Proverbs 9

This chapter is the conclusion and also summary of Proverbs 1-8 which is the introduction to this book. Both woman Wisdom and woman Folly make a final appeal. The two women illustrate the teaching of the previous eight chapters.

They both address the naive (verses 4,16), those who lack wisdom. They are the gullible. They need wisdom to live, but they are very easily influenced by foolishness. Both women compete for their favor. They each do so in their own way with appropriate results. To respond to the invitation of woman Wisdom means to enter life. To accept the invitation of woman Folly means to enter the realm of the dead. Woman Wisdom offers life without saying anything about pleasure. Woman Folly offers pleasure without saying anything about death.

Woman Wisdom is portrayed as the Builder and Dweller of a beautiful house Who sends Her maids out to invite guests. Woman Folly is portrayed as a lewd woman who sits on a chair by the door of her house and lures passersby to come to her. Both women have organized a feast with a meal.

Wisdom, Who appears here for the last time in these introductory chapters, is also called “the highest Wisdom” (verse 1). This means that in Her is a fullness of wisdom; all wisdom is in Her. Again, we see in this a clear picture of Christ “in Whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (Col 2:3).

Of Her it is said that She “has built Her house”. It is about something new, made by Her and available to all who respond to Her invitation. It is Her house. She has built it not only for Herself, but in it She wants to receive others and make them feel at home. Her house is a huge contrast to the house of the harlot. The harlot does not build Her house, but demolishes it.

Wisdom also “has hewn out her seven pillars” to have Her house rest on them. The number seven speaks of completeness, without defect, and perfection, without lack. The building is established on a perfect foundation, making it unshakable.

James mentions seven characteristics of “the wisdom from above” (Jam 3:17), which we can apply to the seven pillars. They are characteristics that can be perfectly seen in the Lord Jesus.

1. The first characteristic of wisdom is that it is “pure”. James emphasizes the importance of this by saying of purity that it takes the “first” place. The following characteristics flow from this. Purity is a first requirement because it is about Christ Who is pure.

2. Wisdom is “then peaceable”. Christ is the great Peacemaker. Whoever accepts Him and becomes wise will also be a peacemaker. The Lord Jesus also speaks in the Sermon on the Mount first about purity and then peace (Mt 5:8-9).

3. A next pillar of the house of woman Wisdom is called “gentle”. It is a house in which no one stands up for his own rights. How gentle was Christ.

4. He who is wise is also “reasonable”. Christ was willing to do what His Father told Him to do, that is, He complied completely with His Father’s will. It will also be so with everyone who accepts the invitation of Wisdom.

5. In His relationship to others, Christ was “full of mercy and good fruits”. He was and is compassionate to others who are in misery and is a blessing to them. Everyone who is wise will be so.

6. Christ was and is “without partiality” in His dealings with others. He neither favors nor excludes anyone. There is no regard for persons with Him, just as there is none with those who are wise.

7. Finally, He was and is “without hypocrisy”. There is no hypocrisy with Him. He does not pretend to be anything other than what He is, but is Who He says He is. The same is true of everyone who is wise.

Wisdom has not only prepared the house and the pillars. She has also prepared everything in that house Herself to receive and provide food for the guests (verse 2). The menu consists of meat and wine, of food and drink, of the best kind.

That “She has slaughtered her slaughter” shows that She uses Her own cattle. In this we can see a reference to Christ Who gave Himself in death as a provision for sinners. Only on the basis of His death can they come to the banquet. So to speak, it is not a vegetarian banquet, but a banquet for which blood has been shed and where meat is eaten.

In picture, or in terms of its spiritual meaning, it is about eating the flesh of the Son of Man and drinking His blood. Eating it gives a person eternal life, but this must be followed by eating it continually (Jn 6:53-56). Since, given the invitation of woman Wisdom, others may eat of this flesh, we can think of Christ as the peace offering. The peace offering represents Christ in His work on the cross on the basis of which fellowship with Him, with God and with one another is possible (cf. 1Cor 5:7-8).

