Wisdom hath built her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars;
Proverbs 9 opens with a picture, not an argument. Wisdom is a woman who builds a house, cuts its pillars, spreads a table, then calls people in. The verse raises three questions: who is this wisdom, what does her house stand for, and why seven pillars?
One writer answers the first question from the chapter before.
In Proverbs 9:1-5 we have wisdom's feast. We can learn who this wisdom is from the chapter before, which says, "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth"… Who else could this be but "the only Son, who is at the Father's side," the One who made Him known? It could be no one else, for "No one has ever seen God."
Why does wisdom need a house at all? One answer is that she found no ready-made place in the world fit for her, and the pillars answer to the weight of what she supports.
"Wisdom has built her house." Nowhere on earth was there a home that suited her. She could find no dwelling, so she has prepared one for herself. Wisdom had to shape the whole of life — the closest relationships and the habits of every day. So "her house" was needed, and she invites people into it freely. "She has hewn her seven pillars." No other house shows support so complete, and it is complete because of the divine purpose behind it.
There is also something fitting about the man through whom this image comes to us.
And who so well could introduce the figure of wisdom's house as he who was given to build the house for the LORD's name! a settled place for Him to live in forever?
Commentators differ on what the seven pillars mean. One reading names them from a list in James, and looks for them in believers.
"Wisdom has built her house," that is, by faith she has set up a permanent home from which no one can drive her out (v. 1). Her seven pillars are named for us in James 3:17: "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." If unbelievers see in us these vital characteristics, they will have no excuse for ignoring the truth for which we stand.
A second reading looks at the word hewn. Rock-cut pillars stand in contrast to houses of brick. And the house is finished, not still going up.
We are not told what the houses of the two evil women were built from, but one is inclined to think they were built of bricks. Bricks are first mentioned in Scripture at Babel… Bricks speak of human material, man's imitation of stone, and stone is divine material… In the house which wisdom has built, the seven pillars have been hewn out of solid rock. They show what is divine as building material. Did not our Lord say, "On this rock I will build my church"?… Seven shows that the house is perfect and complete. Scripture does not say the house is being built, but that it is built.
The building is not the end of the story. The house exists so that a table can be spread inside it, and a table means company.
The provision is just as generous. How could it be otherwise, when divine love sets out to host in a way worthy of God? There is no clearer or more common picture of communion than eating and drinking under the same welcoming roof. This is how the Lord again and again held out the welcome of grace in the gospel. This is how He shows our feeding on Himself by faith for eternal life. This is how He gave us His supper, as our regular remembrance of Him until He comes.
Because the work is finished, the invitation can go out with nothing held back.
There is a Shelter for the people of God, and it cannot be moved… All things are now ready. Everything has been prepared. The good news must go out.
Later in the chapter another woman calls out too. The difference is what stands behind her invitation.
What house had she built? She had hewn out no pillars. She had no beasts to kill, no mixed wine, no table set — unlike wisdom, whose heart delights in good and in doing good. And she does this where need is great, dangers never end, and evil has no measure.
- Builder — Wisdom here is not an idea but a Person. Chapter 8 points to the Son, who was with God before the earth began.
- Built — She found no fit home on earth, so she made one. Her house covers all of life, from the deepest relationships to daily habits.
- Bedrock — Her pillars are hewn from rock, not moulded from brick like the rival houses. Seven marks the work perfect and already finished.
- Banquet — A finished house exists for a table. Eating together under one roof is the plainest picture of fellowship with God.
- Bid — Everything is ready, so the call goes out. Folly calls too, but she has no house, no pillars and no table behind her.
she hath slaughtered her cattle, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also prepared her table;
Proverbs 9 opens with Wisdom as a host who has prepared a meal and now looks for guests. Verse 2 is the food itself, and it raises two questions: who is this host, and what does she serve?
Who is this hostess? The previous chapter speaks of wisdom as already with God before He made the world. One writer therefore reads this host as a person, not a quality.
In Proverbs 9:1-5 we have wisdom's feast. Who this wisdom is may be gathered from the previous chapter... Of whom could this be here but of "the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father," and who declared Him? And of none other indeed, for "no one has ever seen God" (John 1:18).
"Only begotten" is older wording for the Son who alone is God's own.
Slaughtering, mixing and setting the table are three of seven acts in this chapter. One writer gives each act a meaning, then asks what the whole sequence points to.
Wisdom has built her house (reception); carved out her pillars (stability); killed her beasts (sacrifice); prepared her table (satisfaction); mixed her wine (joy). She has sent out her servant girls (invitation), and she calls from the highest place of the city (urgency). Does this not point to the Son of God coming into this world to die an atoning death? And then, risen, sending out to the whole world the news of redeeming love? (Mark 16:15).
Why picture God's welcome as a meal at all? One writer traces the same image from the gospel call right through to the Lord's supper.
