A COMPARISON OF THE TWO BANQUETS IN PROVERBS 9: 1-18

Introduction

The entire book of Proverbs can be construed as a web of wisdom knitted together to teach how one ought to handle certain existential issues, that is, it deal on guidelines on how to live here and now.[1] This text, (Prov. 9:1-18) concludes the section which serves as the prologue of the entire book of Proverbs; with its cynosure is on practical wisdom. The pericope employs the analogy of the banquet, in it we are presented with a comparison of two banquets, ‘the banquet Lady Wisdom’ and that of ‘Dame Folly’, while that of the former leads to life and fulfillment on the one hand, the telos of the banquet of the later, on the other hand climax in death and damnation. Thus, the analogy of the banquet used in this text perfectly align with the theology of the ‘two ways’, from which every person has to choose, ‘the way of water’ meaning ‘life here and now and life eternal’ and ‘the way of fire’ which implies ‘eternal death’ this two ways is represented by ‘Lady wisdom’ and ‘Dame Folly’s’ counsels and offers respectively. In the text, while Lady Wisdom offer an invitation to her banquet of honest labour which foster wisdom, insight and life, Dame folly offer to her guest ‘stolen proceeds’ which leads to damnation.

This work shall therefore be geared towards an elucidation of the merits and demerits of following either of these ways, or listening to either of the voices presented in the text, the way or voice of Lady Wisdom or that of Dame Folly. Nevertheless, we shall begin by presenting the text itself ((Proverbs 9:1-18) and a succinct exegetical analysis of the text. Thereafter we shall attempt a comparison between the offer of Lady Wisdom and that of Dame Folly with emphasis on Dame Folly offer of ‘stolen water and bread eaten in secret’ with its consequences, thereafter, we shall attempt the theological import of the text after which we shall draw close the curtain of the work.   

The New Community Bible (Catholic Edition) Proverbs 9: 1-18.

Wisdom has built her house; she has set up her seven pillars: she has slaughtered her beast, and prepared her wine and laid her table. She has sent her maidservants to call from the highest point of the city. “Whoever is simple may come in here,” she says to those who lack learning, “come, eat of my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Give up your foolishness and you will live: take the strait path of discernment.” He who corrects a mocker gains insults, and he who reprimands an evil doer receives abuse. Do not rebuke the mocker who will only hate you, but council the wise man and he will become wiser each day: teach an upright man and he will increase in his wisdom. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One brings discernment. Then I will multiply your days and increase your yeas of life. if you are wise, your wisdom will work to your advantage, but if you are a mocker, you alone will be harmed. Lady Foolishness is impetuous, a simpleton who knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house, on the throne at the highest point of the city, to invite all who pass by, “Come in here, whoever is ignorant.” To the foolish she says, “Stolen water is sweet and pilfered bread is the tastiest.”  But little does he know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depth of the underworld.

An Exegetical Analysis of Proverbs 9:1-18

In proverbs 1-6, Lady Wisdom assume three kinds of work which are not typically those of a woman, we are told that (she) wisdom builds her house and set up her seven pillars, she has slaughtered her beasts, prepared her wine and set up her table. The work of building a house, slaughtering the beasts or animals and as well mixing wine as seen in other books of the bible are mainly duties of men. Then in verse 3, she sends out her messengers to invite the ‘simpleton’ (which is here equated as the foolish or the unwise) so that they would come and eat bread and drink the wine of wisdom gratuitously [2] and “Lay aside immaturity, (foolishness) and live, and walk in the way of insight” (9:6). In verse 4-6, lady wisdom offers her invitation to two set of people, namely, ‘the ignorance and the foolish’. It is noteworthy that she does not go to their home, this implies, a call away from a pervert way of life. In fact, they (the simpleton and foolish) have no home, they live in the street of ‘popular opinions’ the spirit of the ‘crowd’.  In the text, Lady Wisdom calls with them urgency. She invites to come into her home to stay awhile, convinced by so doing she will cure their foolishness and ignorance.   

In verses 7-9, she tries to examine the implications or repercussion of calling these categories of persons (the simpleton and the foolish) to the right path. However, although it is quite pellucid to Lady wisdom as captured in these verses that “he who corrects a mocker gains insult, and he who reprimands an evil doer receives abuse” yet her love surmounts these negative consequences and thus she extends her let out her invitation of them to the banquet of wisdom, as such, she says “Give up your foolishness and you will live, take the straight path of discernment” (9:6). She also present a contrast to these admonitions which the fools neglects, she asserts “Give to the wise man and he will become wiser each day; teach an upright man and he will increase in his wisdom” (9:9).

