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Christ and sin are rivals for the soul of man, and here we are told how they both make their court to it, to have the innermost and uppermost place in it. The design of this representation is to set before us life and death, good and evil; and there needs no more than a fair stating of the case to determine us which of those to choose, and surrender our hearts to. They are both brought in making entertainment for the soul, and inviting it to accept of the entertainment; concerning both we are told what the issue will be; and, the matter being thus laid before us, let us consider, take advice, and speak our minds. And we are therefore concerned to put a value upon our own souls, because we see there is such striving for them. I. Christ, under the name of Wisdom, invites us to accept of his entertainment, and so to enter into acquaintance and communion with him (Pro 9:1-6). And having foretold the different success of his invitation (Pro 9:7-9) he shows, in short, what he requires from us (Pro 9:10). and what he designs for us (Pro 9:11), and then leaves it to our choice what we will do (Pro 9:12). II. Sin, under the character of a foolish woman, courts us to accept of her entertainment, and (Pro 9:13-16) pretends it is very charming (Pro 9:17). But Solomon tells us what the reckoning will be (Pro 9:18). And now choose you, this day, whom you will close with.

Wisdom is here introduced as a magnificent and munificent queen, very great and very generous; that Word of God is this Wisdom in which God makes known his goodwill towards men; God the Word is this Wisdom, to whom the Father has committed all judgment. He who, in the chapter before, showed his grandeur and glory as the Creator of the world, here shows his grace and goodness as the Redeemer of it. The word is plural, Wisdoms; for in Christ are hid treasures of wisdom, and in his undertaking appears the manifold wisdom of God in a mystery. Now observe here, I. The rich provision which Wisdom has made for the reception of all those that will be her disciples. This is represented under the similitude of a sumptuous feast, whence it is probable, our Saviour borrowed those parables in which he compared the kingdom of heaven to a great supper, Mat 22:2; Luk 14:16. And so it was prophesied of, Isa 25:6. It is such a feast as Ahasuerus made to show the riches of his glorious kingdom. The grace of the gospel is thus set before us in the ordinance of the Lord's supper. To bid her guests welcome, 1. Here is a stately palace provided, Pro 9:1. Wisdom, not finding a house capacious enough for all her guests, has built one on purpose, and, both to strengthen it and to beautify it, she has hewn out her seven pillars, which make it to be very firm, and look very great. Heaven is the house which Wisdom has built to entertain all her guests that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb; that is her Father's house, where there are many mansions, and whither she has gone to prepare places for us. She has hanged the earth upon nothing, there in it we have no continuing city; but heaven is a city that has foundations, has pillars. The church is Wisdom's house, to which she invites her guests, supported by the power and promise of God, as by seven pillars. Probably, Solomon refers to the temple which he himself had lately built for the service of religion, and to which he would persuade people to resort, both to worship God and to receive the instructions of Wisdom. Some reckon the schools of the prophets to be here intended. 2. Here is a splendid feast got ready (Pro 9:2): She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine; plenty of meat and drink are provided, and all of the best. She has killed her sacrifice (so the word is); it is a sumptuous, but a sacred feast, a feast upon a sacrifice. Christ has offered up himself a sacrifice for us, and it is his flesh that is meat indeed and his blood that is drink indeed. The Lord's supper is a feast of reconciliation and joy upon the sacrifice of atonement. The wine is mingled with something richer than itself, to give it a more than ordinary spirit and flavour. She has completely furnished her table with all the satisfactions that a soul can desire - righteousness and grace, peace and joy, the assurances of God's love, the consolations of the Spirit, and all the pledges and earnests of eternal life. Observe, It is all Wisdom's own doing; she has killed the beasts, she has mingled the wine, which denotes both the love of Christ, who makes the provision (he does not leave it to others, but takes the doing of it into his own hands), and the excellency of the preparation. That must needs be exactly fitted to answer the end which Wisdom herself has the fitting up of. II. The gracious invitation she has given, not to some particular friends, but to all in general, to come and take part of these provisions. 1. She employs her servants to carry the invitation round about in the country: She has sent forth her maidens, Pro 9:3. The ministers of the gospel are commissioned and commanded to give notice of the preparations which God has made, in the everlasting covenant, for all those that are willing to come up to the terms of it; and they, with maiden purity, not corrupting themselves or the word of God, and with an exact observance of their orders, are to call upon all they meet with, even in the highways and hedges, to come and feast with Wisdom, for all things are now ready, Luk 14:23. 