Reading for January 23rd

Read Proverbs 9.1-18. In 9.1-18: The banquets of the women, plus some aphorisms. Women Wisdom completes her palace and issues an invitation to the dedicatory banquet (1-6). In vv. 13-18, Woman Folly issues a counter-invitation. Verses 7-12 are individual sayings, which echo some verses in ch. 1 (compare 1.7, "The fear of the Lord is be beginning of knowledge." and 1.22, "how long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?) and also points ahead to chs. 10-22, where the same two types, the wise and the righteous, are vividly contrasted. In verse 6: Lay aside immaturity, and live: To partake of the banquet creates a bond between Wisdom and her guests, requiring guests to leave behind immaturity and ignorance and become wise. The imperative verb live here implies enjoyment of such gifts from Wisdom as a family, riches, and reputation. In verse 11: For by me your days will be multipled: Originally, this verse probably immediately followed v. 6, for by me has not antecedent in the immediately preceding verses. In verses 16-17: Folly's invitation begins with the same words as wisdom (see v. 16 and v. 4), but in v. 17 diverges radically. In verse 17: In the phrase stolen water, water has the erotic meaning it has in 5.15-16, "Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well," that is, sexual relations. Stolen implies clandestine and adulterous sex. In secret evokes the further meeting of ch. 7. In verse 18: The dead inhabit the underworld. As in 2.16-18; 5.3-5; 7.24-27, the woman promises life but kills instead. Comments or Questions..