Go to Related Reading
About this book

Proverbs

About this book
Chapter 9

1 Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out its seven pillars. 2 She has prepared her meat, she has mixed her wine; she also has arranged her table. 3 She has sent out her female servants; she calls out on the highest places of the city. 4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here.” To those who lack understanding, she has said, 5 “Come, eat some of my food, and drink some of the wine I have mixed.⁠ 6 Abandon your foolish ways so that you may live, and proceed in the way of understanding.” 7 Whoever corrects a mocker is asking for insult; whoever reproves a wicked person receives abuse.⁠ 8 Do not reprove a mocker, or he will hate you; reprove a wise person, and he will love you. 9 Give instruction to a wise person, and he will become wiser still; teach a righteous person, and he will add to his learning. 10 The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord, and acknowledging the Holy One is understanding. 11 For because of me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. 12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, but if you have mocked, you alone must bear it. 13 The woman called Folly is brash; she is naive and does not know anything. 14 And she has sat down at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15 calling out to those who are passing by her in the way, who go straight on their way. 16 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here, ”To those who lack understanding she has said, 17 “Stolen waters are sweet, and food obtained in secret is pleasant!” 18 But they do not realize that the Rephaim50 are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 2:11 and Proverbs 9:18

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Proverbs presents the Rephaim as inhabitants of the realm of the dead. Deuteronomy reflects an earlier stage, where it refers to legendary giants, showing a development within an ancient Near Eastern tradition that connects them to the underworld.

Passages

Deuteronomy 2:11

Hebrew Bible
9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. This is because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession. 10 (The Emites used to live there, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakites. 11 These people, as well as the Anakites, are also considered Rephaites; the Moabites call them Emites. 12 Previously the Horites lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed and destroyed them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land it came to possess, the land the Lord gave them.)
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Proverbs 9:18

Hebrew Bible
16 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here, ”To those who lack understanding she has said, 17 “Stolen waters are sweet, and food obtained in secret is pleasant!” 18 But they do not realize that the Rephaim50 are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Proverbs

References

"... Proverbs 2:18 warns of the woman whose house sinks down to death and her course to the rephaim; Proverbs 9:18 and 21:16 warn that men who stray will dwell with the rephaim. They are the company of the dead trembling in their graves, who cannot rise from the land of oblivion, or the ghosts who will indeed rise. The rephaim in Deuteronomy 2:11, 20 and 3:11-13, in contrast, are immense people as tall as the Anakites, as evidenced by the enormous iron bed of the king, and in several texts the term is used as a place name as well. It is surely no coincidence that the term refers to both a physically large people and the dead: once again, the picture is reminiscent of giant Near Eastern deities ..."
Esther J. Hamori, When Gods Were Men: The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2008), 124.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Tags

Your feedback

Deuteronomy 2:11 and Proverbs 9:18

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library