This banquet, where fellowship is experienced, gives not only life but also joy. We see that joy in the wine She has mixed. Wine is a picture of joy (Jdg 9:13; Psa 104:15). She also took care of the wine. She has mixed it with water or with spices so that it is of the best quality. The wine speaks of utter joy that is enjoyed when there is fellowship with the Father and the Son and with one another (1Jn 1:1-4).

Next we see that She has “also” set Her table ready. The word “also” indicates an additional activity. A “table” speaks of fellowship, of possessing something in common and sharing it. That it says “Her table” means that Her concern is not only about providing food and drink for the guests, but also eating and drinking with them. “Her table” expresses fellowship with Her, sharing in what is Her portion.

When Wisdom has prepared everything to receive the guests, She sends out “Her maidens” (verse 3). Through them She calls “from the tops of the heights of the city”. The maidens echo Her voice. She makes every effort to reach everyone with Her invitation. Everyone can hear Her, for She “calls”. Everyone can see Her, for She occupies a high place in the city. Thus Christ sends out His servants with His invitation to come to His banquet.

And whom does She invite? Everyone who is naive and acknowledges it, for he is asked to turn in to Her (verse 4). What She makes, Her house, is spacious and has an unshakable foundation (verse 1). What She offers, Her meal, is regal (verse 2). Those whom She invites do not fit in. They are the opposite of regal, for they come from the streets and lack any qualification to be there. The Lord Jesus uses the same picture in a parable (cf. Lk 14:21-23).

Therefore, something must happen before someone accepts the invitation. For the call to come also implies a call to repentance. This is echoed in the words “let him turn in here”. What Wisdom offers can only be enjoyed if the path of sin is abandoned. He who recognizes that “understanding” lacks him, will turn from his foolish path; he will leave that path, repent, and come to Wisdom.

She invites, not just to come and see, but to come and eat of Her bread and drink of the wine She has mixed (verse 5). How many people continue to stand at a distance looking at what Christ offers without actually accepting the eternal life He offers.

Some think it is too easy. You cannot just accept it. They believe that something has to be done by them first. Others want to enjoy life first. They believe they can decide for themselves when they will come. But it is an invitation without conditions and also an invitation that must be accepted unconditionally. All the invitees must do is come and do so immediately (cf. Isa 55:1).

Any excuse not to accept the invitation (cf. Lk 14:18-20) falls under “folly” that must be forsaken. Those who forsake them will live. As long as conversion has not taken place, a person is in death. But whoever listens to the voice of Wisdom, that is, the voice of the Son of God, will pass from death into life (Jn 5:24). This is life in its true and full sense that is offered at conversion.

Those who repent and live “proceed in the way of understanding”, which is the way in which one demonstrates understanding, a conduct and walk determined by understanding. It is the path on which the believer seeks fellowship with God and His own. On that path, Scripture is read and consulted and God’s guidance is sought in prayer. The counsel or instruction of fellow believers is also valued. These things demonstrate understanding.

Christ, the Wisdom of God, is no longer on earth. He has become the exalted Wisdom, glorified at the right hand of God. The Wisdom of God now becomes visible, is expressed, in the building of a spiritual house, the church. This house consists of the many sons whom Christ leads to glory. They know God and the mysteries, enabling them to live their life in the light of eternity.

Verses 7-12 form a transitional section connecting the previous section (verses 1-6) with the next (verses 13-18). Here we still hear Wisdom speaking, summarizing the main things of Her teaching. We can think of these words as spoken to the naive. He should not associate with a scoffer, not even to correct him (verse 7). Indeed, if he seeks to correct him, he “gets dishonor for himself”. To argue with a mocker means to be showered with filth.

A scoffer is essentially “a wicked man”. It is someone who willfully sins and is not open to reason (2Pet 3:3-5). It is dangerous to reprove someone who willfully defies God. Such a person follows his own lusts and deliberately goes against all the commandments of God. It is throwing pearls before swine if we present him with the beauty of the gospel. There is a good chance that he will turn around to devour his reprover (Mt 7:6).

What this section says is a penetrating depiction of the two types of people we have encountered in this book: the scoffer and the wise. The “scoffer” is the person who lives with contempt for wise and sound teaching. His scoffing is so deep that he also cannot tolerate others listening to sound teaching. He expresses this by making cynical remarks about it.

