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Wisdom and Folly

  

Wisdom

Folly

She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city, (Prov 9:3)

She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, (Prov 9:14)

“Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says, (Proverbs 9:4 & 16)

“Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight." (Prov 9:5-6)

“Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”(Prov 9:17)

 

 

          This comparison of wisdom and folly intrigues me. I haven’t quoted all of it, but the point should be made. The first point of interest is that the Folly seems to live at the highest point of the city. In Old Testament terms, high places were often places of worship, meaning that they were associated with power. You went to sacrifice to the gods at high places to gain what one wanted. In other words, you went there to gain some sort of power.  Today, we might think of high places as the government or other world system.

We aren’t told where wisdom lives, but apparently, it’s not the high place. She goes to the highest point of the city, but she doesn’t seem to live there. We’re also told that wisdom has servants, while folly appears to have none. An alternative is that folly has servants, but they aren’t involved. Either she doesn’t want their help or they’ve declined. Given the culture, I suspect it’s the former. But she doesn’t have the sense to get far enough away that they won’t know what she’s doing.

          But both wisdom and folly give the same initial invitation to the same target audience. Both invite the simple and the senseless to their houses. Wisdom offers change, process, and challenge. Folly offers “feeling good” and a reward for taking what doesn’t belong either to her or to them. In a sense, folly seems to make no demands. It sounds safe.

          There are some who would probably suggest that it was only the writer’s opinion that wisdom was wise and folly was foolish. Look around. What’s your experience?

 

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