The food she provides is no less generous... How could it be otherwise, when divine love takes on the task of hosting in a way worthy of God? No picture of fellowship is plainer or more familiar than eating and drinking under the same welcoming roof. So the Lord set out the welcome of grace again and again in the gospel. So He shows our feeding on Himself by faith for eternal life. So He gave us His supper, so that we would keep remembering Him until He comes.
What does this meal consist of? One writer fills in the menu from John 6, and names the joys that the mixed wine stands for.
In the provision of that house, the slaughtered cattle would suggest the plentiful food available to feed our souls. The mingled wine would suggest the many joys of those who have a place at wisdom's table... We eat the flesh of the Son of Man, verse 53; we eat living bread, verse 51; we eat the bread of life, verse 48; and above all the Lord said, "whoever feeds on ME," verse 57. What an abundance of food! The mingled wine would also suggest the various joys found in that circle. We have joy in believing, Rom. 15:13; the joy of faith, Phil. 1:25; joy in the Holy Spirit, Rom. 14:17.
A table this well stocked seems to call for important guests. The invitation that follows runs the other way.
And who are the objects of her appeal? Not the rich or great; not the wise or prudent; but "whoever is simple, let him turn in here." God is always the giving God when truly known. He may test man for a special purpose; but as God loves a cheerful giver, so He is the most generous of all Himself... In the world as it is, no one knows such generous, unselfish love. So the welcome has to be repeated, and that repetition is precious.
Later in the chapter a rival woman calls to passers-by from her own doorway. One writer asks what she has to set before them.
What house had she built? She had hewn out no pillars. She had no beasts to kill. She had mixed no wine and set no table, as wisdom did. Wisdom has a heart that delights in good, and in doing good where need is great, dangers are endless and evil is beyond measure.
Commentators differ over whether Wisdom here pictures Christ alone. One writer also reads her as wisdom worked out in the lives of believers (L M Grant).
- Host. Wisdom spreads the feast, and writers here identify her with the Son who was with God before the world began.
- Cost. The killing comes first. There is a meal only because a sacrifice died, which one writer ties to the atoning death of the Son of God.
- Joy. The mixed wine stands for joy — not one joy but many, poured at one table.
- Guests. The invitation passes by the great and the clever. It calls the simple, and anyone who lacks understanding.
- Contrast. Folly calls too, but she has killed nothing, mixed nothing and set no table. Only Wisdom has food to give.
she hath sent forth her maidens she crieth upon the summits of the high places of the city,
Wisdom has built her house and spread her table. In verse 3 the invitation leaves the house and goes public. She sends out her young women, and she herself takes the highest ground in the city and calls.
Commentators trace the identity of this "Wisdom" back to the previous chapter.
In Proverbs 9:1-5 we have wisdom's feast. We can see who this wisdom is from the previous chapter. It says, "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth" (Prov. 8:22-23)… Who else could this be but "the only Son, who is at the Father's side," who made Him known? It can be no one else, for "no one has ever seen God" (John 1:18).
The verse gives two motions, not one. The messengers go out, and the one who sent them does not stay behind.
Wisdom had her messengers, rightly pictured as maidens whom she sent out on an errand of loving-kindness. But she takes no less trouble herself. There she stands on the highest ground of all, from which she can invite. And who are the objects of her appeal? Not the rich or great; not the wise or prudent; but "whoever is simple, let him turn in here." God is always the giving God when He is truly known… As God loves a cheerful giver, so He Himself is the most generous of all; and that is what wisdom makes known here.
Another writer asks why the messengers are maidens, and why the call goes out from the highest places.
In verse 3 wisdom does the work of evangelism, sending out "her maidens." They are maidens because they stand for those who have received the Word of God into their own soul. Wisdom must not be hidden in a corner. She is announced from the highest places of the city. No one is shut out. The same is true of the gospel of the grace of God, sent to all the world, for God wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Where she calls from tells us what kind of message this is. She gives it in broad daylight, and she tells the people she invites exactly what they are.
The invitation is open and in broad daylight — "she has sent out her young women; she calls from the highest places in the town." And the apostle Paul could say, we "have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Cor. 4:2). Further, she does not hide what kind of people she is inviting. She makes them welcome, but she also lets them know how she sees them: "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here"… What a blessing it is to accept God's estimate of ourselves and to take His generous gift!
Later in the chapter a foolish woman calls in words that sound almost the same. The difference shows in what she has to send and to give.
Wisdom had her maidens to send out, and she herself cried aloud. She was eager to win people for the LORD and to warn from Him, and she sought the highest places of the city. Folly had no such maidens, any more than she had the generous provision of wisdom… Yet both make their appeal in words that closely resemble each other. How opposite their wish and aim! "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here" (vv. 4 and 16). Notice that the foolish woman in particular aims her call at those who pass by, who go straight on their way. What malicious pleasure to lead such people astray!
