Proverbs 1:20-33 Commentary

Wisdom Personified

Tackling this week’s lectionary text from the first chapter of Proverbs, with next week’s text from the last chapter in mind, it may be worth considering making a short series out of the two together.  The first thing that holds them both together is the theme of wisdom and, particularly, the way wisdom is not a concept or a doctrine but is personified throughout the book of Proverbs as a person, a woman-person specifically.  This, of course, stems from a linguistic nuance in the text.  Hebrew, like Greek and many modern languages, assign gender to nouns and, in this case, “chokmah” is a feminine noun that we translate into the genderless English word, “wisdom.”  The nuance of gendered nouns in Hebrew allows the author of Proverbs to engage in some word play, specifically styling the pursuit of wisdom as something like a romantic pursuit.  Similarly, the Hebrew word for wisdom’s opposite, folly (or nebalah), is also a feminine noun, which furthers the wordplay.  Throughout the book of Proverbs, the individual addressed is someone trapped in a bit of a love triangle.  Will the reader pursue the heroine, wisdom?  Or will he settle for her romantic rival, folly?

A creative preacher with a congregation that doesn’t mind a bit of playfulness could have some real fun bringing this theme to life over the coming two Sundays! And I would argue that something like this playful approach more closely maps to the author’s original intent than a dry exposition.

Wisdom, the Rom-Com

Scene I: A Get-To-Know-You Montague (20-21)

The verbs suggest that our heroine is working to get our attention.  Here wisdom calls aloud, raises her voice, cries out and makes her speech.  Note that we haven’t heard what she has to say yet.  She’s just gearing up to say it and we are learning who she is: plucky, determined, a woman about town.  Here I can picture the opening credits of any number of romantic comedies: a bird’s eye view of a major city, swooping in to see our heroine on her way to work, maybe out to brunch with friends, on her way home from yoga class, checking her phone while crossing the street, instigating a near miss with a turning taxi.  Shot in the right way, cinematographers can tell you a lot about the movie’s heroine before she’s ever said a word.

Scene II: The Why-Does’t-Anyone-Want-Me Scene (22-32)

Here we learn about our heroine’s romantic misfortunes and near misses.  Unlucky in love, she’s sitting on a couch with friends or perhaps at work with a sassy co-worker reliving the greatest hits of her disappointing love life.  According to Lindsay Wilson, verse 22 gives us “three stages of rejection of wisdom” including “the simple, the scoffers and the fools.” Whoever is playing the foil to our heroine’s underwhelming experiences is quick to remind her “it isn’t you.  You are great.”  And, buoyed, Wisdom replies with all the ways she could have helped these guys out.  And it’s clear none of them have ended up better off without her.  And you know what? She doesn’t care.  Not her problem anymore.

She might even imagine one of these fools showing up with flowers on her doorstep.  But, you know what?  Too late.  Here, according to Wilson, our heroine knows that these erstwhile suitors “only begin to respond once the unpalatable outcomes of their way of life begin to take place.”  And she is not having it. “At that point they are stuck with the consequences of their choices.”

Scene III: The Wistful Stare Out a Window (32-23)

For all her tough talk, it still bothers her that these former lovers have chosen their own destruction, that they are “destroyed by their complacency and turning away from wisdom. Their claim that they have no need of wisdom is shown to be short-sighted folly.” She knows she asks a lot.  Some might call her “high maintenance.” And she still hopes for herself but also for those who would love and listen to her, knowing that  “Those who accept wisdom in this way will be secure, at ease and not dreading any future disaster. This highlights the importance of the foundation call of the fear of the Lord, as well as the ongoing challenge to have our character and actions transformed by wisdom.”

The Fear of the Lord

For as fun as the motif is, the point is deadly serious. The distinction between a life of folly and one guarded and guided by wisdom is “the fear of the Lord.” Proverbs will return here again and again. From Wilson, “Everyday wisdom must be based on a relationship with God. The recurrence of fear of the Lord language draws attention to the contrast in this opening chapter between the path of folly (1:8–19) and the way of wisdom (1:20–33).”

It’s hard to know which comes first: ignoring God or ignoring wisdom.  Christian Trinitarian theology helps us immensely here by acknowledging they are one and the same.  The Spirit is the prompting, comforting, courage-making, power-filling presence of the Triune God at work in our lives. You cannot fear God and ignore wisdom and, likewise, you cannot ignore wisdom and fear God.

Worship Idea:

Scripture draws a close link between wisdom and the work of the Holy Spirit.  In fact, perhaps a personified Wisdom is the way we can most clearly see the third person of the Trinity.  As you plan worship for this service, you might consider leaning into music, liturgy and prayers that honor the Holy Spirit and praise some of the specific attributes and actions of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.