2. She herself cries upon the highest places of the city, as one earnestly desirous of the welfare of the children of men, and grieved to see them rejecting their own mercies for lying vanities. Our Lord Jesus was himself the publisher of his own gospel; when he had sent forth his disciples he followed them to confirm what they said; nay, it began to be spoken by the Lord, Heb 2:3. He stood, and cried, Come unto me. We see who invited; now let us observe, (1.) To whom the invitation is given: Whoso is simple and wants understanding, Pro 9:4. If we were to make an entertainment, of all people we should not care for, much less court, the company of such, but rather of philosophers and learned men, that we might hear their wisdom, and whose table-talk would be improving. "Have I need of madmen?" But Wisdom invites such, because what she has to give is what they most need, and it is their welfare that she consults, and aims at, in the preparation and invitation. he that is simple is invited, that he may be made wise, and he that wants a heart (so the word is) let him come hither, and he shall have one. Her preparations are rather physic than food, designed for the most valuable and desirable cure, that of the mind. Whosoever he be, the invitation is general, and excludes none that do not exclude themselves; though they be ever so foolish, yet, [1.] They shall be welcome. [2.] They may be helped; they shall neither be despised nor despaired of. Our Saviour came, not to call the righteous, but sinners, not the wise in their own eyes, who say they see (Joh 9:41), but the simple, those who are sensible of their simplicity and ashamed of it, and him that is willing to become a fool, that he may be wise, Co1 3:18. (2.) What the invitation is. [1.] We are invited to Wisdom's house: Turn in hither. I say we are, for which of us is there that must not own the character of the invited, that are simple and want understanding? Wisdom's doors stand open to such, and she is desirous to have some conversation with them, one word for their good, nor has she any other design upon them. [2.] We are invited to her table (Pro 9:5): Come, eat of my bread, that is, taste of the true pleasures that are to be found in the knowledge and fear of God. By faith acted on the promises of the gospel, applying them to ourselves and taking the comfort of them, we feed, we feast, upon the provisions Christ has made for poor souls. What we eat and drink we make our own, we are nourished and refreshed by it, and so are our souls by the word of God; it has that in it which is meat and drink to those that have understanding. (3.) What is required of those that may have the benefit of this invitation, Pro 9:6. [1.] They must break off from all bad company: "Forsake the foolish, converse not with them, conform not to their ways, have no fellowship with the works of darkness, or with those that deal in such works." The first step towards virtue is to shun vice, and therefore to shun the vicious. Depart from me, you evil-doers. [2.] They must awake and arise from the dead; they must live, not in pleasure (for those that do so are dead while they live), but in the service of God; for those only that do so live indeed, live to some purpose. "Live not a mere animal-life, as brutes, but now, at length, live the life of men. Live and you shall live; live spiritually, and you shall live eternally," Eph 5:14. [3.] They must choose the paths of Wisdom, and keep to them: "Go in the way of understanding; govern thyself henceforward by the rules of religion and right reason." It is not enough to forsake the foolish, but we must join ourselves with those that walk in wisdom, and walk in the same spirit and steps. III. The instructions which Wisdom gives to the maidens she sends to invite, to the ministers and others, who in their places are endeavouring tot serve her interests and designs. She tells them, 1. What their work must be, not only to tell in general what preparation is made for souls, and to give a general offer of it, but they must address themselves to particular persons, must tell them of their faults, reprove, rebuke, Pro 9:7, Pro 9:8. They must instruct them how to amend - teach, Pro 9:9. The word of God is intended, and therefore so is the ministry of that word, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. 2. What different sorts of persons they would meet with, and what course they must take with them, and what success they might expect. (1.) They would meet with some scorners and wicked men who would mock the messengers of the Lord, and misuse them, would laugh those to scorn that invite them to the feast of the Lord, as they did, Ch2 30:10, would treat them spitefully, Mat 22:6. And, though they are not forbidden to invite those simple ones to Wisdom's house, yet they are advised not to pursue the invitation by reproving and rebuking them. Reprove not a scorner; cast not these pearls before swine, Mat 7:6. Thus Christ said of the Pharisees, Let them alone, Mat 15:14. "Do not reprove them." [1.] "In justice to them, for those have forfeited the favour of further means who scorn the means they have had. Those that are thus filthy, let them be filthy still; those that are joined to idols, let them alone; lo, we turn to the Gentiles." [2.] "In prudence to yourselves; because, if you reprove them," First, "You lose your labour, and so get to yourselves shame for the disappointment." Secondly, "You exasperate them; do it ever so wisely and tenderly, if you do it faithfully, they will hate you, they