Verse 3 holds the last two steps in a chain that begins with building a house. One writer names each step and what it stands for.
The one who finds Wisdom finds life. Wisdom has built her house (reception); hewn out her pillars (stability); slaughtered her beasts (sacrifice); furnished her table (satisfaction); mixed her wine (joy). She has sent out her maidens (invitation), and she calls from the highest places of the town (urgency). Does this not point to the Son of God coming into this world to die an atoning death? And then, risen again, sending out the news of redeeming love to the whole world? (Mark 16:15).
- Voice. Chapter 8 tells us whose voice this is — the only Son at the Father's side, who has made the unseen God known.
- Sent. The maidens are her messengers, sent on an errand of loving-kindness. They picture people who have taken God's word into their own soul and now carry it out.
- Height. The cry goes up from the highest places. This message belongs in broad daylight, never hidden in a corner.
- Reach. The appeal passes by the rich, the great and the wise. It names the simple. To accept it, you must first accept God's estimate of yourself.
- Rival. Folly copies the words but has no maidens and no generous feast. She calls to those walking straight past, to pull them off their road.
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. To him that is void of understanding, she saith,
Proverbs 9 opens with wisdom building a house, preparing a feast and setting her table. Then, from the top of the city, she calls out. The wonder of verse 4 is who she calls: not the clever or the qualified, but people with nothing to bring.
Who is speaking? Commentators look back one chapter for the answer.
In Proverbs 9:1-5 we have wisdom's feast. We learn who this wisdom is from the previous chapter. There it says: "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth"... Of whom could this be here but of "the only Son, who is at the Father's side," and who made Him known? And of none other indeed, for "no one has ever seen God."
Wisdom's call names the people she wants. They are not the ones you would expect.
And who are the objects of her appeal? Not the rich or great; not the wise or prudent; but "whoever is simple, let him turn in here." God is ever the giving God when truly known. He may test man for a special purpose; but as God loves a cheerful giver, so He is the most generous of all Himself; and so wisdom here makes it known... In the world as it is, such generous unselfish love is unknown; so this repeated welcome is both needed and precious.
Wisdom does not hide what she thinks of the people she invites. She tells them, and still spreads the table.
Further, there is no disguise as to the character of the persons invited. For while making them welcome, she lets them plainly know how she regards them: "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here! To him who lacks sense she says, Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed." How blessed it is to adopt God's estimate of ourselves and to accept His bounty!
Wisdom asks nothing the ignorant cannot do. That is the point of offering food rather than a lecture.
The message is not merely for the intellectual; rather, "Whoever is simple (that is, lacking in intelligence), let him turn in here" (v. 4). If one lacks understanding, that understanding is made available for him. At least, however ignorant one is, he still knows how to eat and drink. Eating what wisdom offers, he will find it not so difficult to take in what seems strange and unfamiliar to him.
Twelve verses later the foolish woman uses this exact sentence. The words match; nothing else does.
Wisdom had her maidens to send out, and she cried out herself. She was in earnest to win people for the LORD, and to warn them on His behalf. So she sought the highest places of the city. Folly had no such maidens, any more than she had the generous provision of wisdom... Yet the text presents both as making their appeal in words that closely resemble each other. How opposite their wish and aim! "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here" (vv. 4 and 16). And notice that the foolish woman aims her call at those who pass by, going straight on their way. What malicious pleasure, to lead such people astray!
One writer separates them by what each one does with her guest — one gives, the other takes.
These are the appeals of evil and of good. But there is a difference in the activity of genuine love, which does not invite us to selfish enjoyment. Wisdom prepares, and sends out to invite to blessing. The "clamorous woman" sits "on a throne, at the door of her house," and makes the one who comes the slave of her own desires.
Wisdom welcomes the simple, but she does not leave them simple.
Wisdom does not allow inconsistency. If we receive her despite our folly, it is so that we may become wise according to a wisdom above our own. This is truly to "live" where all else is death. And, as living, it is to walk in the way of intelligence, looking up to Him who is above, and not like the animals that look down and perish.
- Who calls — The wisdom speaking here was with God before the earth existed. Commentators hear in her voice the Son who made God known.
- Who is called — Not the rich, great, wise or prudent, but the simple; God is the giving God, and the guest list proves it.
- How she calls — From the highest place, with no flattery. Wisdom tells her guests what she thinks of them, and welcomes them anyway.
- What she asks — Only eating and drinking, which even the most ignorant person knows how to do. The table supplies the understanding he lacks.
- Where it leads — Folly copies the words, sits still and enslaves. Wisdom goes out, feeds her guests, and makes them wise enough to live.
Come, eat ye of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mingled.
Proverbs 9 pictures Wisdom as a hostess: she has built her house, prepared the meal and set the table. In verse 5 she calls people in to eat — but who is she, and why does she feed the ones she calls simple?
