7:6 For at the window of my house
through my window lattice I looked out
9:1 Wisdom has built her house;
she has carved out its seven pillars. 2
12:7 The wicked are overthrown 3 and perish, 4
but the righteous household 5 will stand.
14:11 The household 6 of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent 7 of the upright will flourish.
24:3 By 8 wisdom a house is built, 9
and through understanding it is established;
1 sn Chapter 9 forms the conclusion of the lengthy introduction to the book. Both wisdom and folly will make their final appeals; and both appeal to the simpletons. Wisdom offers life with no mention of pleasure; folly offers pleasure with no mention of death. The first twelve verses concern accepting wisdom: the invitation of wisdom (1-6), the description of the responses (7-11), and the consequence (12). Verses 13-18 concern accepting folly: the invitation (13-17) and the consequence (18).
2 sn Wisdom is personified as a wise woman. She has prepared a house and established it on seven pillars. This is a reference to the habitable world (e.g., 8:31). For the equation of the house and the world, e.g., 8:29; Job 38:6; and Psalm 104:5 (also G. Boström, Proverbiastudien [LUÅ], 1-14). The “seven pillars” have been variously interpreted, but since seven is a number for completeness and sacredness, the idea seems to be that wisdom produced a perfect world.
1 sn This proverb is about the stability of the righteous in times of trouble. The term “overthrown” might allude to Gen 19:21.
2 tn Heb “and they are not.”
3 tn Heb “the house of the righteous.” The genitive צַדִּיקִים (tsadiqim) functions as an attributive adjective: “righteous house.” The noun בֵּית (bet, “house”) functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for the contents (= family, household; perhaps household possessions). Cf. NCV “a good person’s family”; NLT “the children of the godly.”
1 tn Heb “house.” The term “house” is a metonymy of subject, referring to their contents: families and family life.
2 tn The term “tent” is a metonymy here referring to the contents of the tent: families.
1 tn The preposition בְּ (bet, “by; through”) in these two lines indicates means.
2 sn The twentieth saying, vv. 3-4, concerns the use of wisdom for domestic enterprises. In Prov 9:1 wisdom was personified as a woman who builds a house; but here the emphasis is primarily on the building – it is a sign of security and prosperity (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 442). One could still make a secondary application from this line for a household or “family” (cf. NCV, which sees this as a reference to the family).