Proverbs 9:13

A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
foolish	כְּ֭סִילוּת Ke.si.lut	H3687	silliness · noun, common feminine singular absolute
woman	אֵ֣שֶׁת 'E.shet	H802	a woman · noun, common feminine singular construct
clamorous	הֹֽמִיָּ֑ה ho.mi.Yah	H1993	to make a loud sound (like English 'hum') · verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
simple	פְּ֝תַיּ֗וּת pe.tai.Yut	H6615	silliness (i.e. seducibility) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
and	וּבַל u.val-	H1077	properly · conjunction + negative particle
knoweth	יָ֥דְעָה Ya.de.'ah	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
nothing	מָּֽה Mah	H4100	properly · interrogative pronoun

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 7:11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
Proverbs 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Proverbs 21:19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.
1 Timothy 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
Proverbs 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 9:13–end

We have heard what Christ has to say, to engage our affections to God and godliness, and one would think the whole world should go after him; but here we are told how industrious the tempter is to seduce unwary souls into the paths of sin, and with the most he gains his point, and Wisdom's courtship is not effectual. Now observe, I. Who is the tempter - a foolish woman, Folly herself, in opposition to Wisdom. Carnal sensual pleasure I take to be especially meant by this foolish woman (Pro 9:13); for that is the great enemy to virtue and inlet to vice; that defiles and debauches the mind, stupefies conscience, and puts out the sparks of conviction, more than any thing else. This tempter is he…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 9:13

foolish woman--or literally, "woman of folly," specially manifested by such as are described. clamorous--or, "noisy" (Pro 7:11). knoweth nothing--literally, "knoweth not what," that is, is right and proper.

John Gill on Proverbs 9:13

A foolish woman is clamorous,.... Some by this woman understand folly itself, as opposed to wisdom; others blind reason, ignorant of divine things; others carnal sensual pleasure, which entices and draws men to that which is evil; others heresy and superstition; others the old serpent, the devil; she seems to be the same with the strange woman and harlot before described, Proverbs 2:16, &c. and being set in direct opposition to Wisdom, or Christ, seems to design antichrist, who is described in the book of the Revelation as the great whore; and all the characters here agree with the same. Antichrist is represented as a "woman", Revelation 17:3; and is "foolish"; for whatever worldly cunning a…

Read the whole note in the console

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 9:13-15

The poet now brings before us another figure, for he personifies Folly working in opposition to Wisdom, and gives her a feminine name, as the contrast to Wisdom required, and thereby to indicate that the seduction, as the 13th proverbial discourse (chap. 7) has shown, appears especially in the form of degraded womanhood: 13 The woman Folly [Frau Thorheit] conducts herself boisterously, Wantonness, and not knowing anything at all; 14 And hath seated herself at the door of her house, On a seat high up in the city, 15 To call to those who walk in the way, Who go straight on their path. The connection of אשת כּסילוּת is genitival, and the genitive is not, as in אשׁת רע, Pro 6:24, specifying, but…

The Church Fathers

A foolish woman, clamorous and full of allurements, etc. This woman is heresy, clearly opposed to wisdom, which above sang her sacraments. But she also sits at the doors of her house, that is, in the teachers of falsehood, who introduce the miserable to the innermost parts of deceit. Moreover, she claims for herself a chair of preaching. This is the chair of pestilence in which the blessed man refuses to sit (Psalm I).
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Adultery · 24:15-18;31:1,9-12; — 24:15-18;31:1,9-12;
Fool · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Harlot (Prostitute) · Shamelessness of — Shamelessness of
Lasciviousness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 9:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 9:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 9:13

John Gill on Proverbs 9:13

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 9:13-15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 9:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 9:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 9:13

John Gill on Proverbs 9:13

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 9:13-15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 9:13-18

Rashi on Proverbs 9:11