The invitation carries weight only if we know whose voice it is. Commentators find the answer one chapter earlier.
In Proverbs 9:1-5 we have wisdom's feast. We can see who this wisdom is from the previous chapter, which says, "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth"... Of whom could this be but of "the only Son, who is at the Father's side," and who made Him known? Of no one else indeed, for "no one has ever seen God."
Verse 5 asks nothing of the guest but appetite. The host bought the food and cooked it before she called anyone.
Then the provision is no less generous. "She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table." How could it be otherwise, if divine love takes on the hosting in a way worthy of God? Eating and drinking under the same hospitable roof is the clearest and most common picture of communion. So the Lord set out the welcome of grace in the gospel over and over. So He speaks of our feeding on Himself by faith to life eternal. So He gave His supper, so that we remember Him again and again until He comes.
Wisdom aims verse 5 at the person "who lacks sense." That is not a slip in the guest list; it is the guest list.
And who are the objects of her appeal? Not the rich or the great; not the wise or the clever; but "whoever is simple, let him turn in here." God is always the giving God when He is truly known. As God loves a cheerful giver, so He is the most generous of all Himself.
She also tells them to their face how she sees them.
There is no disguise about the character of the people invited. While making them welcome, she plainly lets them know how she regards them... How blessed it is to accept God's estimate of ourselves and to receive His bounty!
One writer traces this bread and this mixed wine through the New Testament.
The slaughtered cattle suggest the ample provision available to feed our souls. The mixed wine suggests the many joys of those who have a place at wisdom's table. One chapter alone shows the variety of this food — John 6. We eat the flesh of the Son of Man, verse 53. We eat living bread, verse 51. We eat the bread of life, verse 48. Above all, the Lord said, "whoever feeds on ME," verse 57. What an abundance of food! The mixed wine would also suggest the various joys found in that circle. We have joy in believing, Rom. 15:13; the joy of faith, Phil. 1:25; joy in the Holy Spirit, Rom. 14:17.
Those who come for bread find the welcome runs past what they asked.
Come, eat of My bread. You need it. The prodigal heard of it in the far country, when he was starving, and turned to his father for it. Bread enough and to spare. But he got more than he came for. His father covered him with kisses. He got a deep drink of the wine that was mixed for people like him. In picture he received the Holy Spirit, who poured out the love of God in his heart. The wine gladdened his heart.
Later in the chapter a rival hostess makes her own offer, and the contrast exposes something about us.
All was open, sound, holy and unselfish on wisdom's part. How sinister is the speech of the foolish woman! "Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." But wisdom's appeal needs grace to make it taste good. Her rival's invitation suits the dark heart of man just as he is. He enjoys what is forbidden — what he can only grab by cunning. He suspects what is given freely. He cannot understand the greatest good coming as a matter of grace.
The meal is not the end. What the guest eats is meant to change how he walks.
Wisdom does not allow inconsistency. If wisdom receives us despite our folly, it is so that we may become wise with a wisdom above our own. This is truly to "live" where everything else is death. And, as living, we walk in the way of insight. We look up to Him who is above, not like the animals that look down and perish.
- Prepared. Wisdom kills the animals and mixes the wine before she calls anyone. The guest brings hunger, not groceries.
- Personal. Commentators identify this Wisdom as the Son, who was with God before the earth existed. The bread she offers is Himself.
- Free. The invitation passes over the rich and the clever and names the simple. Taking it means accepting God's estimate of you.
- Refused. Stolen bread tastes better to the natural heart than a free meal. Grace is the one thing we struggle to believe is ours.
- Live. Those who eat do not stay as they were: the food is what enables them to leave folly and walk in the way of insight.
Forsake follies and live, and go in the way of intelligence.
Wisdom's invitation in this chapter ends with a command: leave one company and take a different road. But what has to go, and what does it mean that the one who leaves it will "live"?
Later in the same chapter a second woman calls out, and she borrows wisdom's exact wording. One commentator sets the two invitations side by side.
Wisdom had her maidens to send out, and she called out herself. She was eager to win people for the Lord and to warn them on His behalf. She sought the highest places of the city. Folly had no such maidens, any more than she had the generous provision of wisdom. Yet both make their appeal in words that closely resemble each other. But how opposite their wish and aim! "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here" (vv. 4 and 16). Note too that the foolish woman aims her call at those who pass by, going straight on their way. What malicious pleasure to lead such people astray!
Because the two calls sound alike, the hearer cannot drift into the right one. He has to leave.
The invitation is not filtered by ability. Who it names shows what kind of God is calling.
And who are the objects of her appeal? Not the rich or great; not the wise or prudent; but "whoever is simple, let him turn in here." God is always the giving God when truly known. He may test man for a special purpose. But as God loves a cheerful giver, so He Himself is the most generous of all. This is what wisdom makes known here. "To him who lacks understanding she says, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mixed." In the world as it is, such generous unselfish love is unknown. That is why a welcome repeated again and again is both needed and valuable.
