Proverbs 9:13-18·~1 min
The Way of Folly
Folly sits publicly and calls to the simple, echoing Wisdom's summons but enticing with the secrecy and thrill of stolen pleasure. Her hearers do not understand that her house is populated by the dead and that her banquet leads down to the depths.
T13he woman named Folly is loud; 14She sits at the door of her house, 15calling out to those who pass by, 16“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” 17“Stolen water is sweet, 18But they do not know that the dead are there,
Section summaryFolly is personified as a loud, ignorant woman sitting at her doorway and calling to those passing straight on their way. She mimics Wisdom's invitation and offers stolen sweetness, but those who enter do not realize that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Role in the chapterThis section functions as the dark counter-invitation to Wisdom's feast. Its work is to expose Folly as parasitic and deceptive, borrowing the language of welcome while concealing that her pleasures are illicit, shallow, and finally deadly.