The Consequences of Accepting Wisdom or Folly

¹Wisdom has built her house;

she has carved out its seven pillars.

²She has prepared her meat, she has mixed her wine;[#tn Heb “she has killed her killing.” Cf. KJV “hath killed her beasts”; NAB “has dressed her meat”; NASB “has prepared her food.”]

she also has arranged her table.

³She has sent out her female servants;

she calls out on the highest places of the city.

⁴“Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”

she says to those who lack understanding.

⁵“Come, eat some of my food,[#tn The construction features a cognate accusative (verb and noun from same root). The preposition בּ (bet) has the partitive use “some” (GKC 380 §119.m).]

and drink some of the wine I have mixed.

⁶Abandon your foolish ways so that you may live,[#tn There are two ways to take this word: either as “fools” or as “foolish ways.” The spelling for “foolishness” in v. 13 differs from this spelling, and so some have taken that as an indicator that this should be “fools.” But this could still be an abstract plural here as in 1:22. Either the message is to forsake fools (i.e., bad company; cf. KJV, TEV) or forsake foolishness (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).; #tn The two imperatives are joined with vav; this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is expressed.]

and proceed in the way of understanding.”

⁷Whoever corrects a mocker is asking for insult;[#tn The active participle יֹסֵר (yoser) describes one who tries to correct by means of instruction and discipline; it is paralleled by the Hiphil participle which refers to someone who rebukes or reproves another. Anyone trying this on these types of people would be inviting trouble.; #tn Heb “receives for himself.”; #tn The word means “dishonor” or “disgrace.” It is paralleled with מוּמוֹ (mumo), translated “abuse.” The latter term means “blemish,” although some would emend the text to read “reproach.” The MT is figurative but not impossible to interpret: Whoever tries to rebuke a wicked person will receive only insults and perhaps physical attack.]

whoever reproves a wicked person receives abuse.

⁸Do not reprove a mocker or he will hate you;[#tn In view of the expected response for reproof, the text now uses a negated jussive to advise against the attempt. This is paralleled antithetically by the imperative in the second colon. This imperative is in an understood conditional clause: “if you reprove a wise person.”; #tn Heb “lest he hate you.” The particle פֶּן (pen, “lest”) expresses fear or precaution (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 79, §476). The antonyms “love” and “hate” suggest that the latter means “reject” and the former means “choosing and embracing.”]

reprove a wise person and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction to a wise person, and he will become wiser still;[#tn The noun “instruction” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation.; #sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.]

teach a righteous person and he will add to his learning.

¹⁰The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord ,[#sn The difference between תְּחִלַּת (tÿkhillat) here and רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) of 1:7, if there is any substantial difference, is that this term refers to the starting point of wisdom, and the earlier one indicates the primary place of wisdom (K&D 16:202).; #tn Heb “fear of the Lord.”]

and acknowledging the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For because of me your days will be many,[#tn The preposition בּ (bet) here may have the causal sense (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 45, §247), although it could also be means (Williams, 44, §243).]

and years will be added to your life.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage,[#tn The text simply has the preposition לְ (lamed) with a suffix; but this will be the use of the preposition classified as “interest,” either for advantage or disadvantage (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 48-49, §271).]

but if you are a mocker, you alone must bear it.

¹³The woman called Folly is brash,[#tn Heb “a woman of foolishness.” This could be translated as “foolish woman,” taking the genitive as attributive (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV). But in view of the contrast with the personification of wisdom, this word probably also represents a personification and so can be taken as a genitive of apposition, the woman who is folly, or “the woman, Folly” (cf. NIV). For clarity and stylistic reasons the word “called” has been supplied in the translation.; #tn The meaning of the word comes close to “riotous.” W. McKane describes her as restless and rootless (Proverbs [OTL], 366).]

she is naive and does not know anything.

¹⁴So she sits at the door of her house,

on a seat at the highest point of the city,

¹⁵calling out to those who are passing by her in the way,[#tn The infinitive construct “calling out” functions epexegetically in the sentence, explaining how the previous action was accomplished.; #tn The term “her” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of clarity and smoothness.; #tn The noun is a genitive of location after the construct participle. Its parallel word is also an adverbial accusative of location.]

who go straight on their way.

¹⁶“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here,”

she says to those who lack understanding.

¹⁷“Stolen waters are sweet,[#sn The offer is not wine and meat (which represented wisdom), but water that is stolen. The “water” will seem sweeter than wine because it is stolen – the idea of getting away with something exciting appeals to the baser instincts. In Proverbs the water imagery was introduced earlier in 5:15-19 as sexual activity with the adulteress, which would seem at the moment more enjoyable than learning wisdom. Likewise bread will be drawn into this analogy in 30:20. So the “calling out” is similar to that of wisdom, but what is being offered is very different.]

and food obtained in secret is pleasant!”

¹⁸But they do not realize that the dead are there,[#tn Heb “he does not know.”; #sn The “dead” are the Rephaim, the “shades” or dead persons who lead a shadowy existence in Sheol (e.g., Prov 2:18-19; Job 3:13-19; Ps 88:5; Isa 14:9-11). This approximates an “as-if” motif of wisdom literature: The ones ensnared in folly are as good as in Hell. See also Ptah-hotep’s sayings (ANET 412-414).]

that her guests are in the depths of the grave.