Pro 8:1-21 | 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 8:1-21

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.

The Value of Wisdom

When a person accepts the instruction (or teaching) of Wisdom, it makes him richer than he can ever become of silver (Pro 8:10; cf. Psa 119:72). Accepting instruction leads to “knowledge”. The possession of knowledge is preferable to “choicest gold”. “Wisdom” far exceeds the value of “jewels” (Pro 8:11). Whatever earthly wealth anyone might desire, it does not compare to Wisdom and what She gives. Because of Wisdom’s value to life, She is more to be desired than anything else.

Her dwelling place, where Wisdom is at home, is with “prudence” (Pro 8:12). This means that She is astute, that She possesses keen and clear insight both into people and into things and events. The right knowledge to act She finds through “discretion” or thoughtfulness. Discretion is the ability to make good plans and thoughtful decisions. She does not let Herself be tempted to act hastily and therefore wrongly. She has the knowledge to know what to do because She is thoughtful.

We see these traits – prudence and discretion – perfectly in the Lord Jesus. He always knew what to do at what time. For example, to avoid needless offense, He paid the temple tax even though He was free from it as King and He also declared His disciples as His subjects free from it (Mt 17:27). As for man, He knew what was in him and did not let Himself be deceived by outward appearances (Jn 2:23-24). Here we see some of the many treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Him (Col 2:3).

Prudence and discretion (Pro 8:12) only function when governed by “the fear of the LORD” (Pro 8:13). At the same time, the fear of the LORD leads to hating “evil”. Evil is seen in the seduction of the adulterous woman in the previous chapter. More generally, it refers to hating pride, arrogance, an evil way and wrong words.

“Pride and arrogance” are in man, in the sinful flesh. If we let these sins run their course and do not judge them when they want to assert themselves, they take us down “the evil way”. On that evil way are people with a “perverted mouth”, a mouth that God hates. Worldly people have a very different view of the things we should hate. They speak of ‘a different way of life’, of making ‘a different choice’, and force us to tolerate their way of life and certainly not call it evil and sinful.

Wisdom is expressed in counsel and wisdom, understanding and power (Pro 8:14). They are present with Wisdom. Understanding is not just present in Her as an attribute, but She is Understanding, it is Her Being. What is present with Her is what characterizes Her. Hers is “counsel” and “wisdom”. Hers is also “power” to do whatever She deems necessary according to Her counsel and wisdom. We see here again that the Wisdom is Christ. One of His Names is “Counselor” (Isa 9:5). The Spirit Who guides Him is “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (Isa 11:2).

Wisdom is also the source of all earthly power and authority. By Her, kings reign (Pro 8:15), not because She permits it, but because She determines it (Rom 13:1-6). She establishes kings (Dan 2:21). A king usually has the sense to reign well or bad. To reign well can only be done by the Wisdom. Those who do not seek the Wisdom will reign badly, as we see with the kings of Israel and some kings of Judah.

Wisdom allows rulers – possibly provincial, lower authorities – to decree justice. These rulers prescribe things and put them in writing; they are things that serve justice, the law of God. Without Wisdom, they cannot prescribe anything that is consistent with the law of God; by Wisdom they can.

As do kings, also princes rule by Wisdom (Pro 8:16). This also applies to the “nobles”, the distinguished men, if they lead in a beneficent manner. Similarly, all those who exercise their functions as judges anywhere on earth can only do so properly, that is, righteously in accordance with the law of God, by Wisdom. By themselves they cannot do this. How wise and just must Wisdom be if the most powerful people on earth cannot govern justly and beneficently without Her.

A person will appreciate Wisdom only if he has love for Her (Pro 8:17). Then there is connection with Her. What matters is the mind of the heart toward Wisdom. Where there is love for Wisdom, that love is reciprocated by Her with love in return. Love for Wisdom is evidenced by “diligently seeking” Her. This is what Solomon did (1Kgs 3:9). The promise for those who do so is that they will find Her, encounter Her, possess Her (Jam 1:5).

Wisdom holds out a rich reward for those who seek Her, for She points out that “riches and honor” are with Her (Pro 8:18). Thus She does make it very attractive to earnestly seek Her. She adds that also “enduring wealth and righteousness” are with Her. It should be clear that this is not about earthly possessions, for they can be lost to a person just like that (Pro 23:5). It is about treasures in heaven that no one can take away (Mt 6:19-20).

Enduring possession, by definition, can only be eternal possession and not temporal possession and is therefore ultimately enjoyed in the life after this life and not in the life here and now. Likewise, righteousness is something that cannot be translated into terms of gold or silver. Gold can be obtained or inherited, wisdom cannot. Wisdom can only be found by those who seek Her. Righteousness too is a quality that is not connected to earth, but to God. It is a characteristic of God in His dealings with people. In the way He deals with people, He is always consistent with His own righteous Being.

Those who have found Wisdom will enjoy Her “fruit” (Pro 8:19). Her fruit is what She brings forth, everything that proceeds from Her. We can think of all the blessings given to us by grace, such as redemption, reconciliation, forgiveness, justification, sonship, eternal life. We can also think of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), which He gives to everyone who is connected to Wisdom. That fruit belongs to Her, but She gives it to all who find Her. That fruit “is better than gold, even pure gold”. Clearly it is not earthly prosperity, but spiritual fruit.

The same is true of Her “yield”. Yield is a concept of the market, of commerce, a concept to be applied spiritually here. What Wisdom produces in fruit and yield does not concern material wealth, for Her fruit and yield are better than what gold and silver produce in their purest form (cf. Job 28:15). The product of wisdom, what comes from wisdom, is better than what can be obtained with gold and silver.

Wisdom walks (Pro 8:20). Her purpose is for us to follow Her as children do their parents, soldiers their general, students their teacher and sheep their shepherd. She leads Her followers “in the way of righteousness”. Those who follow Her walk on the same way. She precedes them “in the midst of the paths of justice” and thereby avoids deviation to the right or to the left. The follower of Wisdom is neither formal nor licentious. He remains far removed from both extremes. He follows neither a dry, dead system nor a whipped, noncommittal principles.

What is endowed is the portion of all who love Wisdom (Pro 8:21). It is an endowed right, however, because it is attached to the Lord Jesus Who acquired this right. The endowment is He Himself. Of those who have Him as their endowment, He also fills the “treasuries” of their heart (Lk 6:45). What He places of Himself in their heart is not subject to depreciation.