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Woman Folly Issues Her Invitation

13 [a]Woman Folly is raucous,(A)
    utterly foolish; she knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house
    upon a seat on the city heights,
15 Calling to passersby
    as they go on their way straight ahead:

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Footnotes

  1. 9:13–18 Woman Folly is the mirror image of Woman Wisdom. Both make identical invitations but only one of the offers is trustworthy. Their hearers must discern which is the true offer. She is depicted with traits of the adulterous woman in 2:16–19; chap. 5; 6:20–35; chap. 7. Woman Folly is restless (cf. 7:11), her path leads to the underworld (2:18; 5:5; 7:27), and she is ignorant (5:6). In this final scene, she appears in single combat with her great nemesis, Woman Wisdom. Though the invitations of the two women appear at first hearing to be the same, they differ profoundly. Wisdom demands that her guests reject their ignorance, whereas Woman Folly trades on their ignorance.