Wisdom as a Woman in Proverbs
In this paper I will argue that wisdom is personified as a woman within Proverbs to add desirability to learning. In order to motivate this these, I argue for the following claims: Solomon wrote Proverbs with a specific reader in mind, the bible depicts women as assistants to men, using the personification of a woman makes learning comparable to real women, and by creating a female image wisdom is closely related to the warmth offered by mothers.
Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs with his target audience being young men. The first chapter of Proverbs gives textual evidence of an audience by stating, “for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion of the young- let the wise listen and …show more content…
In order to compete with the growing interests that young men naturally have in women, the role of wisdom also had to be just as appealing. By using wisdom as a female, Solomon was able to make blatant comparisons between wisdom and the lustful adulteress. In Proverbs chapter seven, Solomon tells the story of an adulterous who lures young men into her trap. In this passage the woman is described as “decked out like a prostitute, wily of heart. She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay home” (Proverbs 7.10-11). The purpose of this line is to compare the woman to wisdom. The woman is loud and does not stay home, yet wisdom is careful and humble. The woman is also depicted as acting “wayward”. According to chapter one of Proverbs, “waywardness kills the simple” (Proverbs 1.32). Thus, the reader is to infer that there is death and despair to come from being around this woman. The passage also describes the woman as dressing provocatively. This is meant to excite the man in the story; however, after following the woman the man is taken “like an ox to the slaughter.” (Proverbs 7.22). The reader is then left to assume that the man is either dead or has let his righteous soul die. The same warning is heeded again in earlier passages which state, “Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life” (Proverbs 6.25-26). This excerpt of Proverbs makes warning of beautiful and captivating women. They are sure to kill young lustful men with entrapping promises of sexual experience. All of this is used to describe the average woman so that she can easily be compared to wisdom. Rather than working to kill man, wisdom is described as taking in followers so that they may “live at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1.33). This is
In this paper I will argue that wisdom is personified as a woman within Proverbs to add desirability to learning. In order to motivate this these, I argue for the following claims: Solomon wrote Proverbs with a specific reader in mind, the bible depicts women as assistants to men, using the personification of a woman makes learning comparable to real women, and by creating a female image wisdom is closely related to the warmth offered by mothers.
Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs with his target audience being young men. The first chapter of Proverbs gives textual evidence of an audience by stating, “for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion of the young- let the wise listen and …show more content…
In order to compete with the growing interests that young men naturally have in women, the role of wisdom also had to be just as appealing. By using wisdom as a female, Solomon was able to make blatant comparisons between wisdom and the lustful adulteress. In Proverbs chapter seven, Solomon tells the story of an adulterous who lures young men into her trap. In this passage the woman is described as “decked out like a prostitute, wily of heart. She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay home” (Proverbs 7.10-11). The purpose of this line is to compare the woman to wisdom. The woman is loud and does not stay home, yet wisdom is careful and humble. The woman is also depicted as acting “wayward”. According to chapter one of Proverbs, “waywardness kills the simple” (Proverbs 1.32). Thus, the reader is to infer that there is death and despair to come from being around this woman. The passage also describes the woman as dressing provocatively. This is meant to excite the man in the story; however, after following the woman the man is taken “like an ox to the slaughter.” (Proverbs 7.22). The reader is then left to assume that the man is either dead or has let his righteous soul die. The same warning is heeded again in earlier passages which state, “Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life” (Proverbs 6.25-26). This excerpt of Proverbs makes warning of beautiful and captivating women. They are sure to kill young lustful men with entrapping promises of sexual experience. All of this is used to describe the average woman so that she can easily be compared to wisdom. Rather than working to kill man, wisdom is described as taking in followers so that they may “live at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1.33). This is