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Wisdom's Call To Simple And Scornful In Proverbs

Wisdom's Call to the Simple and Scornful in Proverbs

Proverbs presents Wisdom as a figure who publicly summons two distinct audiences: the simple (peti) and the scornful (or scorners). The book's opening declares its purpose "to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man" [3], establishing that the simple are not beyond reach but require instruction. Wisdom herself addresses them directly: "O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding" [2]. This call assumes the simple have not yet committed to a path—they remain undecided, "perhaps susceptible of that which is better" [7].

The Simple: Teachable but Vulnerable

The simple in Proverbs are characterized by naïveté rather than malice. They lack judgment and have "not yet decided between wisdom and folly" [9]. Their condition is dangerous precisely because of this openness: "The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge" [1]. Without intervention, simplicity defaults to foolishness. Yet the simple are educable. When "the wise is instructed by the preaching of the word," even "the simple" benefit from observing consequences: "Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware" [4]. The simple learn both from direct instruction and from witnessing judgment fall on the incorrigible [12].

Wisdom's invitation to the simple is urgent and personal. In Proverbs 9, she calls, "Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither" [11], directing them into her house—the church as "a school, where such who are 'simple', weak, and foolish, may learn" [11]. This pedagogical framework assumes the simple can be "made circumspect by instruction" [5] and that God himself preserves them once they respond [5]. The biblical text treats simplicity not as a permanent state but as a starting point requiring divine wisdom, which "is a gift from God to those who ask it" [6].

The Scorner: Resistant and Unteachable

The scorner stands in sharp contrast. Where the simple lack direction, the scorner actively rejects correction. Proverbs 9:7–8 warns, "He who correcteth a scorner draweth upon himself insult... Instruct not a scorner, lest he hate thee" [7]. The scorner's defining trait is contempt for instruction, making him fundamentally unteachable. One commentary observes that scorners "seek wisdom, and do not find it, is because they do not seek it from a right principle and in a right manner. They are scorners, and it is in scorn that they ask instruction, that they may ridicule what is told them" [13]. Their inquiries are disingenuous, aimed at mockery rather than learning.

This resistance renders the scorner's pursuit of wisdom futile: "A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not" [8]. The scornful Greeks "sought natural wisdom" but "with all their wisdom knew not God," while scornful Jews "mocked at the true Messiah" and remained in ignorance [8]. The scorner's pride blocks access to the very knowledge he claims to seek. Proverbs therefore advises against wasting effort on those who will only respond with hatred [7].

Wisdom's Dual Strategy

Wisdom's public call operates on two levels. For the simple, she offers direct invitation and patient instruction, confident that responsiveness will yield growth: "Give to the wise, and he becomes yet wiser; Give knowledge to the upright, and he gains in knowledge" [7]. For the scorner, she demonstrates the consequences of rejection through public judgment, which serves as a warning to the simple who observe [4, 12]. This dual strategy acknowledges that not all audiences are equally receptive.

The early church recognized this dynamic. Tertullian defended Christians branded as "simple" by heretics, noting that the Lord commands, "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and simple as doves" [10]. True simplicity—openness to divine instruction—is not intellectual deficiency but moral receptivity. Proverbs treats wisdom as "a moral rather than an intellectual quality" [6], and the simple who respond to Wisdom's call are "made wise by the word of God" [5]. The scorner, by contrast, remains trapped in a self-imposed ignorance, his contempt ensuring that wisdom remains perpetually out of reach.

