John Gill Commentary Proverbs 8

Does not wisdom cry ?
&c.] Christ, who is the Wisdom of God; (See Gill on Proverbs 1:20); and which clearly appears from his subsistence with the Father, his eternal existence, and from many personal properties, characters, and actions ascribed to him throughout the whole of this chapter, and in the following.

"Crying" is here attributed to him, which signifies proclaiming, publishing, preaching the everlasting Gospel, which directs men in the right way of enjoying peace, comfort, honour, and eternal happiness; the allusion is to an herald that lifts up his voice aloud at noon day in the public streets when he proclaims; and is opposed to the whispers of a harlot, at night, in a corner; truth seeks no corner, its voice is heard at noon day, it will bear the light. Now, "does not" or "shall not Wisdom cry", or Christ preach; verily he does or will, in his word, by his prophets under the former dispensation; in his own person, and by his apostles and ministers, under the present; who then would listen to the alluring voice of a harlot, or hear Jezebel the wicked prophetess teach, when Christ himself preaches, or however by his faithful ministers?

and understanding puts forth her voice ?
the same with Wisdom, or Christ, see (Proverbs 8:14) ; by whose voice the Gospel is meant, which is the voice of Christ, which is heard and followed by the sheep of Christ, and not the voice of a stranger; and "putting it forth", giving or uttering it, signifies the publication of it.

She standeth in the top of high places To be both seen and heard, for which reason Christ went up into a mountain and preached, (Matthew 5:1) ; by the way ; the roadside, to instruct and direct passengers as they go along, to show them the right way, and caution them against taking wrong ways; so did Christ, (Matthew 16:6) (22:16) ; in the places of the paths ; or, "between the paths" ^F19 ; where more ways than one met together, and so difficult to know which was the right path to take; here Christ stands in the ministry of the word to direct, and says, "this is the way, walk you in it", (Isaiah 30:21) ; and as there are many ways which are proposed to men to walk in, some of open profaneness and impiety, and others that have a show of religion and devotion, but both lead men wrong; the ministers of Christ show, and he by them, the way of salvation, and how to avoid such as lead to destruction, (Acts 16:17) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: (tbytn tyb) "in mediis semitis", V. L. "inter semitas", Tigurine version, Baynus; so some in Vatablus; "in mediis compitis", Schultens; to the Targum, Sept. and Arabic versions.

She crieth at the gates Of the temple, or of the city, where the courts of judicature were, and persons met on civil accounts; and where people were continually passing and repassing;

at the entry of the city ; meeting those that came out of the country to the city upon trade and business;

at the coming in at the doors ; of the temple, or city, or private houses;

all these expressions denote the publicness of the Gospel ministry, both by Christ himself, who spoke openly to the world, always taught in the synagogues and temple, and in secret said nothing; and who ordered his disciples to preach what they heard and received from him upon the house tops, (John 18:20) (Matthew 10:27) ; so did the Apostle Paul, (Acts 20:20Acts 20:27) .

Unto you, O men, I call
Not angels, the fallen angels; for, as they had nothing to do with Christ, he had nothing to do with them, or say unto them, (Matthew 8:29) ; nor the brutes, irrational creatures; for, though the Gospel is to be preached to every creature, yet only to rational ones, (Mark 16:15) , "men", whom God has loved and Christ has redeemed; these are by the Gospel called, and called effectually. There are some men indeed who are only externally called; but there are others who are also called with an holy calling, of which (See Gill on Proverbs 1:24). Some think men of eminence are here meant, as rich men, so Aben Ezra; or men of wisdom and knowledge, such as the Scribes and Pharisees, and learned doctors among the Jews; but it rather seems to design men indefinitely, of whatsoever rank or order, state or condition;

and my voice [is] to the sons of men ;
which some interpret of the poor, as Aben Ezra; or those who are more illiterate, or the common people; so that high and low, rich and poor, have the Gospel preached unto them; but the phrase seems to intend the same as before, the same thing is said in different words.

O you simple, understand wisdom
The Gospel, the wisdom of God in a mystery, particularly the doctrine of salvation by Christ; it is the highest wisdom to know Christ and him crucified: and they are "the simple" who are weak and easy to be imposed upon, who are here called unto; and generally speaking such are they to whom the mysteries of grace are made known, while they are hid from the wise and prudent;

and you fools, be of an understanding heart ;
or "cause the heart to understand"; or "get an understanding heart" ^F20 ; make use of all means to get spiritual wisdom and understanding; all men, let them be what they will in other respects, are fools as to a spiritual and experimental knowledge of divine things; and that man can only be said to have truly an understanding heart that knows his own folly, the plague of his heart, his need of Christ, the worth of him; and has an understanding given him to know him and his interest in him.

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: (bl wnybh) "facite cor intelligere", Baynus, Mercerus; "facite ut cor vestrum intelligat", so some in Vatablus; "acquirite animum sapientem", Gejerus.