will load you with reproaches, and say all the ill they can of you, and so you will get a blot; therefore you had better not meddle with them, for your reproofs will be likely to do more hurt than good." (2.) They would meet with others, who are wise, and good, and just; thanks be to God, all are not scorners. We meet with some who are so wise for themselves, to just to themselves, as to be willing and glad to be taught; and when we meet with such, [1.] If there be occasion, we must reprove them; for wise men are not so perfectly wise but there is that in them which needs a reproof; and we must not connive at any man's faults because we have a veneration for his wisdom, nor must a wise man think that his wisdom exempts him from reproof when he says or does any thing foolishly; but the more wisdom a man has the more desirous he should be to have his weaknesses shown him, because a little folly is a great blemish to him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. [2.] With our reproofs we must give them instruction, and must teach them, Pro 9:9. [3.] We may expect that our doing so will be taken as a kindness, Psa 141:5. A wise man will reckon those his friends who deal faithfully with him: "Rebuke such a one, and he will love thee for thy plain dealing, will thank thee, and desire thee to do him the same good turn another time, if there be occasion." It is as great an instance of wisdom to take a reproof well as to give it well, [4.] Being taken well, it will do good, and answer the intention. A wise man will be made wiser by the reproofs and instructions that are given him; he will increase in learning, will grow in knowledge, and so grow in grace. None must think themselves too wise to learn, nor so good that they need not be better and therefore need not be taught. We must still press forward, and follow on to know till we come to the perfect man. Give to a wise man (so it is in the original), give him advice, give him reproof, give him comfort, and he will be yet wiser; give him occasion (so the Septuagint), occasion to show his wisdom, and he will show it, and the acts of wisdom will strengthen the habits. IV. The instructions she gives to those that are invited, which her maidens must inculcate upon them. 1. Let them know wherein true wisdom consists, and what will be their entertainment at Wisdom's table, Pro 9:10 (1.) The heart must be principled with the fear of God; that is the beginning of wisdom. A reverence of God's majesty, and a dread of his wrath, are that fear of him which is the beginning, the first step towards true religion, whence all other instances of it take rise. This fear may, at first, have torment, but love will, by degrees, cast out the torment of it. (2.) The head must be filled with the knowledge of the things of God. The knowledge of holy things (the word is plural) is understanding, the things pertaining to the service of God (those are called holy things), that pertain to our own sanctification; reproof is called that which is holy, Mat 7:6. Or the knowledge which holy men have, which was taught by the holy prophets, of those things which holy men spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost, this is understanding; it is the best and most useful understanding, will stand us in most stead and turn to the best account. 2. Let them know what will be advantages of this wisdom (Pro 9:11): "By me thy days shall be multiplied. It will contribute to the health of thy body, and so the years of thy life on earth shall be increased, while men's folly and intemperance shorten their days. It will bring thee to heaven, and there thy days shall be multiplied in infinitum - to infinity, and the years of thy life shall be increased without end." There is no true wisdom but in the say of religion and no true life but in the end of that way. 3. Let them know what will be the consequence of their choosing or refusing this fair offer, Pro 9:12. Here is, (1.) The happiness of those that embrace it: "If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself; thou wilt be the gainer by it, not Wisdom." A man cannot be profitable to God. It is to our own good that we are thus courted. "Thou wilt not leave the gain to others" (as we do our worldly wealth when we die, which is therefore called another man's, Luk 16:12), "but thou shalt carry it with thee into another world." Those that are wise for their souls are wise for themselves, for the soul is the man; nor do any consult their own true interest but those that are truly religious. This recommends us to God, and recovers us from that which is our folly and degeneracy; it employs us in that which is most beneficial in this world, and entitles us to that which is much more so in the world to come. (2.) The shame and ruin of those that slight it: "If thou scornest Wisdom's proffer, thou alone shalt bar it." [1.] "Thou shalt bear the blame of it." Those that are good must thank God, but those that are wicked may thank themselves; it is not owing to God (he is not the author of sin); Satan can only tempt, he cannot force; and wicked companions are but his instruments; so that all the fault must lie on the sinner himself. [2.] "Thou shalt bear the loss of that which thou scornest; it will be to thy own destruction; thy blood will be upon thy own head, and the consideration of this will aggravate thy condemnation. Son, remember, that thou hadst this fair offer made thee, and thou wouldst not accept it; thou stoodest fair for life, but didst choose death rather."

