Commentaire de citation sur Les Proverbes 9:5

In this verse Solomon compared the Torah to bread and wine, seeing that bread and wine are the principal sources of food for the body. Similarly, Torah and wisdom are the principal sources of nourishment for the soul. The reason why Solomon commences with the expression לכו, and did not say בואו, “come,” is to teach that a person has to follow wisdom, i.e. go out in search of it and after the people who teach it. We find this verb used in this connection also in Proverbs 13,20: הולך את חכמים יחכם, “he who walks with scholars will himself become wise.” The expression is unusual as we would have expected the author to say: “he who sits with the scholars will become wise.” The only reason that in both instances Solomon used the verb הולך to describe how one is to relate to the scholars in order to benefit from their wisdom is to teach that one has to actively go after the wisdom which comes out of the mouth of the Torah scholars. One needs to denigrate oneself vis-a-vis the scholars; as a result one will absorb wisdom.
It is also possible that the reason for the use of the word לכו by Solomon is a hint that even if one has to travel a long way from one’s home in order to acquire this wisdom one should do so. The message is that it is worth while to travel to distant countries in order to hear and study “My bread,” i.e. Torah. The same thought is echoed by Isaiah 55,3 who quotes the Lord as saying: “incline your ear and come to Me, hearken and you shall be revived.” G’d (The prophet) did not say: בואו אלי, “come to Me,” as man sometimes has to travel to distant places in order to study Torah.
The words לכו לחמו בלחמי, may be perceived as “go to one another those who are anxious to eat of My bread.” it is a warning to remove jealousy and envy from one’s heart and that the scholars should not project an image of superiority which would prevent them from going to colleagues of equal stature. Most certainly they should not be arrogant enough to refrain from going to scholars who are of still greater stature. Wisdom increases through the interchange of ideas among equals. Our sages in Makkot 10 used the verse in Jeremiah 50,36: חרב אל הבדים ונואלו (concerning people who avoid studying in large groups) to illustrate this thought by understanding these words to mean “a sword against the loners!” The prophet condemns the people who want to study in solitary meditation only. Not only do these people not increase their knowledge by doing so, but they are even apt to become foolish, i.e. arrive at faulty conclusions. In the verse quoted from Jeremiah, we have the word נואלו and we have a similar word in Numbers 12,11 i.e. אשר נואלנו, where it means: “we have acted foolishly.” The message is clear.
Concerning the words: “drink from My wine;” the letter ב in the word בלחמי in the first half of the verse appears superfluous. Why then did Solomon write it? Similarly, the letter ב in the word ביין also appears unnecessary. Actually, the letter ב in both instances means the same as in Genesis 41,2 where Ibn Ezra understands the letter ב in ותרענה באחו as not part of the word אחו. I believe that whereas when one drinks wine it is only healthy in diluted form, and damaging if drunk in its full strength, so that the word בלחמי and ביין could be understood as warning not to eat or drink all of the bread and the wine, the word מסכתי, “what I (G’d) have mixed” is to teach that when it comes to Torah and the performance of its commandments, all of them are to be studied and performed in undiluted form.
This simile contains yet another lesson which is worth mentioning. If someone spends a lot of time engaged in the pursuit of his livelihood, i.e. the needs of his body, and travels abroad in order to secure himself such a sound economic existence, even though he should have concentrated the major part of his energies amassing Torah knowledge, i.e. food for his soul, he errs, seeing that when one spends all kinds of energy on the amassing of Torah knowledge a measure of success is guaranteed, whereas the energy spent on the amassing of material wealth does not always result in success. Solomon encourages the pursuit of food for the soul more so than the pursuit of physical food for the body. He makes this plain in Proverbs 2, 4-5: “if you seek it (Torah) as silver, and search for it as for treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and will find knowledge of G’d.”
Every single commandment may be perceived of as “soul-food;” it provides the kind of nourishment which the soul will imbibe in the future when it is exposed to the brilliance of G’d’s Shechinah in עולם הבא, the world to come. If one is able to perform commandments and good deeds locally, his reward is most certainly substantial; imagine how much more will be his reward if he travels far and wide in order to fulfill some of the commandments of the Torah! The reason is that he also receives a reward for the distance traveled and the effort and fatigue involved. We find proof of this when the eagerness to fulfill a commandment is described by the Torah (Exodus 12,28) as “they went and they did.” Similarly, the Torah describes Moses’ leaving the camp of the Levites in order to go to the camp of the Israelites in these terms. He could have waited for the Israelites to come to him and take leave of him. In fact, although they had all been assembled around him to listen to the rebukes, and he could easily have said his good byes then, he waited till each one of them had returned to his tent, and only then

In these verses Solomon draws a comparison between our faith and that of the idolaters. He compares our faith to a wise woman, whereas he compares the idolaters to a foolish woman (verse 4 and onward). The words חכמות בנתה ביתה, are a reference to the wisdom contained in the Torah. The reason that the word appears in the plural is to remind us that all manner of wisdom extant are contained in the Torah. This is why he describes the house built by such a woman (faith) as based on seven different pillars. The number seven is a simile for "many pillars.” Any structure built on numerous pillars, foundations, is bound to endure.
