Have you built a house or watched one being built? There’s so much work that goes into the whole project. While examining Proverbs 9, I was impressed with the first line of the first verse, “Wisdom has built her house” (Proverbs 9:1a, NLT).
The Bible Knowledge Commentary observes, “in Proverbs wisdom is frequently personified as a dignified lady.[1]”
This dignified lady has built her house; When “Lady Wisdom” builds, she is persistently active. She’s not idle! She’s an enthusiastic worker. And after the project has been completed, she’s not sitting in her doorway chattering, no, she sets out to use her home for instructing the wise, making it a place of teaching that honors the Lord. “She has prepared a great banquet” (9:2a). Planning and organizing are part of preparing for such an event but this is even more elaborate. “Everyone” is invited! Therefore, much food would be prepared for this event as well as the wine mixed for consumption. “Undiluted wine was considered distasteful by the Jews, and the wine for the Passover consisted of three parts water and one part wine.[2]” Everything is arranged to welcome those desiring to come in order to learn how to use good judgment. This Woman of Wisdom opens her home for instructing and teaching because she understands the need for others to find this priceless gain.
But there is also another woman that is introduced in this chapter: Madam Folly! Unfortunately, Madam Folly is counterintuitive to the work Lady Wisdom has set out to do. Madam Folly sits! She calls for simpleminded men so she can lure them to stumble. Madam Folly is tearing down homes instead of building. Her home is a sanctuary for the burial place, “but little do they know that the dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave” (9:18).
Who is building your home?
[1] Sid S. Buzzell, “Proverbs,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 923.
[2] Buzzell
The Scarlett Road 