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 9 In this chapter, Wisdom, or Christ, is represented as having built a stately house or palace for the entertainment of his guests, Pro 9:1; as having made large and suitable provisions for them, Pro 9:2; and as having sent his servants to invite them to come and partake of them, and quit all other company but his, Pro 9:3; When it is observed who are and who are not to be reproved, with the reasons of it, Pro 9:7; and what is the sum and substance of true wisdom; and what the advantages of it both here and hereafter, Pro 9:10; And the chapter is concluded with the description of the foolish woman, the opposite of Wisdom; who is represented as clamorous, simple, and ignorant, Pro 9:13; and plying passengers that go by her door, and inviting them in to partake of her provisions, Pro 9:14; the consequence of which is sure and certain death and destruction to her guests, Pro 9:18.

Wisdom hath builded her house,.... Or "Wisdoms": of which see Pro 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. Some take it to be the whole circle of sciences, and the seven pillars to be the seven liberal ones, as Aben Ezra; though rather, as others, it may design the schools of the prophets, in which young men were trained up in the knowledge of divine and spiritual things. Some would have the whole universe to be meant, and the seven pillars to be the seven days of creation, as Jarchi; or the seven planets, as others: it is an odd notion of Grotius, that the human body is intended, with its five senses; and, to make up the number seven, adds the voice and memory: rather the human nature of Christ, which is a temple, a tabernacle, a house in which the Godhead dwells, is built by Wisdom, made without the hands of men; and then its seven pillars are the graces of the Spirit, by which it was supported and adorned; see Isa 11:2; Some understand it of the temple of a regenerate man's heart; in which God, Father, Son and Spirit, dwell. But there are two other senses, which bid fairest one of them to be right; either the heavenly glory, the house not made with hands, Christ's Father's house, in which are many mansions for his people; and which is a city whose builder and maker is God, and is prepared by Christ; and stands firm upon the promises of God, the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, and the grace of the blessed Spirit: or rather the church of Christ on earth, the house of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth; this is built by Christ upon himself, the rock and foundation; the materials of it are true believers, precious and lively stones; built up a spiritual house, and a fit and suitable habitation for God through the Spirit. Such a house there was under the Old Testament, and such an one there is under the New; and which is continually building up by Christ by means of the word and ordinances, and will continue to the end of the world; see Ti1 3:15; she hath hewn out her seven pillars; ministers of the Gospel, compared to pillars for strength and stability, and for their being instrumental in supporting the interest and church of Christ; in allusion to the pillars in Solomon's temple, Jachin and Boaz; see Gal 2:9. These are said to be "hewn", being polished, beautified, and adorned with the gifts and graces of the Spirit by Christ, and thereby fitted for their work and service; and said to be "seven", because there is a complete and sufficient number of them, which Christ has provided, and always will provide for his churches, as long as they continue in the world. Though it may be these seven pillars may denote in general the firmness and solidity of this spiritual building, the church, and the continuance of it by the power of God; or they may have respect to the seven states of the church in so many periods of time, to last to the end of all things, signified by the seven churches in the book of the Revelation; so Cocceius (c). (c) Vid. Lexic. Heb. col. 623.