            In verse 10, we are again presented with the wisdom motif in the book Proverbs, “the fear of the Lord, it says, is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One brings discernment. Furthermore, this verse, reminds us of the fact that though wisdom is actuated through effort, it is a gift that comes from God (Wisdom 9:18).[3] Wisdom begins with the recognition of the indispensible role of Yahweh (God) in human existence;[4] the knowledge of this fact connotes wisdom. Now, there are two things to be grasped in this verse, first that the ‘fear of the Lord’ (yir’ at yahweh) referred to here is not to be understood as a dreadful or  frightful fear of the Lord ‘Mysteruim Tremedium’ (which the Israelites’ had when God spoke to them in exodus 20:20) but a reverential fear (characterized by love),[5] which bring about obedience to the will of Yahweh, it is a certain form of reverence that befits his divinity a ‘reverential fear’. Nevertheless, the ‘fear of the Lord’ is rightly said to be not the ‘completion or climax’ of wisdom rather it is merely the ‘beginning’ of wisdom. Now since beginning implies a starting point then this reverential fear must lead us to a perfect love of God. It would there not be a mishap to say that the love of the Lord is the ‘perfection of wisdom’. Furthermore, since the fear of the Lord is said to be the beginning of wisdom, and beginning implies a starting point, hence, this verse is an invitation to deeper understanding of God, which is the end, completion, or goal of wisdom (God himself), since it is in him alone that one can gain multiplication of days and increase of years of life (9:11).  This account for the reason why the text avers that those who are wise their wisdom will labour to their advantage and in contrast with the foolish it say that their  reverse foolishness will lead them to their own ruin  and that they will suffers the burden of their foolishness alone (9:12).

            The text concludes, qualities and offer of Dame Folly, it says, she is impetuous and knows nothing or lacks wisdom. She sits at the door of her house, on the throne at the highest point of the city, to invite all who pass by, “Come in here, whoever is ignorant.” To the foolish she says, “Stolen water is sweet and pilfered bread is the tastiest.” But little does he know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depth of the underworld (9:13-18).

A Comparison and Analysis of the Two Banquets

Wisdom has several dimensions such as moral discernment, skill, cleverness, intellectual knowledge et cetera and when the moral quality of wisdom is combined with the concept of reverence of the Lord, wisdom has fully flowered.[6] It is the total opposite of wisdom, which depicts a way that leads to death (the path of foolishness).[7]  The text of Prov. 9:1-6, introduces to us the wisdom of God as ‘Lady Wisdom’, which is compared with ‘Dame Folly’ who foolishly apes the action of the Lady Wisdom in 9: 13-18.[8]

Here the analogy of a ‘great feast’ which has been introduced in the proceeding chapters is continued. Wisdom and Folly are represented as hostesses who invite people to their banquets. Wisdom offer a menu of honest bread and wine of insight and virtuous life, Dame Folly serves her guest with stolen bread and water of deceit and vice. The author tells us that Lady Wisdom has a beautiful home, fully furnished, and ready for a banquet. Everything is prepared for the banquet, but one thing is missing ‘the guest’ so she sent her maidservants to go out to the town and stand in the town square to announce her invitation. The authors perhaps paint the imagery of a feast to make the offer attractive, since wisdom is priceless and her worth inestimable. Dame Folly also unashamedly paints a rosy ‘kind life’, but surely her offers is characterized by transient  or temporary pleasure but she fails to explain that her offer goes with an eternal mortal consequence ‘damnation’.

The offer of Dame Folly “Stolen water and bread eaten in secret” 9: 17

In the concluding part of the text precisely in (9:17), Solomon (the alleged author) introduced us to Dame Folly (or ‘Lady Foolishness’) the polar opposite of Lady Wisdom. Dame Folly’s words are as damaging and destructive as Lady Wisdom words are edifying and uplifting.  This verse presents us with the offer and admonitions of Dame Folly she call also the simpleton and the foolish, giving them bad or foolish counsel, she says, “Come in here, whoever is ignorant” (9:16). To the foolish she says, “Stolen water is sweet and pilfered bread is the tastiest” (9:17). However, to understand what she means by ‘stolen water’ we must understand the setting and the location of Israel geographically. Solomon (the alleged author) wrote at the time when water was a scarce commodity, if you own a well then you have a valuable resource. Thus, dame folly in saying ‘stolen water is sweet’ implies water from someone else’s well taste better. Her underlying message is that all prohibited or unlawful lust and pleasure are always desirable by humans, or at least to her guests. Thus, she paints a beautiful picture of “sweet enjoyment” in doing evil, in partaking in unlawful act, in drinking from mans well (this could imply another man’s wife). Perhaps, if Lady Wisdom had her turn she will tell us to enjoy the ‘water’ to which we have legal access. We must recall that author had earlier advised us to “Drink water from our own well” (Prov. 5: 15) this implies contentment.

Beside the erroneous admonition of the ‘sweetness of stolen water’ Dame Folly also avers that “bread eaten in secret taste good”. This clearly shows that, that bread must be a stolen one as well like the ‘stolen water’ since no one will eat his or her hard earned bread in secret. Bread and water signify the basic need of man for survival. But the context it is used in this text, ‘bread eaten in secret” implies secret sin’s. Nevertheless, we must call to consciousness that even if we successfully hid our sins from men, we cannot conceal them from Yahweh of whom the scripture says ‘that the night is as clear as the day’.   