Verse 6 follows verse 5, and that order matters. The eating and drinking are not a reward for reforming; they make the leaving possible.
The message is not only for the intellectual. Instead it says, "Whoever is simple (that is, lacking in intelligence), let him turn in here" (v. 4). If a person lacks understanding, that understanding is made available to him. At least, however ignorant one is, he still knows how to eat and drink. Eating what wisdom offers, he will find it not so difficult to take in what seems strange and unfamiliar to him. Eating such bread gives solid nourishment. Drinking the wine of spiritual refreshment will give true comfort and joy. "Forsake the foolish and live." Once a person takes in the bread and wine of wisdom, it will not be difficult to give up the foolishness that belongs to those who refuse Christ. How infinitely better it is to "go in the way of understanding." We remember that the Lord Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
Translations differ on the first phrase. Some read "forsake the foolish," which means leaving foolish company. The ESV reads "Leave your simple ways," which means leaving your own folly.
Wisdom's table is set for those who let God teach them. One writer traces that back to where God's work in a person starts.
All this is offered to the simple who seek to be taught by God. And we need not be afraid to admit to God that we are simple. Our Lord said this at the moment when earthly things were about to be set aside and heavenly things brought in: "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children" (Matt. 11:25). That marked the beginning of the work of God in our souls. He brought us to the Son.
Wisdom does not offer improvement alongside the old life. It sets life against death.
Still, in the same world, we need warning. The word follows: "Forsake simple ways [or follies] and live; and go in the way of intelligence." Wisdom does not allow inconsistency. If we receive it despite our folly, it is so that we may become wise according to a wisdom above our own. This is truly to "live" where everything else is death. And, as living, it is to walk in the way of intelligence, looking up to Him who is above, and not like the animals that look down and perish.
- Called — the invitation goes to whoever is simple, not to the rich, great, wise or prudent; the terms reveal a God who gives.
- Fed — the bread and wine come first; what is unfamiliar becomes less difficult to take in once a person has eaten at wisdom's table.
- Freed — folly copies wisdom's exact words with the opposite aim, so no one drifts into the right house; leaving is a deliberate act.
- Alive — to forsake folly is to live where everything else is death; wisdom will not share the heart with inconsistency.
- Walking — the way of understanding is where the freed person now goes, looking up to Him who is above, not down like animals that perish.
He that instructeth a scorner getteth to himself shame; and he that reproveth a wicked [man] [getteth] to himself a blot.
In this chapter Wisdom builds her house and calls out an open invitation. At verse 7 the tone turns from welcome to warning: what happens when you take the truth to someone who has already decided to sneer at it?
The verse does not describe an ordinary wrongdoer. One writer traces the scorner's contempt back to what he has made his centre.
A scorner is a bolder sinner against God and his own soul. He does not love to be reproved; "to the wise he will not go." Self is his aim and in practice his God, and folly is his life. That makes him a contemptuous refuser of all wisdom from above.
That refusal explains why correction rebounds on the one who offers it. The same writer first pictures a son who takes his father's correction to heart.
A wise son thankfully accepts what God has provided in the family, and pays attention to his father's correction — all the more when he is made to feel that folly is bound up in a child's heart, his own included. But what hope can there be of a scorner? Of one who cannot imagine himself to blame, and counts as an enemy the man who is faithful enough to tell him the truth?
The verse names two returns: abuse and injury. One commentator, quoting an older translation that reads "shame," takes both as coming from the person corrected, not from the act itself.
In contrast, we read, "He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself," that is, shame from the scoffer. In the same way, if I rebuke a wicked man, I will reap more harm than he does (v. 7). How much better to offer him the gospel of God's grace!
The warning comes at a deliberate point, just before Wisdom's rival appears. Holding back from the scorner is not weakness. It is wisdom handling its own enemies.
There is another woman. But before speaking of her, the Spirit teaches that instruction is wasted on the scorner. He will only hate the one who reproves him. Wisdom is wise even in dealing with its enemies.
Reproof only works if something in the person can answer it. Where nothing does, the fault lies in the hearer, not in the reproof. One writer sets the Lord's own words about holy things and dogs beside this verse.
So we are plainly warned against meddling with the scorner. To correct such people is useless; they are willing to load shame on you. "Let them alone," said the Lord to the disciples. You may only gain a blot by reproving a wicked person. They have a deeper need — to be born again. Where there is no life, hatred is the result. Reproving a scorner is no wiser than giving what is holy to the dogs, or casting pearls before the swine. The outcome may be that they trample the misdirected word under their feet, and turn and attack you.
Does that shut the door on saying anything to such people? One writer answers no. The Lord's words about dogs and pearls do not narrow the gospel:
This has nothing to do with the gospel. The gospel has to do with every creature, no matter how bad they are. God's grace goes out to the most unlikely and the most unworthy. But we must be careful about setting what belongs specially to the believer in front of people who are not saved.
