A TALE OF THREE WOMEN

The way the text unfolds between chapters 8 and 9, I have decided to include my thoughts on chapter 9 today rather than tomorrow.

The scene in chapter 7 is like one of those movies that are “based on actual events.” In a setting that is uncomfortably similar to David on the rooftop watching Bathsheba, Solomon looks out from his window and watches an immoral married woman seduce a young man.

She of the bedroom-eyes and heavy cologne variety knows how to lure a man. I can practically smell her perfume and hear her softly tinkling accessories as I write.

It’s odd how Solomon can see so clearly the dangers of adulteresses, but – at least later in life – seems to think that as long as they are his wives, it’s perfectly fine to have as many as he wants. And he is utterly blind to the dangers his many wives pose to his relationship with Yahweh.

Chapter 8 gives us a much more wholesome woman. “Lady Wisdom,” as she is sometimes called, is the personification of an intelligent, perceptive mind. She is confident, strong, and yet graciously feminine. Where the adulteress seduces, Lady Wisdom invites.

Rather than catching a young man and enticing him in secret, Lady Wisdom is shown calling out her invitation in the most public way possible. She appears rather like an Evangelist, a street preacher. She makes her case and preaches to passers-by.

Her depiction continues into chapter 9 where she is shown as the consummate hostess inviting “whosoever will” to come to the banquet she has prepared. The lavish banquet suggests that wisdom and prosperity come as a pair; and they often do.

The final woman in this trio is Madam Folly. She isn’t called “Madam” in the text but it feels fitting. In my mind she is a shabby, cheap prostitute from a Dickensian London; complete with the smell of alcohol and an uncouth accent that begins her call with “‘ello love.”

Like Lady Wisdom, she also calls out to passers-by. But rather than an Evangelist with a compelling argument, Madam Folly’s short refrain feels more like a Carnival Barker trying to drum up some business.

Perhaps people are just dim-witted. Perhaps it takes these sharply contrasted pictures of the Seductress, Lady Wisdom, and Madam Folly in order to make it plain who the dangerous ones are; who it would be utter stupidity to heed.

In the remainder of Proverbs we will repeatedly encounter 3 partners for the women we have seen thus far. They are:

1. The Evil Man (also called The Wicked, The Crooked or Wayward)
2. The Upright (also called The Wise or Prudent, The Righteous)
3. The Fool (I would put the “slothful” in this category too)

You don’t have to be a Matchmaker to see how these couples will end up.