The Practical implication of the Passage of Proverbs 9: 1-18

In the text, Lady Wisdom invites two categories of people into her home in this text: “the ignorant and the foolish”. This denotes the fact that some people can be truly ignorant and when they learn about the ways of wisdom, and the consequences of their decisions they sincerely relinquish their previous ‘ignorant’ ways. But the other category ‘the foolish’ know better, they just fail to do better, these are not ignorant but foolish. They know the mortal consequences of their foolish actions and decisions yet they do not refrain from such acts. Thus, Lady Wisdom wish that they come over to her abode that they may be with her and learn what is right (in God’s sight), that they may be set on the right path. She admonishes the simpleton and the foolish to relinquish the stupidity and foolishness and instead embrace the ways of wisdom. Lady Wisdom’s invitation is genuine and sincerely pellucid, no trapping, no strings attached. To accept her invitation is to accept a rewarding life, fulfilling and enjoyable life. This however does not mean that the guest of wisdom will be exempted from the oddities of life; rather, it implies that she (Wisdom) will be the person’s companion to guide and guard him as he goes.   

The Theological Import and Relation of the Text to the New Testament    

In the New Testament, some of the imagery is taken up, such as the heavenly banquet, the Eucharistic feast in which Christ the wisdom of God offers us the bread of his flesh and the wine of wisdom (Luke 22: 19-20) which leads to imperishable life, the water of life (John 4:14). In the Gospel narrative of St. John, after the Prologue and the choice of the disciples, narrates Jesus performing his first miracle or sign at the Wedding Feast of Cana. This represents the revelation and wisdom that Jesus brings from God.[9] He offers to man a new wine, a new wisdom of God. All these culminate in the Eucharistic meal of bread and wine that Jesus prepared for the disciples and by extension we all who have come to believe in Him through the words and act of his disciples. He invites us to take and eat and drink. There he gives us himself, the true wisdom of God, which is life-giving and eternal.                                                          

Conclusion

From the foregoing, we have been able to explicate the nitty-gritty and indispensable role of wisdom in living a practical life here and now. Though the text presents us with two banquets and offers, that is, of Lady Wisdom and Dame Folly, we nevertheless admonished to embrace that of Lady Wisdom which culminates in fulfilled life here and now and afterward. Furthermore, the text reveals that biblical wisdom is not a natural component of humankind but has to be chosen. It therefore need a conscious decision to firstly remember what we have been taught and secondly to exercise the act of biblical wise living. That is to say that even though two banquet are presented before us “the banquet of Lady Wisdom” and the “banquet of Dame Folly” yet we are advised to choose the path of Lady Wisdom because her offer goes without a hidden agenda. Finally, this work elucidates the fact that wisdom requires responsibility to live wisely amongst one fellowmen in other to display harmonious living.

Bibliography

Alster, Bendt. Proverbs of the Ancient Sumer: The World’s Earliest Proverb Collection.2 vols.

Bethesda, Md.: CDL Press, 1997.

Alster, Bendt. Studies in Sumerian Proverbs, Mesopotamia, 3. Copenhagen: Akademisk, 1975.

Brawn, Raymond. An Introduction to the New Testament. New York, Doubleday

Dell Publishing Group, 1997.

C.F. Keil, F. Delitzsch, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon, Commentary on the Old

Testament, vol. 6. Massachusetts: Hendrickon , 2006.

Cletus U. Obijiaku, Biblical Wisdom Books and the Psalms: A Quest for Wisdom and Intimacy

with God, Abuja: Ugwu Publishing Company, 2016.

Johnson L D. Israel’s Wisdom: Learn and Live. USA: Broadman Press, 1975.

Murphy, R E. The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature. Grand Rapids,

Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990.

The New Community Bible. (Catholic Edition), Pauline Publications, 2008.

  

Wilfred J. Harrington, Key to the Bible. New York: Alba House, 1975.

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[1] Cf. Cletus U. Obijiaku, Biblical Wisdom Books and the Psalms: A Quest for Wisdom and Intimacy with God, Abuja: Ugwu Publishing Company, 2016. p. 44.

[2] Cf. Cletus U. Obijiaku, Biblical Wisdom Books and the Psalms: A Quest for Wisdom and Intimacy with God, p. 81.

[3] Thus Solomon in the book of Wisdom, precisely in Chapter 9:1-18, prayed earnestly for Divine Wisdom.

[4] Cletus U. Obijiaku, Biblical Wisdom Books and the Psalms: A Quest for Wisdom and Intimacy with God, Abuja: Ugwu Publishing Company, 2016.  (See Job 28:28).

[5] This understanding of God made St. Augustine of Hippo in his Confessions to assert “I no longer fear God but love him because perfect love cast away fear”.

[6]Cf. Johnson L D. Israel’s Wisdom: Learn and Live. USA: Broadman Press, 1975, p. 9.

[7] Murphy, R E. The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990, p.18.

[8] Cf. Cletus U. Obijiaku, Biblical Wisdom Books and the Psalms: A Quest for Wisdom and Intimacy with God, p. 81.

[9] Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament. New York, Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1997. p. 340.