Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 9
Albert Barnes Commentary
Proverbs 9
Albert Barnes Commentary
Proverbs 9
"Wisdom hath builded her house; She hath hewn out her seven pillars:" — Proverbs 9:1 (ASV)
A parable full of beauty, and interesting in its parallelism to the parables of our Lord (Matthew 22:3–4; Luke 14:16).
Seven pillars – The number is chosen as indicating completeness and perfection. God revealing Himself in nature, resting in His work, entering into covenant with human beings – these were the ideas conveyed by it.
"She hath killed her beasts; She hath mingled her wine; She hath also furnished her table:" — Proverbs 9:2 (ASV)
Mingled her wine - i.e., with myrrh and other spices, to give flavor and strength.
"She hath sent forth her maidens; She crieth upon the highest places of the city:" — Proverbs 9:3 (ASV)
Wisdom and the “foolish woman” (Proverbs 9:13) speak from the same places and to the same class—the simple, undecided, wavering, standing at the diverging point of the two paths that lead to life or death.
"Come, eat ye of my bread, And drink of the wine which I have mingled." — Proverbs 9:5 (ASV)
A parallel to the higher teaching of the Gospels (Matthew 26:26).
"He that correcteth a scoffer getteth to himself reviling; And he that reproveth a wicked man [getteth] himself a blot. Reprove not a scoffer, lest he hate thee: Reprove a wise man, and he will love thee. Give [instruction] to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning." — Proverbs 9:7-9 (ASV)
These verses seem somewhat to interrupt the continuity of the invitation which Wisdom utters. The order of thought is, however, this: “I speak to you, the simple, the open ones, for you still have ears to hear; but from the scorner or evildoer, as such, I turn away.” The words are illustrated by (Matthew 13:11 and following).
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