Pro 8:1-6 | KingComments | STEP | After the seducing and misleading strange woman has spoken ( ), now the “wisdom” lifts up Her voice ( ; cf. ). The Wisdom is again presented here as a Divine Person. The Wisdom is Christ. The same is true of “understanding”. That too is a personification of Christ. point to the Lord Jesus. In His life He called to men as the Wisdom, and as the Understanding He made His voice heard to them. Now that He is in heaven, He does so through His servants. The questioning form in which appears emphasizes the fact that no one has a valid excuse for ignoring the call of Wisdom or Understanding. The answer to the question cannot but be affirmative. No one can evade Her call, for it penetrates everyone. She does not speak mysteriously, in the dark, like the adulteress in Proverbs 7, but “calls” loudly and “lifts up her voice”. “Call” and “lift up her voice” both have the meaning of raising the voice. We see the Hebrew parallelism again in this verse, where the second line confirms the first line with different words. The places where She stands are chosen with care. They are places where She can be seen by all, “on top of heights”, and where many people from all directions are present, “beside the way” and “where the paths meet” ( ). She also makes Her voice heard beside the gates, at the opening to the city” ( ). These are the places of trade and justice, where usually, therefore, many people are. Everyone who goes into or out of the city hears Her. She is also “at the entrances of the doors”, in which case we can think of the temple doors or the doors of the houses. She is wherever people are. She calls to the “men” and Her voice sounds “to the sons of men” ( ). Everyone is addressed. Wisdom does not address Herself only to a chosen few intellectuals or religious initiates as if She would only want to speak ‘on level’. No, She is available to everyone and excludes no one. It is as with the missionary task to proclaim the gospel worldwide and thereby reach every person without exception (cf. ). All people know what is good and what is evil. However, they do not do good but evil. That is what Wisdom holds out to all people. No one who has to answer before the judgment seat of Christ will be able to say: ‘I did not know.’ In the midst of all people, Wisdom addresses Herself with a special word to the “naive ones” and the “fools” ( ). They need Her most and are most prone to ignore Her. In Her grace, She says to the naive, the fools, to understand “prudence” to know what life is all about. She wants them to repent of their naivety and allow Her to enter their life. Then they will live and not perish. The same is true for the fools. The fools are already much further away from Wisdom than the naive. Yet Wisdom includes them too in Her call. It is not yet too late to “understand wisdom” and to see their folly and come to their senses. When they come to their senses, they will see and understand that they are walking into judgment and repent.

‏ Proverbs 8:1-6

Where and to Whom Wisdom Calls

After the seducing and misleading strange woman has spoken (Pro 7:6-23), now the “wisdom” lifts up Her voice (Pro 8:1; cf. Pro 1:20-22). The Wisdom is again presented here as a Divine Person. The Wisdom is Christ. The same is true of “understanding”. That too is a personification of Christ. Pro 8:1-21 point to the Lord Jesus. In His life He called to men as the Wisdom, and as the Understanding He made His voice heard to them. Now that He is in heaven, He does so through His servants.

The questioning form in which Pro 8:1 appears emphasizes the fact that no one has a valid excuse for ignoring the call of Wisdom or Understanding. The answer to the question cannot but be affirmative. No one can evade Her call, for it penetrates everyone. She does not speak mysteriously, in the dark, like the adulteress in Proverbs 7, but “calls” loudly and “lifts up her voice”. “Call” and “lift up her voice” both have the meaning of raising the voice. We see the Hebrew parallelism again in this verse, where the second line confirms the first line with different words.

The places where She stands are chosen with care. They are places where She can be seen by all, “on top of heights”, and where many people from all directions are present, “beside the way” and “where the paths meet” (Pro 8:2). She also makes Her voice heard beside the gates, at the opening to the city” (Pro 8:3). These are the places of trade and justice, where usually, therefore, many people are. Everyone who goes into or out of the city hears Her. She is also “at the entrances of the doors”, in which case we can think of the temple doors or the doors of the houses. She is wherever people are.

She calls to the “men” and Her voice sounds “to the sons of men” (Pro 8:4). Everyone is addressed. Wisdom does not address Herself only to a chosen few intellectuals or religious initiates as if She would only want to speak ‘on level’. No, She is available to everyone and excludes no one. It is as with the missionary task to proclaim the gospel worldwide and thereby reach every person without exception (cf. Mk 16:15).

All people know what is good and what is evil. However, they do not do good but evil. That is what Wisdom holds out to all people. No one who has to answer before the judgment seat of Christ will be able to say: ‘I did not know.’

In the midst of all people, Wisdom addresses Herself with a special word to the “naive ones” and the “fools” (Pro 8:5). They need Her most and are most prone to ignore Her. In Her grace, She says to the naive, the fools, to understand “prudence” to know what life is all about. She wants them to repent of their naivety and allow Her to enter their life. Then they will live and not perish.

The same is true for the fools. The fools are already much further away from Wisdom than the naive. Yet Wisdom includes them too in Her call. It is not yet too late to “understand wisdom” and to see their folly and come to their senses. When they come to their senses, they will see and understand that they are walking into judgment and repent.

What Wisdom Is Calling

Wisdom calls all people to listen to Her (Pro 8:6). She is there for everyone. No special intelligence is needed to understand what She says, but a willing heart. The content of Her words is of the utmost purity and extremely valuable. What She says are “noble things”. They are exalted things, things of excellent quality and of a precious, lofty character. When She opens Her lips, She lets hear “right things” that is, what is sincere and true.

Preceded by an affirming “for”, She says, “My mouth will utter truth” (Pro 8:7). She speaks the truth, that is, God’s truth, about all things. When the harlot suggests to the youth what her bedroom looks like and smells like (Pro 7:16-17), she is not lying to him, but speaking truth about it. However, it is not God’s truth. In the light of God’s truth, people can know how things are, whether they are good or bad, and how they are related.

Opposite the truth that Wisdom speaks, then, is not untruth or falsehood, but “wickedness”. “Wickedness” means living without God, disregarding Him. Therefore, to the lips of Wisdom, speaking wickedness is also “an abomination”.

It is of utmost importance to listen to the truth from the lips of Wisdom. “All the utterances” of Her mouth, are uttered “in righteousness” (Pro 8:8). You can trust each of Her words absolutely. They are words that do justice to every person and cause and lead people on the right path. There is nothing of the opposite in Her words. There is absolutely “nothing crooked or perverted in them”, nothing contrary to the truth of Scripture or contrary to sound teaching.

He who has the right mind understands that Her words are “straightforward” (Pro 8:9). Those who are already walking on the path of wisdom are even better able to understand Her. Straightforwardness is needed to understand wisdom, and not intelligence, scholarship or cleverness. The accuracy of Her words is understood by all who long to find knowledge.