Section 8:1–36

Wisdom calls out to people and reminds them of the benefits of being wise

In contrast to the previous section describing the adulterous woman, this section describes personified Wisdom. The public setting for Wisdom’s speech is described in 8:1–3. In 8:4–11, she addresses all mankind and describes her own character. In 8:12–21, she provides reasons why people should choose her. Additional motivation is given in 8:22–31: Wisdom was with the LORD when he created the world. The section ends with Wisdom appealing to mankind to follow her teaching (8:32–36).

This section is a speech by personified Wisdom. As in Wisdom’s speech in 1:20–33, the Notes have used a capital letter for Wisdom in most verses. However, in her speech, Wisdom sometimes refers to “wisdom” as an ability that people have or use or should try to obtain. In some of these contexts, the Notes have used small letters for “wisdom.” The Display will often give more than one option. You may use either option in your language, depending on what is appropriate in each context.

Some other headings for this section are:

Wisdom’s Call (New International Version)
-or-
Listen to Wisdom (New Century Version)
-or-
The good qualities of Wisdom
-or-
Wisdom’s second invitation to people

Paragraph 8:1–3

This paragraph describes the setting for Wisdom’s speech. The places mentioned in 8:2–3 are all places where people gathered together, where many people could listen to Wisdom’s words. This setting is similar to the one described in 1:20–21.

8:1

This verse contains parallel rhetorical questions that are similar in meaning.

1a
Does not wisdom call out,

1b
and understanding raise her voice ?

8:1a–b

Does not wisdom call out, and understanding raise her voice?: These are rhetorical questions. The implied answer to both questions is an emphatic “Yes.” In some languages, this emphasis may be better expressed by a positive statement. For example:

Wisdom calls out to you like someone shouting;

understanding raises her voice (New Century Version)

The words wisdom and understanding often occur as a parallel pair in Proverbs. ( For call out, see 2:3a–b, and for the expression raise her voice, see 1:20a–b.

In the verses that follow, wisdom and understanding are treated as a single person/thing. If this is confusing to your readers, you may want to add a footnote that says:

In the following verses, wisdom and understanding are counted/considered as one ⌊person⌋ .

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