Proverbs 9:1

The Consequences of Accepting Wisdom or Folly ¹ 

9:1 Wisdom has built her house;

she has carved out its seven pillars. ² 

Proverbs 14:1

14:1 Every wise woman ³  builds ⁴  her household, ⁵ 

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

Proverbs 14:1

14:1 Every wise woman ⁶  builds ⁷  her household, ⁸ 

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

Colossians 3:9

3:9 Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices

[9:1]  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).

[9:1]  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.

[14:1]  ³ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

[14:1]  ⁴ tn The perfect tense verb in the first colon functions in a gnomic sense, while the imperfect tense in the second colon is a habitual imperfect.

[14:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “house.” This term functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for contents (= household, family).

[14:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

[14:1]  ⁷ tn The perfect tense verb in the first colon functions in a gnomic sense, while the imperfect tense in the second colon is a habitual imperfect.

[14:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “house.” This term functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for contents (= household, family).