Charles Ellicott Commentary Proverbs 9
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Proverbs 9
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Proverbs 9
"Wisdom hath builded her house; She hath hewn out her seven pillars:" — Proverbs 9:1 (ASV)
Fifteenth Discourse: the Invitations of Wisdom and Folly (Proverbs 9).
Wisdom has built her house—that is, in preparation for the feast to which she is about to invite her guests. It is not an unusual custom in the Old Testament to describe intimate communion with God, and the refreshment which the soul of man receives by it, under the figure of a festival.
Thus in Exodus 24:11, when the elders of Israel were admitted to the vision of the Almighty, they did eat and drink. The same idea also occurs frequently in the prophets (Isaiah 65:13; Zephaniah 1:7–8) and is brought out in the New Testament with great fullness in the parables of the great supper (Luke 14) and the marriage of the king’s son (Matthew 22).
Christ, the supreme Wisdom, has built His house by taking man’s flesh at His Incarnation, and thus rearing for Himself a temple of the Holy Ghost (John 2:19); and also by building for Himself a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5), the house of God, which is the church of the living God (1 Timothy 3:15). (For references to the Fathers, see Bishop Wordsworth.) In the previous chapter Christ’s work as Creator was described; now He is set forth as Regenerator of mankind.
She has hewn out her seven pillars.—Suggestive of the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; Revelation 1:4), typified by the seven-branched candlestick of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:37).
"She hath killed her beasts; She hath mingled her wine; She hath also furnished her table:" — Proverbs 9:2 (ASV)
She has killed her beasts.— Compare to Matthew 22:4.
She has mingled her wine — i.e., probably, flavoured it with spices, to improve the flavour. (Compare to Proverbs 23:30.) But the wine used at the Passover (Matthew 26:29 and following) was mingled with water to decrease its strength.
She has also furnished her table. —“Christ has furnished His own Table, exhibiting His precious and spotless Body and Blood, which are daily celebrated at that mystic and divine board, being sacrificed in commemoration of that ever-to-be-remembered original table of that mystic and divine supper.”—S. Hippolytus (ed. Lagarde, p. 199), quoted by Wordsworth.
"She hath sent forth her maidens; She crieth upon the highest places of the city:" — Proverbs 9:3 (ASV)
She hath sent forth her maidens. — Wisdom, being here described under the figure of a woman, is properly represented as attended by her maidens, whom she sends out to summon the guests. But the King (Matthew 22:0) dispatches His servants for the same work, namely, His prophets and wise men and scribes (Matthew 23:34), whom He sends out from age to age as His messengers.
She crieth upon the highest places of the city— so that all may hear. (Compare our Lord’s command to proclaim His message upon the housetops, Matthew 10:27).
"Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: As for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him," — Proverbs 9:4 (ASV)
Whoever is simple ... as for him that lacks understanding— So God does not call many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble (1 Corinthians 1:26); but chooses the foolish, weak, and base, whom people might overlook; not being willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), especially His little ones (Matthew 18:14), who are liable to fall through their inexperience and lack of judgment.
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