Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words:
“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
For scorners delight in their scorning,
And fools hate knowledge.
Turn at my rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
Throughout this first division, including chapters 1 to 9, Wisdom is personified. She is ever seeking to turn the steps of the young man from the door of folly and ignorance to the temple of knowledge and blessing.
Here she is presented as one crying in public places, eagerly seeking to attract the attention of the passers-by. In the marts of commerce, at the gates of justice, in the centers of population, among the idlers on the streets; everywhere, she pleads and entreats, beseeching the simple to obey her voice. She is met by, not always positive refusal, but, what is far more common and equally as dangerous: procrastination.
“Until when,” she cries, “you simple ones, will you cleave to your folly?” But there is no response.
Others definitely refuse to listen to her voice. Scornfully rejecting her testimony, they delight in their fancied independence of mind, and manifest their true character by their hatred of knowledge.
To all such she addresses a warning of coming calamity, when it will be too late to heed her gracious invitation. (Commentary by H.A. Ironside)