Commonplace –
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).
Proverbs 9 is the culmination of Solomon’s plea for readers to embrace wisdom. He describes wisdom and compares her with the foolish woman; Wisdom cries upon the high places and declares that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the holy is understanding” (v.10) , while folly loudly declares at her own doorstep that “stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten is secret is pleasant” (v.17). The result of following wisdom is long life (v.12), and the result of following folly is death and hell (v.18).
In his introduction to Proverbs 9, Matthew Henry shares the following:
“Christ and sin are rivals for the soul of man, and here we are told how they both make their court to it, to have the innermost and uppermost place in it. The design of this representation is to set before us life and death, good and evil; and there needs no more than a fair stating of the case to determine us which of those to choose, and surrender our hearts to. They are both brought in making entertainment for the soul, and inviting it to accept of the entertainment, concerning both we are told what the issue will be; and, the matter being thus laid before us, let us consider, take advice and speak our minds. And we are therefore concerned to put a value upon our own souls, because we see there is such striving for them” (686).
In his summary, Henry gets to the heart of Proverbs 9. Solomon does set the scene well. Wisdom prepares her home with seven pillars, kills the beast, which will be served, prepares the wine and the table; it is a hospitable and welcoming scene. Then, she sends out her handmaids to call in the guests. Her message is how to get wisdom and understanding: fear the Lord. In contrast, folly is loud and boisterous as she sits at the door of her house, and her only preparation is her enticement to the simple to partake in stealing and secrecy, while inside her home is death and hell.
Solomon opens Proverbs 9 with the following verse:
“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars” (v.1).
What these seven pillars are we are not told directly, but there is speculation. Some believe they are a reference to: the fear of the Lord, knowledge, understanding, discretion, counsel, correction, and instruction. Henry makes the following reference related to the seven pillars: “Some reckon the schools of the prophets to be here intended” (687).
I really like what Hebrew4Christians.com has to say about today’s chosen commonplace, Proverbs 9:10.
“The scriptures declare that the starting point for wisdom is not to be found in speculative or abstract reasoning, but in understanding that a personal, holy, and righteous God has give us absolute imperative to love and do justly (see Mark 12:28-31). That is we are truly wise when we reverentially submit our lives to God in obedience to His commandments” (“Binah”).
Works Cited
“Binah”. Hebrew4Christians.com, John J. Parsons. https://hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Binah/Printer_Version/printer_version.html. Accessed 9 Dec 2025.
Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 9.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2025 Angela Hormberg
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