Pro 9:13-18 | KingComments | STEP | “The woman of folly” ( ) is the strange woman, the harlot. We have heard and seen her before ( ). She “is boisterous”. Her life is all restlessness. She has no stability and therefore cannot provide it, unlike woman Wisdom. Lacking the slightest bit of reason, she is “naive”, literally “simple”, and therefore extremely foolish. She “knows nothing”, that is, she has no knowledge of good at all. God is the great Absent One in her life. All this lack of peace, understanding and knowledge does not shame her. She does not at all care what others think of her, what harm she does to families, bodies and souls of others and what she robs herself of and what she ultimately brings upon herself. Whoever accepts her invitation is no less guilty, of course, but here the initiative comes from her. Her shameless attitude and behavior is also expressed in increasingly shameless manners in our days. The posters along the roads and the advertisements in all kinds of media have long since abandoned shame. The contrast with Woman Wisdom is enormous. Woman Wisdom has built a beautiful house and hewn out seven pillars for it ( ). She worked hard for it. Then She prepared a meal and set the table ( ). Woman Foolishness has done nothing. She does not build, but breaks down. She has neither prepared a house nor prepared a meal. Woman Foolishness sits “at the doorway of her house” ( ). She knows no shame, nor is any sense of inferiority foreign to her. That she sits “on a seat” means that she feels like a queen. She therefore imagines herself “by the high places of the city”. As she feels, so does she behave. She wants to exude authority, as if it is a privilege to interact with her. It is reminiscent of “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” ( ), who says of herself in her heart, “I sit as queen” ( ). It is a symbolic representation of the roman-catholic church, which is seated in Rome which is built on seven hills ( ). This corrupt system has committed spiritual harlotry with the kings of the earth and positioned itself as one of them. She is emphatically present in the streets ( ) and she invites every passerby ( ). She imitates Wisdom in several areas, as in the calling from the heights of the city, the invitation and the meal. Woman Folly holds to a form of Godliness, but she denies its power ( ). She is depraved in thought and rejected as to faith ( ). In her we see the devil at work as a master imitator. The devil is also an excellent advertiser. We see this in advertising flyers and promotional videos, which always cater to the needs of man. He knows very well where the needs of man are. He knows the needs of man for food and drink and sexuality. These are not in themselves sinful needs, because they have been put into man by God. They are really human needs. They only become sinful needs when man starts providing for them without asking God and accepting the offers made by the devil. Woman Folly, as the devil’s mouthpiece, addresses everyone, not just those who deliberately set out to sin. She calls to those "who are making their paths straight", who do not want to deviate, but want to walk the right path in obedience to what they have been taught from the Word of God. However, she presents the right path as boring. Very slyly, she shows that deviation from the usual path provides the necessary variety, making life seemingly exciting and challenging. She also imitates Wisdom by specifically addressing those who are “naive” ( ; cf. ). Let that one turn from his path just once and come to her. Surely among all these passersby there is also someone “who lacks understanding”. To him she has a very attractive invitation. She bluntly offers “stolen water” ( ), inciting the passersby to illicit sexual intercourse with her. In doing so, she responds to passion as thirst (cf. ). This mode of quenching thirst is indeed stealing, for it is stealing the intimacy of one who alone is entitled to it. She presents it as “sweet”. Satan always presents sin as “sweet”, while its aftertaste is so very bitter. To stolen water also belongs “bread [eaten] in secret”, which is “bread of mysteries”, “bread of hidden places” (cf. ). The enjoyment of this bread cannot bear the light of day. It presents it as “pleasant”, while its aftertaste is very foul. By offering both water and bread in this way, she appeals to the tendency that lies within every human being, and that is the tendency to do something that is unlawful, that goes against the rules of God. But what she offers can rightly be called ‘a prison meal’, as the proverb says that a person in prison is ‘on water and bread’. Whoever drinks this water and eats this bread becomes a prisoner of hers. The outcome is far worse than a prison. Whoever enters her house meets there a company of “the dead” ( ). All his predecessors, “her guests”, who have accepted her invitation “are in the depths of Sheol” ( ). The house of woman Folly turns out to be ‘the gullet to hell’. All who on earth drink of her water and eat of her bread will digest it in hell for all eternity. This confrontation with death encourages one to choose life. Woman Wisdom and woman Folly illustrate two ways, each with its own end. The Lord Jesus calls these ways the broad way and the narrow way ( ). He calls for avoiding the broad way and following the straight and narrow path of a righteous and wise life. The broad way leads to destruction; the narrow way leads to life. Almost all subsequent verses in this book propose these two paths: the way of and to life and the way of and to death.

‏ Proverbs 9:13-18

The Invitation of the Woman of Folly

“The woman of folly” (Pro 9:13) is the strange woman, the harlot. We have heard and seen her before (Pro 2:16 ; Pro 5:3 ; Pro 7:5). She “is boisterous”. Her life is all restlessness. She has no stability and therefore cannot provide it, unlike woman Wisdom. Lacking the slightest bit of reason, she is “naive”, literally “simple”, and therefore extremely foolish. She “knows nothing”, that is, she has no knowledge of good at all. God is the great Absent One in her life.

All this lack of peace, understanding and knowledge does not shame her. She does not at all care what others think of her, what harm she does to families, bodies and souls of others and what she robs herself of and what she ultimately brings upon herself. Whoever accepts her invitation is no less guilty, of course, but here the initiative comes from her. Her shameless attitude and behavior is also expressed in increasingly shameless manners in our days. The posters along the roads and the advertisements in all kinds of media have long since abandoned shame.

The contrast with Woman Wisdom is enormous. Woman Wisdom has built a beautiful house and hewn out seven pillars for it (Pro 9:1). She worked hard for it. Then She prepared a meal and set the table (Pro 9:2). Woman Foolishness has done nothing. She does not build, but breaks down. She has neither prepared a house nor prepared a meal.

Woman Foolishness sits “at the doorway of her house” (Pro 9:14). She knows no shame, nor is any sense of inferiority foreign to her. That she sits “on a seat” means that she feels like a queen. She therefore imagines herself “by the high places of the city”. As she feels, so does she behave. She wants to exude authority, as if it is a privilege to interact with her.

It is reminiscent of “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” (Rev 17:5), who says of herself in her heart, “I sit as queen” (Rev 18:7). It is a symbolic representation of the roman-catholic church, which is seated in Rome which is built on seven hills (Rev 17:9). This corrupt system has committed spiritual harlotry with the kings of the earth and positioned itself as one of them.

She is emphatically present in the streets (Pro 9:14) and she invites every passerby (Pro 9:15). She imitates Wisdom in several areas, as in the calling from the heights of the city, the invitation and the meal. Woman Folly holds to a form of Godliness, but she denies its power (2Tim 3:5). She is depraved in thought and rejected as to faith (2Tim 3:8). In her we see the devil at work as a master imitator.

The devil is also an excellent advertiser. We see this in advertising flyers and promotional videos, which always cater to the needs of man. He knows very well where the needs of man are. He knows the needs of man for food and drink and sexuality. These are not in themselves sinful needs, because they have been put into man by God. They are really human needs. They only become sinful needs when man starts providing for them without asking God and accepting the offers made by the devil.

Woman Folly, as the devil’s mouthpiece, addresses everyone, not just those who deliberately set out to sin. She calls to those "who are making their paths straight", who do not want to deviate, but want to walk the right path in obedience to what they have been taught from the Word of God. However, she presents the right path as boring. Very slyly, she shows that deviation from the usual path provides the necessary variety, making life seemingly exciting and challenging.

She also imitates Wisdom by specifically addressing those who are “naive” (Pro 9:16; cf. Pro 9:4). Let that one turn from his path just once and come to her. Surely among all these passersby there is also someone “who lacks understanding”. To him she has a very attractive invitation.

She bluntly offers “stolen water” (Pro 9:17), inciting the passersby to illicit sexual intercourse with her. In doing so, she responds to passion as thirst (cf. Pro 5:15). This mode of quenching thirst is indeed stealing, for it is stealing the intimacy of one who alone is entitled to it. She presents it as “sweet”. Satan always presents sin as “sweet”, while its aftertaste is so very bitter.

To stolen water also belongs “bread [eaten] in secret”, which is “bread of mysteries”, “bread of hidden places” (cf. Deu 13:6). The enjoyment of this bread cannot bear the light of day. It presents it as “pleasant”, while its aftertaste is very foul.

By offering both water and bread in this way, she appeals to the tendency that lies within every human being, and that is the tendency to do something that is unlawful, that goes against the rules of God. But what she offers can rightly be called ‘a prison meal’, as the proverb says that a person in prison is ‘on water and bread’. Whoever drinks this water and eats this bread becomes a prisoner of hers.

The outcome is far worse than a prison. Whoever enters her house meets there a company of “the dead” (Pro 9:18). All his predecessors, “her guests”, who have accepted her invitation “are in the depths of Sheol” (Pro 2:18 ; Pro 7:27). The house of woman Folly turns out to be ‘the gullet to hell’. All who on earth drink of her water and eat of her bread will digest it in hell for all eternity. This confrontation with death encourages one to choose life.

Woman Wisdom and woman Folly illustrate two ways, each with its own end. The Lord Jesus calls these ways the broad way and the narrow way (Mt 7:13-14). He calls for avoiding the broad way and following the straight and narrow path of a righteous and wise life. The broad way leads to destruction; the narrow way leads to life. Almost all subsequent verses in this book propose these two paths: the way of and to life and the way of and to death.