Proverbs 9:14

Pro 9:14 For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

Ver. 14. For she sitteth at the door.] In a harlot’s habit, to see and be seen; the guise and garb of harlots. Cicero wittily compareth the Greek tongue to an ambitious strumpet, quae multo luxu superfluat, which overlasheth in too much bravery; but the Latin tongue to an honest and modest matron, cui nihil deest quod ad honestum pertineat mundiciem, that wants nothing pertaining to a necessary neatness. Such a like comparison between wisdom and folly is here made by Solomon.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro_9:14

For she sitteth at the door of her house.

The ministry of temptation

I. As conducted by depraved woman. A foolish woman is here the emblem of wickedness in the world.

1. She is ignorant. Blind to spiritual realities and claims. She is in the kingdom of darkness.

2. She is clamorous. Full of noise and excitement; bearing down all objections to her entreaties.

3. She is audacious. Modesty, which is the glory of a womans nature, has left her.

4. She is persuasive. She admits that her pleasures are wrong, and on that account more delectable.

II. As directed to the inexperienced in life. To whom does she especially direct her entreaties? Not to the mature saint stalwart in virtue. She calls passengers, the simple ones.

III. As tending to a most miserable destination. The ministry of temptation is very successful as conducted by depraved woman.

1. This woman obtained guests.

2. Her guests were ruined.

3. Her guests were ruined contrary to their intention. (Homilist.)

The pleasures of sin

One of the foul spirits that assail and possess men is singled out and delineated, and this one represents a legion in the background. This is no fancy picture. It is drawn from life. The plague is as rampant in our streets as it is represented to be in the Proverbs. Mankind have sat for the picture: there is no mistake in the outline, there is no exaggeration in the colouring. Let no youth ever once, or for a moment, go where he would be ashamed to be found by his father and his mother. This woman is the figure of all evil--the devil, the world, the flesh, whatever form they may assume and whatever weapons they may employ. The one evil spirit, dragged forth from the legion and exposed, is intended not to conceal, but to open up the generic character of the company. In this life every human being is placed between two rival invitations, and every human being in this life yields to the one or to the other. The power of sin lies in its pleasure. If stolen waters were not sweet, none would steal the waters. This is part of the mystery in which our being is involved by the fall. Our appetite is diseased. In man fallen there is a diseased relish for that which destroys. There is an appetite in our nature which finds sweetness in sin. And the appetite grows by what it feeds on. It is only in the mouth that the stolen water is sweet; afterwards it is bitter. One part of the youths danger lies in his ignorance: He knoweth not that the dead are there. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 9:14-15. She sitteth at the door of her house — Which denotes her idleness and impudence, and her diligence in watching for occasions of sin. To call passengers — Who were going innocently and directly about their own business, without any unchaste design.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:14 On the heights overlooking the city was the traditional location for a temple. Folly personifies false gods and goddesses that compete for the affection and loyalty of God’s people (contrast 9:2-3).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

on a seat--literally, "throne," takes a prominent place, impudently and haughtily.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 14. For she sitteth at the door of her house] Her conduct here marks at once her folly, impudence, and poverty. See above on Pr 7:6, &c., where the reader will find a similar character.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) She sitteth at the door of her house.—She does not care, like Wisdom, to send forth her maidens “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luk_19:10); she contents herself with sitting at ease, just outside her own door, and calling to the passers-by.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For she sitteth at the door of her house, Idle and inactive, looking out for her prey; not active and laborious, as Wisdom, building her house, killing her beasts, furnishing her table, and sending out her maidens to call in her guests; but exposing herself in the most public manner, and being at the utmost ease, sitting as a queen; see Rev 18:7; and as it follows,

on a seat, or "throne" (p); the same seat, or throne, power, and authority, which the dragon gave to the beast, or antichrist, placed at Rome, where this woman reigns; see Rev 13:2;

in the high places of the city; the city of Rome, and its jurisdiction, the high places of which are their temples, or churches; where this foolish woman is noisy and clamorous, proclaims her folly, and endeavours to seduce and raw persons to her superstition and idolatry. "Merome", the word for "high places", has some affinity with Rome, and comes from the same root (q).

(p) "super solium", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius; "super solio", Piscator, Michaelis, Schultens; "in thronum", Cocceius. (q) From "altus"; hence that of Virgil--"altae moenia Romae", Aeneid. l. 1. v. 7.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Contrast with Pro 9:1, etc. The foolish woman has her house, but it is no stately palace with seven pillars, like the home of Wisdom. No train of maidens wait on her, and invite her guests, but she herself sits at the door, her position as prominent as that of Wisdom, counterfeiting her voice, making the same offer to the same class (compare Pro 9:16 with Pro 9:4).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Which notes her idleness and impudence, and diligence in watching for occasions of sin.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

She sitteth at the door of her house. She, like Wisdom, has a house of her own, and imitates her in inviting guests to enter. She does not send forth her maidens; she does not stand in the streets and proclaim her mission. Vice has an easier task; all she has to do is to sit and beckon and use a few seductive words. Her house is not supported by seven pillars, built on the grace of God and upheld by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. like that of Wisdom (ver. 1); it is an ordinary habitation of no stately proportions. but its meanness impedes not the uses to which she puts it, her own charms causing her victims to disregard her environments. On a seat in the high pluses of the city. Her house is in the highest and most conspicuous part of the city, and she sits before her door in reckless immodesty, plying her shameful trade. (comp. Gen_38:14 Jer_3:2) The mimicry of her rival again appears, for Wisdom "crieth upon the highest places of the city" (ver. 3).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

At the door - Watching for occasions of sin.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.