Christ, he means, the wisdom and power of God the Father, hath builded His house, i.e., His nature in the flesh derived from the Virgin, even as he (John) hath said beforetime, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." As likewise the wise prophet testifies: Wisdom that was before the world, and is the source of life, the infinite "Wisdom of God, hath builded her house" by a mother who knew no man,-to wit, as He assumed the temple of the body. "And hath raised her seven pillars; "that is, the fragrant grace of the all-holy Spirit, as Isaiah says: "And the seven spirits of God shall rest upon Him," But others say that the seven pillars are the seven divine orders which sustain the creation by His holy and inspired teaching; to wit, me prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the hierarchs, the hermits, the saints, and the righteous.

Moreover the Holy Spirit by Solomon shows before the type of the Lord's sacrifice, making mention of the immolated victim, and of the bread and wine, and, moreover, of the altar and of the apostles, and says, "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath underlaid her seven pillars; she hath killed her victims; she hath mingled her wine in the chalice; she hath also furnished her table: and she hath sent forth her servants, calling together with a lofty announcement to her cup, saying, Whoso is simple, let him turn to me; and to those that want understanding she hath said, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled for you."11 He declares the wine mingled, that is, he foretells with prophetic voice the cup of the Lord mingled with water and wine, that it may appear that that was done in our Lord's passion which had been before predicted.

We say, therefore, that when he said in his previous discourse that wisdom built a house for itself, he is speaking enigmatically about the formation of the Lord’s flesh. For true wisdom did not live in someone else’s building but built a home for itself from the Virgin’s body.

“Wisdom has built her house, and has set seven pillars.” Since wisdom is the Son of God, once he became man he built his house, that is, the flesh from the Virgin. He [Solomon] calls the seven pillars “the spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of the fear of God,” as Isaiah says. [Solomon] also calls the church “house” and the apostles “pillars.” The wise individual is the one who is safe and self-sufficient, lacking nothing. As the house of wisdom is the church, the pillars are those who appear to be pillars in the church.

[Wisdom said] to the unwise, “Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you.” In these words, surely, we recognize that the wisdom of God, the Father’s coeternal Word, has built a house for himself, namely, a body in the virgin’s womb. And to this body, as to the head, he has united the church as his members, has “slain” his martyrs as “victims,” set his “table” with bread and wine in allusion to the priesthood according to Melchizedek, and called the weak and unwise.

It was the Holy Ghost that gave fecundity to the Virgin, but it was from a body that a real body was derived. And when “Wisdom was building herself a house,” “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,” that is, in that flesh which he assumed from a human being and which he animated with the spirit of rational life.

We are his flesh, the flesh that had been taken up from the Virgin’s womb. If this flesh had not been from ours, that is, had it not been truly human, the Word made flesh would not have dwelt among us. “He did” in fact “dwell among us,” however, for he made the nature of our body his own. “Wisdom built itself a house,” not from just any material but from the substance that is properly ours. The fact that he had taken it on has been made clear from when it was said, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

We may also not inappropriately interpret the 'pillars of heaven' the Churches themselves, which being many in number, constitute one Catholic Church spread over the whole face of the earth. Hence too the Apostle John writes to the seven Churches, meaning to denote the one Catholic Church replenished with the Spirit of sevenfold grace, and we know that Solomon said of the Lord, Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars. And the same, to make known that it was of the seven Churches he had spoken that, in going on sedulously introduced the very Sacraments themselves too, saying, She hath killed her sacrifices, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also set forth her table; she hath sent forth her maidens, that they may cry to the citadel and to the walls of the city. If any be a little one, let him come to me. For the Lord 'killed the sacrifices' by offering Himself on our behalf. He 'mingled the wine,' blending together the cup of His precepts from the historical narration and the spiritual signification. And 'He set forth His table,' i.e. Holy Writ, which with the bread of the word refreshes us when we are wearied, and come to Him away from the burthens of the world, and by its effect of refreshing strengthens us against our adversaries. He 'sent forth His maidens,' i.e. the souls of the Apostles, 'that they might cry to the citadel and the walls of the city;' in that whilst they tell of the interior life, they lift us up to the high walls of the City Above, which same walls, surely, except any be humble they do not ascend. Whence it is there added by that same Wisdom; If any be a little one, let him come unto Me. As if she said in plain words; 'Whosoever accounts himself great in his own eyes, contracts the avenue of his approach unto Me; for there is a loftier reaching unto Me in proportion as the mind of each one is in himself the more truly abased.'