The number “seven” is not to be considered as literally seven, just as in Proverbs 24,16 the word “seven” in the line: “for the righteous will rise even if he falls seven times,” is not to be taken literally. The wise woman endeavours to prepare the food herself, mix the wine herself, and set the table herself instead of relying on others to do all this for her. This is implied in the words אף ערכה, i.e. she also does this herself. The wise woman, i.e. the Torah, also calls out to the women of her age, the foolish ones, trying to convince them that our faith is the only one which has substance. [This is the meaning of “she sends out her maids” Ed.] The paragraph is a parable describing the perfection of Torah in all its aspects, the Torah of which it is written לא תחסר כל בו, “it does not lack anything at all” (Deut. 8,9).Torah is a guide for the individual leading him to His Creator. Anyone who immerses himself in Torah thoroughly will find answers to all its detractors, i.e. to people who believe in the Trinity (the Catholics) or those who believe in other power-sharing by G’d and other deities. When he has studied Torah thoroughly he will feel that the table is set for him and all the food and drink has been served ready to eat. Torah can fill the needs of the mind of the foolish just as food and drink can serve the needs of our stomachs. This is what David had in mind when he wrote in Psalms 19,8 “The teaching of the Lord is perfect, renewing life; the decrees of the Lord are enduring, making the simple wise.”
Solomon warns all people to preoccupy themselves with Torah and to abandon their previous foolish pursuits. This is the meaning of Proverbs 9,4: ”Who is a fool let him enter here; to the person who is devoid of sense she says.” What does Torah (the wise woman) have to say to such people devoid of sense? “Come and eat my bread, drink the wine which I have mixed, Forsake foolishness and live!, Walk in the way of understanding.” As a result (verse 11) “your days will be multiplied; you will experience added years of life.”
Solomon compares the belief in idolatry to a foolish woman who offers the kind of advice which makes the multitude stumble and fall; she strengthens those who indulge in a sinful life style; she praises the foolish practices perpetrated by the sinners, the wicked deeds performed by them. This is the meaning of Proverbs 9,13-14: “a foolish woman makes a lot of noise, she is full of foolishness, knows nothing. For she sits at the entrance of her house or on a chair in the highest place in town.” The meaning of this verse is that the woman described here is the reverse of the one described in verses 3-4 of the same chapter.
The meaning of the verse is that the woman mentioned made herself the foremost, the highest in rank. Normally, the highest ranking position is accorded to wisdom; in this instance the woman occupying pride of place is a foolish woman. The truly foremost woman, the one mentioned in verses 3-4 built her house with wisdom, while preparing everything in her household she kept silent. The foolish woman, who is unable to do what the wise woman has done, substitutes for her failure with noise. This is the meaning of the words: “she does not know anything.” To the degree that the woman in verses 3-4 is accomplished with all degrees of perfections, the one mentioned in verses 13-14 is without any of these accomplishments. All she knows how to do is “sit in the entrance of her house.” This expression is a simile for the way such a woman, i.e. philosophy, is unproductive and a waste of time. The “woman” sitting perennially at the entrance to her house indicates by her conduct that there is nothing worthwhile inside her house. The idolaters are in a similar position. Although totally devoid of accomplishments they can point to, they are unwilling to enter the shadow of G’d’s House, or the protection of his wings, preferring to remain on the “outside.”
Rabbi Joshua ben Chananyah answered the Roman Emperor in a similar vein when he said to him that whereas he and his colleagues were at liberty to worship any philosophy they desired, they would forever remain outside the fold, (Judaism) even if they wanted to. Our verse points out the audacity of idolaters who, though not able to boast of any true accomplishments, boast of the efficacy of their faith, extolling their evil deeds. This is what Solomon meant here with the words על כסא מרומי קרת, as opposed to על גפי מרומי קרת in verse 3. The difference is that the maids of the wise woman call to people warning them not to enter the house of the foolish woman, the foolish woman by way of contrast praises “the sweetness of stolen waters, and the tastiness of bread eaten in secret” (verse 17 there). This is an example of how the foolish woman (philosophy) entices her followers to become enmeshed in further sin. The former woman gives advice which results in added years of life, whereas the foolish woman’s advice hastens the onset of decay and death. (compare verse 18 at the end of that chapter).