Verse 7 shuts the door on reproof. It does not shut the door on the gospel.
Now the Christian has the gospel to press on the careless. But this is the good news of what God has done in Christ for him, wicked as he may be, to bring him to Himself. So everything fits together. Correction and reproof are for those who have an ear to hear, so that their walk matches what they profess. A fool never hears, though he is always ready to find fault. A wise man listens and weighs; when he recognizes what is of God, he will love you.
- Refusal. The scorner is not just mistaken. He is a "contemptuous refuser of all wisdom from above" — self is his aim, and he cannot imagine himself to blame.
- Recoil. Correct him and the abuse comes straight back from him. Rebuke the wicked man and you reap more harm than he does.
- Restraint. Holding back is itself wisdom, not cowardice: "wisdom is wise even in dealing with its enemies."
- Root. Reproof cannot fix what is wrong with him — "they have a deeper need: to be born again. Where there is no life, hatred is the result."
- Replacement. Give the scorner the gospel of God's grace; save correction and reproof for those who have an ear to hear.
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee; reprove a wise [man], and he will love thee.
Proverbs 9 ends with Wisdom's table spread and her invitation going out. Then, before folly makes her rival call, comes this warning about who will listen and who will not. The verse divides all hearers into two kinds by a single test: what a person does with correction.
Being told not to correct a scoffer sounds unloving. Then you see what lies behind his reaction. Commentators trace his hatred back to something missing in him.
Then we are warned plainly against meddling with the scorner. Correcting such people is pointless; they will readily heap shame on you. Let them alone, said the Lord to the disciples. Reproving a wicked person may only leave you with a stain. They have a deeper need — to be born again. Where there is no life, hatred is the result. There is no more wisdom in reproving a scorner than in giving what is holy to the dogs, or in throwing pearls to pigs. The end may be that they trample the misdirected word underfoot, and turn and tear you.
A scoffer is not simply someone who slips up. He has already refused correction before it comes.
A scorner is a bolder sinner against God and his own soul. He does not like to be reproved; "he will not go to the wise." Self is his aim and in practice his God, and folly is his life. So he scornfully refuses all wisdom from above.
Elsewhere Kelly describes the same man:
He cannot imagine himself to be at fault. He treats anyone honest enough to tell him the truth as an enemy.
Holding back from a scoffer is itself an act of wisdom. Wisdom knows who she is speaking to.
The Spirit teaches that instruction is wasted on the scorner. He will only hate the one who reproves him. Wisdom is wise even in dealing with its enemies.
Saying nothing is not the whole answer. If reproof will only harden him, there is another word that can be given.
In contrast, we read, "He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself," that is, shame from the scoffer. Similarly, if I rebuke a wicked man, I will reap more harm than he does (v. 7). How much better to offer him the gospel of God's grace!
The two approaches are not in conflict. Correction assumes a person who already claims to walk with God; the good news assumes nothing at all.
Now the Christian has the gospel to press on those who take no notice. It is the good news of what God has done in Christ to bring him to Himself, wicked as he may be. So it all fits together. Correction and reproof are for those who have an ear to hear, so that they do not live in a way that contradicts what they claim.
A wise man is not someone who never needs correction. He is someone who can hear God in it.
A wise man may not always follow the path of wisdom; he may need reproof. A fool is one who never hears, though he is always ready to find fault. A wise man listens and weighs; when he recognizes what is of God, he will love you.
The verse says nothing about tone. Grant adds that the spirit behind the reproof matters, and that the wise hearer can tell the difference.
Of course, the reproof should come from genuine love. If it does, a wise man will see it. Teach a wise man and he will grow wiser still, because such teaching adds to what he knows.
Behind the refusal to learn is a self-satisfaction that never suspects itself. It does not get the last word.
Egoism is necessarily unwise and evil, because man is sinful, and God is unknown and untrusted. It is self-satisfied and refuses to learn, having no distrust of its own dark, selfish, and sinful state. God despises no one, however lowly. But He hates the proud and will punish the scorner.
- Two hearers. One test — correction — sorts everyone: the scoffer hates the reprover, the wise man loves him.
- Two roots. The hatred comes from a deeper lack; where there is no life, hatred is the result, and the real need is to be born again.
- Two responses. Hold back reproof from the scoffer and offer him the gospel instead. Correction is for those who already have an ear to hear.
- Two conditions of the heart. Self-satisfaction refuses to learn. The wise man listens, weighs, and recognises what is of God.
- Two outcomes. Reproof in the wrong place brings shame and a stain. Reproof given in genuine love makes a wise man wiser. God Himself will punish the scorner.
Impart to a wise [man], and he will become yet wiser; teach a righteous [man], and he will increase learning.
