Proverbs 9:1

Wisdom hath builded her house,.... Or "Wisdoms": of which see Proverbs 1:20; Christ, the Wisdom of God, is meant, in whom and from whom all wisdom is. Various are the opinions concerning this house built by him.

Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: Proverbs 9:1-18.-Wisdom's preparations of her house and her banquet for the quests whom she invites by her maidens (Proverbs 9:1-3).

CHAPTER 9 Wisdom’ s call to her people unto blessed communion and fellowship with herself, set out under a similitude of making a feast, . Her preparation, , and invitation, . She dehorteth from evil company, . Her counsel concerning reproof and instruction, . A description of the fear of God, , with the benefits thereof, ,12. The nature of a foolish woman, . Her invitation, , and arguments to insnare the simple, . The miserable state of them that are deceived by her, . Hath builded her house, for the reception and entertainment of her guests, as appears from the following passages. This house is opposed to the harlot’ s house, mentioned ; and it is to be understood, either, 1. Of the heavenly house, or the palace of glory; or rather, 2. Of the church, which Christ, the Wisdom of the Father, hath erected and established in the world, in which this following feast is made, which is called God’ s house, ,4. Seven, i.e. many pillars; whereby is intimated both the beauty and the stability of the church. Pillars; prophets, and apostles, and ministers of holy things, which in Scripture are called pillars, as , and elsewhere.

Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:Ver. 1. Wisdom.] Heb., Wisdoms, in the plural; and this, either honoris causa, for honour’ s sake, or else by an ellipsis, as if the whole of it were "wisdom of wisdoms," as "the song of songs," for a most excellent song. Junius renders it, Summa sapientia. Highest wisdom. Hath builded her house.] That is, The Church. She hath hewn out her seven pillars] Pillars, and polished pillars. Anything is good enough to make up a mud wall; but the Church’ s pillars are of marble, and those not rough, but hewn; her safety is accompanied with beauty.

IX. (o). Fifteenth Discourse: the Invitations of Wisdom and Folly (Proverbs 9). (1) Wisdom hath builded her house—i.e., in preparation for the feast to which she is about to invite her guests. It is not an unusual custom in the Old Testament to describe intimate communion with God, and the refreshment which the soul of man thereby receives, under the figure of a festival. Thus in Exodus 24:11, when the elders of Israel were admitted to the vision of the Almighty, they “did eat and drink.” The same idea occurs frequently in the prophets also (as Isaiah 25:6; Isaiah 65:13; Zephaniah 1:7-8); and is brought out in the New Testament with great fulness in the parables of the great supper (Luke 14) and the marriage of the king’s son (Matthew 22). Christ, the supreme Wisdom, has “builded His house” by taking man’s flesh at His Incarnation, and thus rearing for Himself a “temple of the Holy Ghost” (John 2:19); and also by building for Himself a “spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5), “the house of God, which is the church of the living God” (1 Timothy 3:15). (For references to the Fathers, see Bishop Wordsworth.) In the previous chapter Christ’s work as Creator was described; now He is set forth as Regenerator of mankind. She hath hewn out her seven pillars.—Suggestive of the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2 Revelation 1:4), typified by the seven-branched candlestick of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:37).

CHAPTER IX Wisdom builds her house, makes her provision for a great feast, calls her guests, and exhorts them to partake of her entertainment, 14. Different admonitions relative to the acquisition of wisdom, 7-12. The character and conduct of a bad woman, 13-18. NOTES ON CHAP. IX. The same Wisdom speaks here who spoke in the preceding chapter. There she represented herself as manifest in all the works of God in the natural world; all being constructed according to counsels proceeding from an infinite understanding. Here, she represents herself as the great potentate, who was to rule all that she had constructed; and having an immense family to provide for, had made an abundant provision, and calls all to partake of it. This, says Calmet, is the continuation of the parable begun in the preceding chapter, where wisdom is represented as a venerable lady, whose real beauties and solid promises are opposed to the false allurements of PLEASURE, who was represented in the seventh chapter under the idea of a debauched and impudent woman. This one, to draw young people into her snares, describes the perfumes, the bed, and the festival which she has prepared. WISDOM acts in the same way: but, instead of the debauchery, the false pleasures, and the criminal connections which pleasure had promised, offers her guests a strong, well-built, magnificent palace, chaste and solid pleasures, salutary instructions, and a life crowned with blessedness. This is the sum and the substance of the parable; but as in the preceding part, so in this, men have produced strange creatures of their own brain, by way of explanation. One specimen of this mode of interpretation may suffice. The house built by wisdom is the holy humanity of Jesus Christ; the seven pillars are the seven sacraments, or the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, or the whole of the apostles, preachers, and ministers of the Church; the slain beasts are the sacrifice of Christ's body upon the cross; and the bread and mingled wine are the bread and wine in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper! - FATHERS and DOCTORS. If we have recourse to any other particulars than those given above in the summary of the chapter, let us follow the first part of the parable, where wisdom is represented as laying the plan of the creation; and then perhaps we may say with safety, that wisdom, having produced the grand ichnograph or ground plot of the whole, with all the requisite elevations and specifications of materials, comes to show us, in this part, that the whole has been constructed on this plan; and specifies the end for which this august building has been raised. Verse 1. Wisdom hath builded her house] The eternal counsel of God has framed the universe. She hath hewn out her seven pillars] Every thing has been so constructed as to exhibit a scene of grandeur, stability, and durableness.

1. seven pillars] “Pillars form an important feature in Oriental architecture, partly perhaps as a reminiscence of the tent with its supporting poles, and partly also from the use of flat roofs, in consequence of which the chambers were either narrower, or divided into portions by columns.” Smith’s Dict. of Bible, Art. Pillar. Here, however, it is better to suppose that the great banquet-hall is open all along the front, so as it were to invite entrance, the roof being supported by a row (‘seven’ is the usual symbol of completeness) of stately pillars. The magnificent hall in which the lords of the Philistines sat and watched Samson making sport in the court-yard outside, while on its flat roof no fewer than 3000 people were assembled, was constructed on this principle; the two central pillars of the colonnade forming a chief support of the roof (Judges 16:25-30).

A parable full of beauty, and interesting in its parallelism to the parables of our Lord Matthew 22:3-4; Luke 14:16. Seven pillars - The number is chosen as indicating completeness and perfection.

1. Wisdom — çëîåú, hhokmoth, literally, wisdoms, the plural of excellency, according to the Hebrew manner, (comp.