Wisdom urgently advises not to reprove the scoffer, for this will only make him hate you (verse 8a). The scoffer is incorrigible. Therefore, Wisdom warns that anyone who tries to correct a scoffer is asking for trouble. Arguing and hurling insults are in the blood of these cynical troublemakers. The only response the scoffer gives is hatred. Anyone who tries to correct the scoffer is rejected by him with disgust.

It comes down to a situation where whoever is wise must become even wiser, and whoever is a scoffer must scoff even more (cf. Rev 22:11). Wisdom makes it clear that the character of each person will continue to develop in the direction he has chosen. Wisdom confronts a choice with eternal consequences.

Against the response of the scoffer to reproof is the response of the wise to reproof (verse 8b). The wise one will love the one who reproves him. He proves that he is a wise person by listening to an instruction. And not only that. He will love the instruction. Instruction that is accepted produces love, the opposite of the hatred that arises in the scoffer when he is reproved.

It shows that someone does not think highly of himself and is willing to receive further teaching. In addition to being a wise person, he is also a righteous person (verse 9). Such a person wants to gain greater understanding of Who God is and of who he himself is. That understanding gives life its true richness and meaning. It is then lived with more and more satisfaction, because more and more is answered to the purpose of God with it.

True wisdom finds its origin in “the fear of the LORD” (verse 10). Without fear, in the sense of reverence, for God, there can be no wisdom. No one is wise until he fears God. To fear means to be afraid of oneself for dishonoring God. It is not the fear of a slave for a master, but of one who loves God. The first evidence of wisdom, the beginning of it, is fearing God.

He who is wise from the fear of the LORD does not fear Him, but rather wants to be close to Him in order to know Him better. Through “the knowledge of the Holy One” – by Whom God is meant as the triune God – the wise person gains understanding of life, how it should be lived.

Whoever listens to the call of Wisdom and embraces its beginning, the fear of God, receives a wonderful reward. That reward is presented as an additional argument for accepting the invitation of Wisdom. Wisdom holds out the prospect of multitudes of days and addition of years, or eternal life (verse 11). Here, as always, it is about the life of the soul and not physical life. “But the one who does the will of God”, that is, who listens to Wisdom, “will live forever” (1Jn 2:17).

In verse 12, the conclusion follows with an agreement and a contradiction. Both those who are wise and those who are scoffers face the consequences of who they are. He who is wise will benefit from it himself, while he who is a scoffer must bear the consequences of it himself. Whoever is wise and is guided by wisdom in his life will be rewarded by wisdom. Wisdom carries the reward within itself. The scoffer, he who scoffs at wisdom, injures only himself and will ultimately be in eternal pain.

“Each one” – both he who is wise and he who is a scoffer – “will bear his own load” (Gal 6:5), means that each is held accountable for everything he has done. The wise sows to the Spirit and the scoffer sows to his own flesh. The results are consistent with this (Gal 6:7-8).

Wisdom and scoff do not benefit or harm God (cf. Job 22:2-3). God finds no lack in Himself. He is the only blessed God. Wisdom and scoff often do affect others, but that too is not the issue here. What it is about here is what the ultimate part of the wise man and the scoffer will be on a personal level, the results of their personal choice. For those who see the similarity and the difference, the right choice will not be difficult.

“The woman of folly” (verse 13) is the strange woman, the harlot. We have heard and seen her before (Pro 2:16; 5:3; 7:5). She “is boisterous”. Her life is all restlessness. She has no stability and therefore cannot provide it, unlike woman Wisdom. Lacking the slightest bit of reason, she is “naive”, literally “simple”, and therefore extremely foolish. She “knows nothing”, that is, she has no knowledge of good at all. God is the great Absent One in her life.

All this lack of peace, understanding and knowledge does not shame her. She does not at all care what others think of her, what harm she does to families, bodies and souls of others and what she robs herself of and what she ultimately brings upon herself. Whoever accepts her invitation is no less guilty, of course, but here the initiative comes from her. Her shameless attitude and behavior is also expressed in increasingly shameless manners in our days. The posters along the roads and the advertisements in all kinds of media have long since abandoned shame.