These words come straight after a warning about the scorner — the man who will not be corrected. Here is the opposite person: the one in whom teaching grows. So the verse puts a question to every reader — am I still someone who can be taught?
Wisdom shows itself in how a person takes correction. One writer draws the line between the wise and the fool right there:
A wise man may not always walk the path of wisdom; he may need correction. A fool is one who never hears, though always ready to find fault. A wise man listens and weighs; when he recognises what is of God, he will love you.
So the wise man is not the man with nothing left to learn. He is the man who can still take something in.
If wisdom grows by receiving, what stops it is refusing to receive. One writer traces that refusal to its root — a self too pleased with itself to learn:
Self-centredness is always unwise and evil, because man is sinful, and God is unknown and untrusted. It is self-satisfied and refuses to learn. It has no distrust of its own dark, selfish, and sinful state. On the other hand, "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning." It is not the great who are wise, and age by itself does not understand judgment.
Standing and years guarantee nothing. What counts is a heart that still listens. The same writer names what that heart does instead of trusting itself:
Dependence on God is our only right attitude, day by day, along with hearing from one another whatever our consciences recognise as His truth. We belong to one another, and He despises no one, however lowly. But He hates the proud and will punish the scorner.
The verse promises more than a transfer of facts. It promises increase. One writer finds the same law at work in the person who gives truth out:
Whatever one measures out to others comes back with more. This is as true of ministry of the Word as of practical conduct. Heaven's law is scattering for increase: you do not lose what you give to others, but gain the more. And this opens the way to fresh gain: to the one who has, more will be given. Every bit of truth acquired leads on to fresh truth. Every sphere of usefulness found prepares for more.
How does a person move from what he knows to what he does not yet know? One writer points to obedience, and to the fear that holds people back:
"To the one who has, more will be given." Obedience to one lesson is the sure and safe road to the discovery of another... There is a temptation to hold back, in case the lessons we have yet to learn turn out to be distasteful.
Another puts the same rule in a single sentence:
Doing what we know in obedience is a great way of knowing further.
Because the increase never runs out, neither does the learning. One writer points to the moment we decide our training is over:
Don't we often think that after a set period of training, we have learned enough? Then we stop learning and start to rely on ourselves, instead of listening to God's voice. We also think we can tell others what to do. Obviously, that is a great mistake. In God's school we are always learners.
The ground already covered keeps opening up too:
Those who are farthest on in understanding the mind of God are not beyond learning a little more of the grace that turned them to Christ. As we grow in knowing what is most advanced, we get a firmer and more certain grasp of what is most basic.
- Receive. The wise man is not the one who has finished learning. He is the one who still listens and weighs, and loves the person who corrects him.
- Refuse. Self-satisfaction stops the increase. Neither high standing nor old age produces understanding.
- Increase. Heaven's law is scattering for gain. Every piece of truth received leads on to fresh truth — for the teacher as much as for the taught.
- Obey. The road to the next lesson is doing the last one; obedience to what you know is how you come to know more.
- Continue. God's school has no graduation day. Growing in the deepest truth only strengthens your grip on the simplest.
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy is intelligence.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and years of life shall be added to thee.
Wisdom has built her house, spread her table, and called people in. Now she adds a promise to the invitation. Who is the "me" who multiplies days? And whose life gets longer — an ancient Israelite's, or ours?
Proverbs pictures Wisdom and Folly as two women. Commentators read the first as more than an image.
Verses 1-12. The first section of Proverbs closes with a contrast of Wisdom and Folly, both personified. The one, our Lord, the other under the symbol of a foolish woman. Wisdom sends out her invitation after her house is built and the feast is spread. It reminds us of the parable of the great supper (Luke 14). Here too is the gracious invitation, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled."
So the added years come through a Person. He sets out a meal first, then promises life to those who eat.
The first readers heard this as a promise about life on earth. One commentator faces the gap between that promise and what people saw.
The devout Jew addressed here looked for long life on earth, through divine favour. As things were, many things could change that outcome, as we see in Josiah and many others. But when divine principles have their rightful result, with nothing to hinder them, every word will come true. That is how it will be when Christ reigns over all the earth. We Christians have a far different calling now, and look for a higher glory. Still, we can say, and do believe, that godliness is profitable for everything. It has the promise of life — the life we have now, and the life to come.
Josiah was a godly king whose life was cut short. So the promise holds two things together: godliness has the promise of life now, and life in the age to come.
Another writer states the normal outcome, then names the exceptions.
If this is so, then the normal result is that our days will be multiplied and years added (v. 11). Of course, there are exceptions. A godly person may be taken away while still young, as John the Baptist was. In fact, the Lord Jesus died at a fairly young age.
The rule also runs in reverse. Commenting later in Proverbs, the same writer points to a man whose scheming cut his own life short.