Wisdom has built herself a house. Because he had adequately spoken about the eternity of the divinity of Christ, he also adds to speak of the assumed humanity: Therefore, Wisdom has built herself a house, because the Son of God himself created the man whom he would assume in the unity of his own person.

She has hewn out her seven pillars. He established churches throughout the world with the sevenfold grace of the Spirit, which would, by believing, worshiping, and preaching, as if by sustaining, uphold his house, that is, the mystery of his incarnation, so that the memory would not be obliterated by the wickedness of the faithless. Or certainly the house of wisdom is the Church of Christ; the pillars, however, are the teachers of the holy Church filled with the sevenfold Spirit, such as James, Cephas, and John; indeed, Wisdom has hewn out these pillars, because, detached from the love of the present age, she raised the minds of the preachers to bear the structure of the same Church.

The commendation of wisdom is continued, under the figure of a liberal host, and its provisions under that of a feast (compare Luk 14:16-24). The character of those who are invited is followed by a contrasted description of the rejectors of good counsel; and with the invitations of wisdom are contrasted the allurement of the wicked woman. (Pro. 9:1-18) house--(compare Pro 8:34). her--or, "its" (the house). seven pillars--the number seven for many, or a sufficiency (Pro 6:31).

The preceding discourse pronounces those happy who, having taken their stand at the portal of Wisdom, wait for her appearance and her invitation. There is thus a house of Wisdom as there is a house of God, Psa 84:11; and if now the discourse is of a house of Wisdom, and of an invitation to a banquet therein (like that in the parable, Matt 22, of the invitation to the marriage feast of the king's son), it is not given without preparation: 1 Wisdom hath builded for herself an house, Hewn out her seven pillars; 2 Hath slaughtered her beasts, mingled her wine; Hath also spread her table; 3 Hath sent out her maidens; she waiteth On the highest points of the city. Pro 9:1 Regarding חכמות, vid., at Pro 1:20. It is a plur. excellentiae, which is a variety of the plur. extensivus. Because it is the expression of a plural unity, it stands connected (as for the most part also אלהים, Deus) with the sing. of the predicate. The perfects enumerate all that Wisdom has done to prepare for her invitation. If we had a parable before us, the perf. would have run into the historical ותּשׁלח; but it is, as the תקרא shows, an allegorical picture of the arrangement and carrying out of a present reality. Instead of בּנתה לּהּ בּית there is בּנתה בּיתהּ, for the house is already in its origin represented as hers, and 1b is to be translated: she has hewn out her seven pillars (Hitzig); more correctly: her pillars, viz., seven (after the scheme דבּתם רעה, Gen 37:2); but the construction is closer. שׁבעה is, altogether like Exo 25:37, the accusative of the second object, or of the predicate after the species of verba, with the idea: to make something, turn into something, which take to themselves a double accusative, Gesen. 139, 2: excidit columnas suas ita ut septem essent. Since the figure is allegorical, we may not dispense with the interpretation of the number seven by the remark, "No emphasis lies in the number" (Bertheau). First, we must contemplate architecturally the house with seven pillars: "They are," as Hitzig rightly remarks, "the pillars of the מסדּרון (porch) [vid. Bachmann under Jdg 3:23, and Wetstein under Psa 144:12, where חטב is used of the cutting out and hewing of wood, as חצב of the cutting out and hewing of stone] in the inner court, which bore up the gallery of the first (and second) floors: four of these in the corners and three in the middle of three sides; through the midst of these the way led into the court of the house-floor the area." But we cannot agree with Hitzig in maintaining that, with the seven pillars of chap. 8 and 9, the author looks back to the first seven chapters (Arab. âbwab, gates) of this book; we think otherwise of the component members of this Introduction to the Book of Proverbs; and to call the sections of a book "gates, שׁערים," is a late Arabico-Jewish custom, of which there is found no trace whatever in the O.T. To regard them also, with Heidenheim (cf. Dante's Prose Writings, translated by Streckfuss, p. 77), as representing the seven liberal arts (שׁבע חכמות) is impracticable; for this division of