Sources

  1. Proverbs “The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. -- Proverbs 14:18”
  2. Proverbs “Proverbs 8:5 (BSB) — O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding.”
  3. Proverbs “to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man: -- Proverbs 1:4”
  4. Proverbs “Proverbs 19:25 (Darby) — Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware; reprove the intelligent, and he will understand knowledge.”
  5. Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Simplicity — Is opposed to fleshly wisdom -- 2Co 1:12. Necessity for -- Mt 18:2,3. Should be exhibited In preaching the gospel. -- 1Th 2:3-7. In acts of benevolence. -- Ro 12:8. In all our conduct. -- 2Co 1:12. Concerning our own wisdom. -- 1Co 3:18. Concerning evil. -- Ro 16:19. Concerning malice. -- 1Co 14:20. Exhortation to -- Ro 16:19; 1Pe 2:2. They who have the grace of Are made wise by God. -- Mt 11:25. Are made wise by the word of God. -- Ps 19:7; 119:130. Are preserved by God. -- Ps 116:6. Made circumspect by instruction. -- Pr 1:4. Profit by the correction o”
  6. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Wise, wisdom — A moral rather than an intellectual quality. To be "foolish" is to be godless (Ps. 14:1; comp. Judg. 19:23; 2 Sam. 13:13). True wisdom is a gift from God to those who ask it (Job 28:12-28; Prov. 3:13-18; Rom. 1:22; 16:27; 1 Cor. 1:17-21; 2:6-8; James 1:5). "Wisdom" in Prov. 1:20; 8:1; 9:1-5 may be regarded not as a mere personification of the attribute of wisdom, but as a divine person, "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:24). In Matt. 11:19 it is the personified principle of wisdom that is meant.”
  7. Proverbs (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 9:7: In what now follows the discourse of Wisdom is continued; wherefore she directs her invitation to the simple, i.e., those who have not yet decided, and are perhaps susceptible of that which is better: 7 "He who correcteth a scorner draweth upon himself insult; And he who communicateth instruction to a scorner, it is a dishonour to him. 8 Instruct not a scorner, lest he hate thee; Give instruction to the wise, so he will love thee. 9 Give to the wise, and he becomes yet wiser; Give knowledge to the upright, and he gains in knowledge." Zckler thinks that herewit”
  8. Proverbs (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Proverbs 14:6: A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not,.... So the scornful Greeks, that scoffed at the plainness and simplicity of the Gospel, sought natural wisdom, and thought they found it, and professed they had; but professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and with all their wisdom knew not God; and false teachers, that boasted of their evangelical wisdom, and of their great attainments in Gospel light, and derided others, were ever learning, and never came to the knowledge of the truth; and the scornful Jews, that mocked at the true Messiah, would seek him, ”
  9. Proverbs (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Proverbs 9:4: 9:4 Wisdom makes her appeal especially to the simple and those who lack good judgment because they have not yet decided between wisdom and folly. See 9:16, where Folly mimics and then perverts Wisdom’s words.”
  10. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 3: Tertullian — CHAP. II.--THESE HERETICS BRAND THE CHRISTIANS AS SIMPLE PERSONS. THE CHARGE ACCEPTED, AND SIMPLICITY EULOGIZED OUT OF THE SCRIPTURES.: For this reason we are branded(2) by them as simple, and as being merely so, without being wise also; as if indeed wisdom were compelled to be wanting in simplicity, whereas the Lord unites them both: "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and simple as doves."(3) Now if we, on our parts, be accounted foolish because we are simple, does it then follow that they are not simple because they are wise? Most perverse, however, are they who are n”
  11. Proverbs (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Proverbs 9:4: Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither,.... Into Wisdom's house, so well built and furnished; the church of Christ, as a house of instruction; a school, where such who are "simple", weak, and foolish, may learn. Here are many instructors; saints instruct one another; ministers of the word are teachers; yea, Father, Son, and Spirit, here teach and instruct, and none teach like them. Here many lessons are to be learned concerning themselves, concerning Christ, and concerning their duty to God and men; all sorts of persons may learn here, such who know ever so much or ”
  12. Proverbs (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:11: This we had before (Pro 19:25), and it shows that there are two ways by which the simple may be made wise: - 1. By the punishments that are inflicted on those that are incorrigibly wicked. Let the law be executed upon a scorner, and even he that is simple will be awakened and alarmed by it, and will discern, more than he did, the evil of sin, and will take warning by it and take heed. 2. By the instructions that are given to those that are wise and willing to be taught: When the wise is instructed by the preaching of the word he (not only the wise himself, but ”
  13. Proverbs (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Proverbs 14:6: Note, 1. The reason why some people seek wisdom, and do not find it, is because they do not seek it from a right principle and in a right manner. They are scorners, and it is in scorn that they ask instruction, that they may ridicule what is told them and may cavil at it. Many put questions to Christ, tempting him, and that they might have whereof to accuse him, but they were never the wiser. No marvel if those who seek wisdom, as Simon Magus sought the gifts of the Holy Ghost, to serve their pride and covetousness, do not find it, for they seek amiss. Herod des”
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