In the usual course of events, those who fear the Lord will have their days prolonged (v. 27). But the wicked will have their years shortened. Haman planned to shorten the life of Mordecai. That wickedness shortened his own life instead, while Mordecai lived on much longer (Esther 7 and 10).
Elsewhere Proverbs makes the same promise to a son who listens. How does that promise reach him?
The wisdom praised here does not come by the sight of the eyes. It does not come by the activity of the mind, nor even by developing the affections. "Hear, and your soul shall live," said Isaiah; and so the Apostle, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." ... So the word here is, "Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life shall be multiplied." And there is no uncertainty when the Lord supplies the means.
So the years are not won by cleverness. They come to the person who hears God's word and trusts it.
Another passage in Proverbs puts length of days in wisdom's right hand. One writer presses that measure to its limit.
"Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honour" (v. 16). How long are wisdom's days? The answer is "eternal life." And the riches and honour that go with this are equally without end. Meanwhile, even on earth, "her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace" (v. 17). This does not mean that this wisdom will keep us from trials of faith. But wisdom ("Christ in you") gives pleasantness and peace even in times of such trial.
Read this way, an early death does not cut the promise short. The days multiplied here reach past death altogether.
- Source. Commentators read the "me" of this promise as the Lord Himself. He builds the house and spreads the feast before He says a word about long life.
- Condition. The days come to the one who hears and receives. Not sharp eyes, not busy thinking — faith, resting on God's word.
- Gift. The devout Israelite looked for long life on earth through God's favour. Every word of that promise will hold when Christ reigns over all the earth.
- Reach. Wisdom's length of days is eternal life, with riches and honour that never end. John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus both died young, and neither loses that promise.
- Result. The rule runs both ways. Those who fear the Lord usually have their days prolonged, while Haman's scheme against Mordecai cut his own life short.
If thou art wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself; and if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
Proverbs 9 sets two tables: wisdom's and folly's. This closing line turns the invitation back on the reader. The question is not whether wisdom is true. It is who gains, and who pays, when a person answers her call or laughs at it.
The verse splits people into two groups. Neither result can pass to anyone else. Scorn takes nothing from God, and wisdom adds nothing to Him. The whole weight falls on the one who chooses.
It remains true also that "If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it." God remains in changeless majesty. But in His righteous judgment, each will bear his own burden and reap as he sows. From the flesh he reaps corruption; from the Spirit, life everlasting.
There is a plain, everyday side to this.
If a person is wise, he will himself bear the benefit of it. If a person is a scorner, he will bear the results alone. No one would ever be willing to share the bad effects of the foolish words of a man who despises wisdom.
The word means more than a rude personality. It describes a settled attitude, not a passing mood.
A scorner is a bolder sinner against God and his own soul. He does not love correction; "he will not go to the wise." Self is his aim and in practice his God, and folly is his life. So he refuses with contempt all wisdom from above.
It also leaves him beyond reach.
But what hope can there be of a scorner? Of one who cannot conceive himself to blame, and counts him as an enemy who is faithful enough to tell him the truth?
If being wise "for yourself" sounds like self-sufficiency, the writers say the opposite. The wise man is the one who still takes instruction.
Another mark of wisdom is valuing what is good and helpful. Self-centredness must be unwise and evil, because man is sinful, and God is unknown and untrusted. It is self-satisfied and refuses to learn. It has no distrust of its own dark, selfish, and sinful state. On the other hand, "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning." … Dependence on God is our only right attitude, day by day.
Being "wise for yourself" is not a matter of intelligence or education. The chapter has already named the starting point, and it is a moral one.
The secret of it all is plain. … Creature intelligence is of no value for the soul, for eternity, for relationship with God. It begins, and must begin, with fearing Him — the True and the Good, the Righteous and the Holy. There is repentance as well as faith, and so trembling at His Word. That is the direct opposite of judging His Word and trusting in self, justifying ourselves instead of God.
The chapter sets rival invitations before the reader, and this verse asks which one you take.
Three women are set before us in these chapters: the adulteress, wisdom, and the foolish woman. Three things are common to them all. They each have something to say. They each have something to offer. They each make an appeal to those who are simple. So it becomes a question for each one of us: whom shall I listen to? At whose table shall I feed? In which company shall I move? Each one invites us to enter her house and to share in everything found there.
- Yourself — the fear. Wisdom does not start with intelligence. It starts with fearing God and distrusting self. Without that start, learning never reaches the soul.
- Yourself — the choice. Wisdom and folly both set a table. Both call to the simple. Each person must answer one question: whose invitation will I take?
- Yourself — the growth. The wise man is not the finished man. He takes instruction and grows wiser still. Self-satisfaction refuses to learn.
- Yourself — the refusal. The scorner makes self his god, cannot imagine he is to blame, and treats the truth-teller as an enemy.
- Yourself — the account. God's majesty stays the same either way. Each person bears his own burden and reaps what he sows. No one else will carry it for him.