the artes liberales into seven, consisting of the Trivium (Grammar, Rhetoric, and Dialectics) and Quadrivium (Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy), is not to be looked for within the old Israelitish territory, and besides, these were the sciences of this world which were so divided; but wisdom, to which the discourse here refers, is wholly a religious-moral subject. The Midrash thinks of the seven heavens (שׁבעה רקיעים), or the seven climates or parts of the earth (שׁבעה ארצות), as represented by them; but both references require artificial combinations, and have, as also the reference to the seven church-eras (Vitringa and Chr. Ben. Michaelis), this against them, that they are rendered probable neither from these introductory proverbial discourses, nor generally from the O.T. writings. The patristic and middle-age reference to the seven sacraments of the church passes sentence against itself; but the old interpretation is on the right path, when it suggests that the seven pillars are the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. The seven-foldness of the manifestation of the Spirit, already brought near by the seven lamps of the sacred candelabra (the מנורה), is established by Isa 11:2 (vid., l.c.); and that Wisdom is the possessor and dispenser of the Spirit she herself testifies, Pro 1:23. Her Spirit is the "Spirit of wisdom;" but at the same time, since, born of God, she is mediatrix between God and the world, also the "Spirit of Jahve," He is the "spirit of understanding," the "spirit of counsel," and the "spirit of might" (Isa 11:2); for she says, Pro 8:14, "Counsel is mine, and reflection; I am understanding, I have strength." He is also the "spirit of knowledge," and the "spirit of the fear of the Lord" (Isa 11:2); for fear and the knowledge of Jahve are, according to Pro 9:14, the beginning of wisdom, and essentially wisdom itself. Pro 9:2 If thus the house of Wisdom is the place of her fellowship with those who honour her, the system of arrangements made by her, so as to disclose and communicate to her disciples the fulness of her strength and her gifts, then it is appropriate to understand by the seven pillars the seven virtues of her nature communicating themselves (apocalyptically expressed, the ἑπτὰ πνεύματα), which bear up and adorn the dwelling which she establishes among men. Flesh and wine are figures of the nourishment for the mind and the heart which is found with wisdom, and, without asking what the flesh and the wine specially mean, are figures of the manifold enjoyment which makes at once strong and happy. The segolate n. verbale טבח, which Pro 7:22 denoted the slaughtering or the being slaughtered, signifies here, in the concrete sense, the slaughtered ox; Michaelis rightly remarks that טבח, in contradistinction to זבח, is the usual word for mactatio extrasacrificialis. Regarding מסך יין, vid., under Isa 5:22; it is not meant of the mingling of wine with sweet scents and spices, but with water (warm or cold), and signifies simply to make the wine palatable (as κεραννύναι, temperare); the lxx ἐκέρασεν εἰς κρατῆρα, κρατήρ is the name of the vessel in which the mixing takes place; they drank not ἄκρατον, but κεκερασμένον ἄκρατον, Rev 14:10. The frequently occurring phrase ערך שׁלחן signifies to prepare the table (from שׁלּח, properly the unrolled and outspread leather cover), viz., by the placing out of the dishes (vid., regarding ערך, under Gen 22:9). Pro 9:3 The verb קרא, when a feast is spoken of, means to invite; קראים, Pro 9:18 (cf. Sa1 9:13, etc.), are the guests. נערותיה the lxx translates τοὺς ἑαυτῆς δούλους, but certainly here the disciples are meant who already are in the service of Wisdom; but that those who are invited to Wisdom are thought of as feminine, arises from the tasteful execution of the picture. The invitation goes forth to be known to all far and wide, so that in her servants Wisdom takes her stand in the high places of the city. Instead of בּראשׁ, Pro 8:2; Pro 1:21, there is used here the expression על־גּפּי. We must distinguish the Semitic גּף (= ganf), wings, from גנף = כנף, to cover, and גּף (= gaff or ganf), the bark, which is derived either from גּפף or גּנף, Arab. jnf, convexus, incurvus et extrinsecus gibber fuit, hence originally any surface bent outwards or become crooked (cf. the roots cap, caf, קב כף גף גב, etc.), here the summit of a height (Fl.); thus not super alis (after the analogy of πτερύγιον, after Suidas = ἀκρωτήριον), but super dorsis (as in Lat. we say δορσυμ μοντις, and also viae).