin, the spiritually dead, and those who are in the high road to be eternally dead. In other words, she invites him to his utter ruin, both of soul and body: for her guests are in the depths of hell — She sinks all those who accept of her invitation down to the very bottom of that pit from whence there is no redemption. “One of the profitable lessons to be learned from this chapter is, that there is nothing more inconsistent with wisdom than the service of those impure lusts which have been the ruin of all those who have been led by them; and therefore with this the wise man concludes his preface to the book of Proverbs, again repeating, verse 10, that first principle on which all religion is built, and wherewith he began this preface, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Indeed there is no true wisdom but religion.”

16. Turn in hither — “The feast of reason” and virtue to which wisdom invites is, as becomes its pure and elevated character, a public entertainment — open to the day — without blinds, or screens, or frosted windows; that of sinful pleasure, true to its character also, is in secret and darkness. Men are often most eager after enjoyments which are prohibited. The appetite for these pleasures is sharpened by the imposed restraints. “Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, [the prohibition,] works all manner of concupiscence.” Romans 7:7, et seq.

V. 17. Sweet-From the difficulty of obtaining them; and because the very prohibition renders them more grateful to corrupt nature.

Verse 17. Stolen waters are sweet] I suppose this to be a proverbial mode of expression, importing that illicit pleasures are sweeter than those which are legal. The meaning is easy to be discerned; and the conduct of multitudes shows that they are ruled by this adage. On it are built all the adulterous intercourses in the land.

Verses 16-18. Whoso is simple — Which title is not given to them by her; for such a reproach would not have allured them, but driven them away; but by Solomon, who represents the matter of her invitation in his own words, that he might discover the truth of it, and thereby dissuade and deter those whom she invited. Stolen waters are sweet — A proverbial expression for unlawful pleasures, which are said to be sweet, partly from the difficulty of obtaining them, and partly because the very prohibition renders them more agreeable to man’s corrupt nature. But he knoweth not — He doth not consider it seriously, (whereby he proves his folly,) that the dead are there — The dead in sin, the spiritually dead, and those who are in the high road to be eternally dead. In other words, she invites him to his utter ruin, both of soul and body: for her guests are in the depths of hell — She sinks all those who accept of her invitation down to the very bottom of that pit from whence there is no redemption. “One of the profitable lessons to be learned from this chapter is, that there is nothing more inconsistent with wisdom than the service of those impure lusts which have been the ruin of all those who have been led by them; and therefore with this the wise man concludes his preface to the book of Proverbs, again repeating, verse 10, that first principle on which all religion is built, and wherewith he began this preface, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Indeed there is no true wisdom but religion.”

Ver. 17. Stolen waters are sweet. The feast of the harlot, who beguiles the unwary by saying, “I have peace-offerings at home, and the good man is gone a journey.” But by and bye the gall operates in his belly; a guilty conscience, an angry God, a body wasting with disease, a character abhorred by the chaste, and hell prepared for the soul. The thief also must disgorge his prey, and be refused admission to glory.

17. Stolen waters — This verse, expressive of the above idea, was, probably, a proverb which the woman of vice turns to her own purposes. Bread eaten in secret — Literally, bread of secrecies. Both allude to unlawful pleasures.

Verse 18. But he knoweth not that the dead are there] See on Proverbs 2:18. He does not know that it was in this way the first apostates from God and truth walked. רפאים rephaim; gigantev, the GIANTS.—Septuagint. The sons of men, the earth-born, to distinguish them from the sons of God, those who were born from above. See Clarke’s notes on “Genesis 6:1”, &c.

Her guests are in the depths of hell.] Those who have been drawn out of the way of understanding by profligacy have in general lost their lives, if not their souls, by their folly. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic make a long addition to this verse: “But draw thou back, that thou mayest not die in this place; neither fix thy eyes upon her; so shalt thou pass by those strange waters. But abstain thou from strange waters, and drink not of another’s fountain, that thou mayest live a long time, and that years may be added to thy life.” Of this addition there is nothing in the Hebrew, the Chaldee, or the Vulgate, as now printed: but in the editio princeps are the following words:— Qui enim applicabitur illi descendet ad inferos; nam qui abscesserit ab ea salvabitur. These words were in the copy from which my old MS. Bible has been made, as the following version proves: Who forsoth schal ben joyned to hir, schal falle doun on to hell: for whi he that goth awai fro hir, schal be saved. Three of my own MSS. have the same reading. PROVERBS

Verses 16-18. Whoso is simple — Which title is not given to them by her; for such a reproach would not have allured them, but driven them away; but by Solomon, who represents the matter of her invitation in his own words, that he might discover the truth of it, and thereby dissuade and deter those whom she invited. Stolen waters are sweet — A proverbial expression for unlawful pleasures, which are said to be sweet, partly from the difficulty of obtaining them, and partly because the very prohibition renders them more agreeable to man’s corrupt nature. But he knoweth not — He doth not consider it seriously, (whereby he proves his folly,) that the dead are there — The dead in sin, the spiritually dead, and those who are in the high road to be eternally dead. In other words, she invites him to his utter ruin, both of soul and body: for her guests are in the depths of hell — She sinks all those who accept of her invitation down to the very bottom of that pit from whence there is no redemption. “One of the profitable lessons to be learned from this chapter is, that there is nothing more inconsistent with wisdom than the service of those impure lusts which have been the ruin of all those who have been led by them; and therefore with this the wise man concludes his preface to the book of Proverbs, again repeating, verse 10, that first principle on which all religion is built, and wherewith he began this preface, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Indeed there is no true wisdom but religion.”

Ver. 18. He knoweth not that the dead are there, µypr the rephaim, who seized the daughters of the poor, and filled the earth with violence and crimes. Genesis 6:4. And that her guests, all who followed the course of criminal indulgence, are in the depths of hell.

18. He — The “simple” of the preceding verse. The dead — µyapr, rephaim, the ghosts, spectres, shades. Her guests — Her invited ones. The sentiment may be: He who accepts her invitation may be considered as already among the ghosts of the infernal world — “as good as dead.” She invites him, though he knows it not, to his utter ruin. In the depths of hell — lwav yqm[b, (be’himke sheol,) the depths of the under world — the infernal regions. This is a striking picture: a dark den of impurity, haunted by horrible spectres, the shades of the guests invited by the congenial pollutions of the place from the infernal pit. Into such horrors art thou plunging, O young man, whosoever thou art, that givest the rein to thy appetites and passions! Comp. Proverbs 7:27; 2:18.