The prostitute stands for illicit sexual activity in Proverbs, but she is also a symbol of danger and foolishness. And so, while she calls out to the simple, the young lacking judgment, another woman also calls out. She is known as “wisdom.”
When you take chapters 6-7 and 8-9 together, life is presented with two options: wisdom and foolishness. Both call out. Both have doors to their homes where men gather. Both have fruit and delicacies to eat. We each get to decide which road to take. The problem is, there is some predisposition to one way or the other. The “wise” take the wise road and become wiser. The foolish . . . don’t.
Wisdom is the way of kings; it’s why they have so many advisors. The fool charts his own course. I think there are two lessons in this contrast:
First, what kind of person are you going to be? Will you be wise or foolish?
Second, how can you tell which you are? The wise person seeks out wisdom. It is not to be found among your contemporaries, those who share your own experience and age. It is found among those outside your circle, those more successful, more experienced, whose walk with God plainly close, whose life is different from your own. You cannot get to where the wise are by following your own path. You must seek their direction, and follow it.
The fool will do none of this, never asking for advice, resenting anyone giving it, and seldom taking it. Life will be hard, but mercifully, short.