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Reaching the People

Proverbs 8:2-3 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

²On the heights beside the way,
at the place of the paths[1] she takes her stand;
³beside the gates in front of the city,
at the entrance of doors she cries aloud:

On the heights beside the way: Here the heights (מָרוֹם marom) are an elevated area of land, which is often connected with the meaning of an advantaged, desirable area. It is also associated with the heights of heaven and the highest area, which would be the perfect place to be seen and heard by the people on the streets below. Beside the way (דֶּרֶךְ derek) is alongside the road, a thoroughfare for travelers, with many people passing by, which is yet another great place to be seen and heard by many.

At the place of the paths she takes her stand: The place of the paths (נְתִיבָה nethibah) is a crossroad, a place where one road crosses with another. Takes her stand (נָצַב natsab) means that she takes her place there or stands there in one place in anticipation of meeting others, which is yet another great place to be seen and be heard.

Beside the gates in front of the city: Here, lady wisdom stands at the entrance of the city/town where many people are coming and going, so she can call out to the people.

At the entrance of doors she cries aloud: This is the entrance of the city that can be closed off if the doors are closed. This suggests that it is the one place where no one can escape seeing or hearing the cries of lady wisdom.

Wisdom has already made one appeal to us back in chapter 1, verses 20-33. In the Ancient Near East (ANE), you will reach a greater number of people, “atop the heights beside the road, at the crossroads, beside the gates of the city, just before town, [where] she cries out.” She is seeking to get her all-important message to as many people as possible. She is making her voice heard in the most public places. You are not just going to find her in the places of worship or some academic setting; she is making herself and her message available to all. This is not some mysterious secret wisdom, only available to a few. Woman Wisdom is nothing like the immoral woman, who is in the street and the square, and at every corner lying in wait, looking to seductively mislead the young one(s). – Proverbs 7:12.

Lady wisdom has placed herself at the one public place in the city, the gate, a public thoroughfare where the roads meet, and everyone must pass by sooner or later, where she conveys her all-important message to all. God’s Word has reached untold billions from the highest mountains to the busiest thoroughfares, at the entrance of every society, where it has conveyed its lifesaving message to all who are willing to listen. The Bible is the one book that can lead others to the path of eternal life, and it can take the vilest person and make him or her into a man or woman of God.

[1] That is, at the crossroads