The contrast with Woman Wisdom is enormous. Woman Wisdom has built a beautiful house and hewn out seven pillars for it (verse 1). She worked hard for it. Then She prepared a meal and set the table (verse 2). Woman Foolishness has done nothing. She does not build, but breaks down. She has neither prepared a house nor prepared a meal.

Woman Foolishness sits “at the doorway of her house” (verse 14). She knows no shame, nor is any sense of inferiority foreign to her. That she sits “on a seat” means that she feels like a queen. She therefore imagines herself “by the high places of the city”. As she feels, so does she behave. She wants to exude authority, as if it is a privilege to interact with her.

It is reminiscent of “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” (Rev 17:5), who says of herself in her heart, “I sit as queen” (Rev 18:7). It is a symbolic representation of the roman-catholic church, which is seated in Rome which is built on seven hills (Rev 17:9). This corrupt system has committed spiritual harlotry with the kings of the earth and positioned itself as one of them.

She is emphatically present in the streets (verse 14) and she invites every passerby (verse 15). She imitates Wisdom in several areas, as in the calling from the heights of the city, the invitation and the meal. Woman Folly holds to a form of Godliness, but she denies its power (2Tim 3:5). She is depraved in thought and rejected as to faith (2Tim 3:8). In her we see the devil at work as a master imitator.

The devil is also an excellent advertiser. We see this in advertising flyers and promotional videos, which always cater to the needs of man. He knows very well where the needs of man are. He knows the needs of man for food and drink and sexuality. These are not in themselves sinful needs, because they have been put into man by God. They are really human needs. They only become sinful needs when man starts providing for them without asking God and accepting the offers made by the devil.

Woman Folly, as the devil’s mouthpiece, addresses everyone, not just those who deliberately set out to sin. She calls to those "who are making their paths straight", who do not want to deviate, but want to walk the right path in obedience to what they have been taught from the Word of God. However, she presents the right path as boring. Very slyly, she shows that deviation from the usual path provides the necessary variety, making life seemingly exciting and challenging.

She also imitates Wisdom by specifically addressing those who are “naive” (verse 16; cf. verse 4). Let that one turn from his path just once and come to her. Surely among all these passersby there is also someone “who lacks understanding”. To him she has a very attractive invitation.

She bluntly offers “stolen water” (verse 17), inciting the passersby to illicit sexual intercourse with her. In doing so, she responds to passion as thirst (cf. Pro 5:15). This mode of quenching thirst is indeed stealing, for it is stealing the intimacy of one who alone is entitled to it. She presents it as “sweet”. Satan always presents sin as “sweet”, while its aftertaste is so very bitter.

To stolen water also belongs “bread [eaten] in secret”, which is “bread of mysteries”, “bread of hidden places” (cf. Deu 13:6). The enjoyment of this bread cannot bear the light of day. It presents it as “pleasant”, while its aftertaste is very foul.

By offering both water and bread in this way, she appeals to the tendency that lies within every human being, and that is the tendency to do something that is unlawful, that goes against the rules of God. But what she offers can rightly be called ‘a prison meal’, as the proverb says that a person in prison is ‘on water and bread’. Whoever drinks this water and eats this bread becomes a prisoner of hers.

The outcome is far worse than a prison. Whoever enters her house meets there a company of “the dead” (verse 18). All his predecessors, “her guests”, who have accepted her invitation “are in the depths of Sheol” (Pro 2:18; 7:27). The house of woman Folly turns out to be ‘the gullet to hell’. All who on earth drink of her water and eat of her bread will digest it in hell for all eternity. This confrontation with death encourages one to choose life.

Woman Wisdom and woman Folly illustrate two ways, each with its own end. The Lord Jesus calls these ways the broad way and the narrow way (Mt 7:13-14). He calls for avoiding the broad way and following the straight and narrow path of a righteous and wise life. The broad way leads to destruction; the narrow way leads to life. Almost all subsequent verses in this book propose these two paths: the way of and to life and the way of and to death.