Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 9:16
Whoso [is] simple, let him turn in hither: and [as for] him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Verse 16. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither] FOLLY or PLEASURE here personified, uses the very same expressions as employed by Wisdom, Pr 9:4. Wisdom says, “Let the simple turn in to me.” No, says Folly, “Let the simple turn in to me.” If he turn in to Wisdom, his folly shall be taken away and he shall become wise; if he turn in to Folly, his darkness will be thickened, and his folly will remain.
Wisdom sets up her school to instruct the ignorant:
Folly sets her school up next door, to defeat the designs of Wisdom.
Thus the saying of the satirist appears to be verified: –
“Wherever God erects a house of prayer,
The devil surely builds a chapel there.
And it is found upon examination,
The latter has the larger congregation.”
DE FOE.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Simple; which title is not given to them by her, for such a reproach would not have allured them, but driven them away; but by Solomon, who represents the matter of her invitation in his own words, that he might discover the truth of the business, and thereby dissuade and deter those whom she invited.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Whoso [is] simple, let him turn in hither,…. The harlot’s house, Popish chapels and churches. She uses the same form of words that Wisdom does, Pr 9:4; having a form of godliness, a show of religion, but without the power of it; her priests are wolves in sheep’s clothing, and speak lies in hypocrisy: and such that she fixes upon as proper persons to work on are the simple, the credulous and unwary; who are not on their guard, and are easily persuaded and imposed on;
and [as for] him that wanteth understanding; is not well grounded in the principles of Christianity he professes; has not a spiritual and experimental understanding of them:
she saith to him; addresses him in such language as follows:
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The woman, who in her own person serves as a sign to her house, addresses those who pass by in their innocence ( , 2Sa 15:11):
16 “Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither!”
And if any one is devoid of understanding, she saith to him:
17 “Stolen waters taste sweet,
And the bread of secrecy is pleasant.”
(folly, simplicity) has a side accessible to good and its contrary: Wisdom is connected with the one side, and Folly with the other. And as the offers a vacuum to Wisdom which may perhaps be filled with the right contents, so is this vacuum welcome to Folly, because it meets there no resistance. In this sense, Pro 9:16 is like Pro 9:4 (excepting the addition of a connecting and of a concluding : et si quis excors, tum dicit ei ); the word is the same in both, but the meaning, according to the two speakers, is different. That to which they both invite is the pleasure of her fellowship, under the symbol of eating and drinking; in the one case it is intellectual and spiritual enjoyment, in the other sensual. That Wisdom offers (Pro 9:5) bread and wine, and Folly water and bread, has its reason in this, that the particular pleasure to which the latter invites is of a sensual kind; for to drink water out of his own or out of another fountain is (Pro 3:15-20) the symbol of intercourse in married life, or of intercourse between the unmarried, particularly of adulterous intercourse. (correct texts have it thus, without the Makkeph) is sexual intercourse which is stolen from him who has a right thereto, thus carnal intercourse with ; and fleshly lust, which, because it is contrary to the law, must seek (cf. furtum , secret love intrigue) concealment ( , extensive plur., as ; Bttcher, 694). Just such pleasure, after which one wipes his mouth as if he had done nothing (Pro 30:20), is for men who are without wisdom sweet ( , Job 20:12) and pleasant; the prohibition of it gives to such pleasure attraction, and the secrecy adds seasoning; and just such enjoyments the , personified carnality, offers. But woe to him who, befooled, enters her house!
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(16) Whoso is simple . . .She imitates Wisdom closely in her address: Satan, too, transforms himself into an angel of light (2Co. 11:14). Folly attracts those undecided characters who are in the right track, but have not the constancy to persevere in it; who, in time of temptation, fall away.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Turn in hither “The feast of reason” and virtue to which wisdom invites is, as becomes its pure and elevated character, a public entertainment open to the day without blinds, or screens, or frosted windows; that of sinful pleasure, true to its character also, is in secret and darkness. Men are often most eager after enjoyments which are prohibited. The appetite for these pleasures is sharpened by the imposed restraints. “Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, [the prohibition,] works all manner of concupiscence.” Rom 7:7, et seq.
Pro 9:16. Whoso is simple This is a most specious and artful detortion of the address of Wisdom; by which she would insult the friends of religion, truth, and holiness.
Pro 9:16 Whoso [is] simple, let him turn in hither: and [as for] him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Ver. 16. Who is simple. ] Wisdom’s own words. Pro 9:4 Take heed, saith our Saviour; they come unto you “in sheep’s clothing”; Mat 7:15 but trust them not, for “with fair words and flattering speeches they deceive the hearts of the simple” Rom 16:18 Samuel himself could not have spoken more gravely, severely, divinely to Saul, than the fiend at Endor did. When the devil himself puts on gravity and religion, who can marvel at the hypocrisy of men?
Pro 9:4
Reciprocal: Gen 39:10 – as she spake Psa 14:2 – any Pro 1:22 – ye simple Pro 6:32 – destroyeth Pro 7:7 – void Pro 12:11 – he that followeth Pro 22:3 – the simple Joh 2:10 – but 1Co 6:18 – Flee
Pro 9:16-18. Whoso is simple Which title is not given to them by her; for such a reproach would not have allured them, but driven them away; but by Solomon, who represents the matter of her invitation in his own words, that he might discover the truth of it, and thereby dissuade and deter those whom she invited. Stolen waters are sweet A proverbial expression for unlawful pleasures, which are said to be sweet, partly from the difficulty of obtaining them, and partly because the very prohibition renders them more agreeable to mans corrupt nature. But he knoweth not He doth not consider it seriously, (whereby he proves his folly,) that the dead are there The dead in sin, the spiritually dead, and those who are in the high road to be eternally dead. In other words, she invites him to his utter ruin, both of soul and body: for her guests are in the depths of hell She sinks all those who accept of her invitation down to the very bottom of that pit from whence there is no redemption. One of the profitable lessons to be learned from this chapter is, that there is nothing more inconsistent with wisdom than the service of those impure lusts which have been the ruin of all those who have been led by them; and therefore with this the wise man concludes his preface to the book of Proverbs, again repeating, Pro 9:10, that first principle on which all religion is built, and wherewith he began this preface, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Indeed there is no true wisdom but religion.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments