Lady Wisdom’s Call
8: 1-11
A proverb is a short and memorable saying designed to be our blueprint for living in the world that ADONAI has created. It is important to note that proverbs are not promises; they are generally true principles, all other things being equal.
The great paired images of the Seductress of Chapter 7 (to see link click Bi – Avoid the Seductress) and Lady Wisdom of Chapter 8 (see Am – Lady Wisdom’s Rebuke of the Foolish) are contrasted by the concluding warning to stay far away from the seductress (7:24-27). Although very different in style and substance, these pictures of the adulterous wife and personified Lady Wisdom form two parts that are intended to be seen as one. The seductress moves covertly at twilight and speaks falsely; while Lady Wisdom moves publicly and speaks truthfully. Unlike the smooth, seductive, but deceptive speech of the adulterous wife, Lady Wisdom is straight, right and true, not twisted or crooked. The seductress leads her victims into slavery, impoverishment, and death; whereas Lady Wisdom’s words lead her followers into kingship, wealth, and life. The unfaithful wife inhabits the earthly and the mundane; but Lady Wisdom sores in heaven above space and time. Both rub shoulders in the city and appeal for the love of the uncommitted, gullible youth – the seductress physically, Lady Wisdom spiritually. The house of the adulterous wife is a death trap; while the mansion of Lady Wisdom leads to abundant life. The critical decision to love Wisdom like a member of his family (7:4) before entering the city is seen as a desperate warning to the simpleton (1:4) to avoid the seductress at all costs, as Lady Wisdom extols her virtues and rewards. Chapter 8 is the Second interlude from Lady Wisdom: Wisdom’s call to the Simpleminded (8:1-36).183
The father says (8:1-3): The passage begins with the third person voice of the father, who has been speaking throughout the book, introducing Lady Wisdom. In the first three verses he uses a figure of speech called personification. As he writes, he takes on the persona of Lady Wisdom. He encourages the young men to listen and take her message to heart by asking a question: Does not Lady Wisdom call out and Understanding raise her voice (8:1 NLT)! This question demands a positive answer. The first question is, “Does not Lady Wisdom call out?” We know that she does because she has already called out in Chapters 1-7. The second question, “Does not understanding raise her voice?” is quite similar to the first. In fact, they are so similar that it is hard to catch any difference between them. However, the general picture is clear. Lady Wisdom, also called Understanding, is shouting loudly. We must wait to discover her audience and her message. Beginning with such a rhetorical sentence grabs our attention, so we press on to find the answers.
The next two verses tell us of her location. Lady Wisdom calls out on the heights along the path (8:2a NLT). First, we note that she calls out along the path. Up to this point in the book, the path has been a frequent metaphor. It stands for a life journey, and the reader, who is identified with the implied reader (the son), is walking on the path. By mentioning the path in this way, Solomon informs us that as we live our lives, we will encounter this adulterous wife (or husband). But more than that, we hear that she is on the hilltop. Here and elsewhere, we see that Lady Wisdom is associated with the heights. When we get to 9:1-6, the significance of this aspect of her location will be developed further, but it is critical to fully understand her personification. The fact that she calls out from the heights near a path means that she is going to be heard by all those who pass by. She speaks fervently, with conviction. She doesn’t shut herself up in a monastery, or even at home, but she takes her stand at the crossroads (8:2b NLT), a place where many people will travel. We envision a large, energetic audience for Lady Wisdom as she delivers her message. By the gates at the entrance to the city, a place where important decisions were made, on the road leading in, she calls out aloud (8:3 NLT). Like the crossroads, the city gates were a busy, public place.184
Lady Wisdom calls (8:4-11): These verses may be called the preamble of Lady Wisdom’s speech. A new section begins in verse 12, signaled by a typical Near Eastern autobiographical introduction (see Bk – Those Who Seek Me Will Find Me). Her first words here, though, are intended to garner the attention of the sons of men, or the young men, that she addresses, so they will listen to her words. Verse 4 transitions from third-person about Lady Wisdom, to a first-person speech by her. She speaks directly to the young men, who, from verse 4 to the end of Chapter 8 are called fools and simpleminded. She begins in a way that enables us to identify her audience: I call to you, men, to all of you! I raise my voice to the sons of men (8:4 Hebrew). After her autobiography, as she again implores her audience to hear her, she refers to them as “sons.” Therefore, the audience presumed up to this point in Proverbs continues: young men who are beginning their professional and marital lives. They are at an impressionable crossroads, so the words of Lady Wisdom are especially timely.
Verse 5 provides another nuance to their identification. They are simpleminded and foolish. You who are simpleminded, use good judgment; you who are foolish, show some understanding (8:5 NLT). Obviously, as is clear from the first term, they are not hardened fools or “mockers.” They are naïve, immature, those who are capable of responding to her message appropriately. She wants them to understand prudence. As explained more fully in 1:4a, prudence describes one’s ability to use reason, in context and under the fear of ADONAI, to navigate the problems of life. Prudence carefully considers a situation before rushing in. It implies coolheadedness and is closely associated with wisdom and is the cure for foolishness.
In the next few verses we are struck by the ethical quality of Lady Wisdom. She raises her voice with a sense of urgence, declaring: Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right. For I speak the truth and detest every kind of wickedness. All the words of my mouth are righteous; none are crooked or perverted. To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge (8:6-9 NIV). She uses words like truth and righteous. She distances her words from things that are crooked or perverted. She despises wickedness. Many proverbs to follow in Chapters 10-31 will concern speech, and we will see that the wise person emulates Lady Wisdom in this regard. Specifically, that means that they avoid speech characterized as gossip, rumor, lies, and slander. And by describing her speech in such a way, Lady Wisdom prepares the reader to receive the words that will follow in the rest of the chapter.185
The last two verses in this section utilize a motif that is most fully developed in Job 28. Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than pure gold (8:10 NIV). See the similar metaphor used to accentuate the value of God’s reign in the B’rit Chadashah (see The Life of Christ Fo – The Parable of the Pearl). When silver, a metaphor for wealth, is the reward of wisdom, it edifies; but when it is made the aim of one’s life, it corrupts (First Timothy 6:9-10). The words of Lady Wisdom are seen in terms of the most valuable things imaginable. For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her (8:11 ESV). The idea that wisdom’s value exceeds material wealth is described in 8:18-21, which states that wisdom is needed to gain and appreciate wealth. Also, wisdom contributes to a person’s integrity and peace, something silver, gold, and rubies cannot do. And in Proverbs those qualities are of greater value than anything one could ever buy.186
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