Proverbs 7 and 8: Wisdom vs. the Harlot

In a previous post I mentioned that there are two archetypal women in the scriptures – Wisdom, or the Queen of Heaven, and the Harlot. This struck me recently while studying Proverbs7 and 8. Wisdom and the harlot are opposing symbols and, given that they are feminine, they indicate our options for spiritual “rebirth.”  Each of us will at some point metaphorically receive spiritual rebirth from one or the other, and the choice is entirely ours. So we would do well to understand these archetypes so that we can choose wisely (pun intended).

Wisdom and the Harlot are strikingly juxtaposed in several instances in the scriptures. One of the clearest examples is in Proverbs. Proverbs 5 and 7 give us insight into the harlot – she is enticing, flattering, she exists in darkness, she lies in wait at every corner. Proverb 8 gives insight into Wisdom – she stands in high places (temples), she calls unto men to seek her, she speaks truth and excellent things, she is righteousness.

These two archetypal women lead to very different places. The harlot “hath cast down many wounded; yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.” In fact, “None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life” (Pro. 2:19). Wisdom, on the other hand, is love, gives fruit better than gold, causes “those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.” Ultimately, “whoso findeth me findeth life.”

I think, given that one of these symbols is referred to as a harlot, there’s a tendency to view sins associated with her as sexual sins, and Proverb 7 does put it in that context. Certainly sexual sins would bring us into the harlot’s power, but we need to think of the harlot in a broader context – she is worldliness, pride, and selfishness. She stands as the exact opposite of Wisdom.

And we must choose between them. So, to make the choice a bit clearer, I’ve done a little comparison. It doesn’t really fit into neat categories, but maybe this will help make the contrast. This is a pretty incomplete list, but should give the general idea. I’ll probably add more to this later:

	Harlot	Wisdom
What are her characteristics?	sweet at first but bitter in the end (Pro. 5:3-4); always shifting and distracting (5:6); worldly attire (7:10), loud and stubborn (7:11); clamorous, simple and knows nothing (9:13)	She is better than silver and gold, more precious than rubies, nothing can be compared to her (Pro. 3:14-15); participated in earth's founding (Pro. 3:19, 8:27-31); speaks truth (8:7); everlasting (8:23)
Where is she?	lying in wait at every street corner (Pro. 7:12), ready to catch us (7:13);	in the top of high places [temples] (Pro. 8:2), she stretches out her hand (Pro. 1:24), cries out to us (8:1-5
How do we find her?	lust after her (Pro. 6:25); she flatters us (7:5, 21); in the dark (7:9)	incline to wisdom, apply your heart to understanding, cry for knowledge, call out for understanding, seek her as you seek for lost treasure (Pro. 2:2-5); be generous (3:27-29); don't be angry or argumentative (3:28); keep the commandments (4:4); love wisdom (4:6); eschew evil (4:23-27); in the light (4:18); hearken (8:32); fear the Lord (9:10)
What does she offer us?	death and hell (Pro. 5:5); remorse (5:11-13); wounds and dishonor (6:33); wordly goods (7:16-17); a false feast (9:17)	instruction, understanding, justice, judgment, and equity (Pro. 1:3); knowledge and discretion (Pro. 1:4); power to overcome temptation/deliverance from evil (Pro. 2:1-12); deliverance from the harlot (Pro. 2:16-19); peace (Pro. 3:17); love (8:17); durable riches and righteousness (8:18); life and favor of the Lord (8:35); a sacramental feast (9:5)
What is the end result of identifying ourselves with her?	slaughter (7:22, 23), hell (7:27), death (9:18)	Eternal riches (Pro. 3:16); happiness; eternal life (Pro. 3:18); fearlessness (3:24-26); inheritance of glory (3:35); honor, crown of glory (4:9)

If we choose to follow God, He will give us power to “deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words” (Pro. 2:16).

This subtle but important theme is also woven throughout the Book of Mormon (another indication of the Book’s authenticity!). For example, 1 Nephi 11:35-36 talks about the anti-wisdom (which is the harlot), identifying it as a great and spacious building made up of the pride of the world:

And the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building, like unto the building which my father saw. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.* And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Nephi further describes this “anti-wisdom” in chapter 13. If you read through the description of the harlot from the chart above and then read this chapter, you’ll see all of the same characteristics – enticement, worldliness, deception, and finally, death.

1 Nephi 11 begins with Nephi’s vision of the tree of life. Remember that wisdom in Proverbs 3:18 is identified as a tree of life and is more precious than rubies. 1 Nephi 11:9 identifies the tree of life as being a tree that is “precious above all.” Next, Nephi asks to know the interpretation of the tree of life, and he is shown the mother of God. Recall wisdom’s feminine associations, and how the early Christians associated Mary with wisdom (hence, the female Hagia Sophia – or “holy wisdom”).  

1 Nephi 14 contrasts the harlot with wisdom (and note the feminine associations):

And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil;**wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.

And then in 1 Nephi 15:36:

Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

And Mosiah 8:20

…how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them.

So that’s the basic outline of these two archetypes. These also make appearances in the Book of John, which is considered a Wisdom text (In the beginning was the Word – i.e., logos, wisdom), and in the Book of Revelation (chp.17).

They are both “mothers” and will give us spiritual rebirth – one to life, the other to death.

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*I find it really interesting that those who partake of the wisdom of the world and gather in the large and spacious building are of the house of Israel. Makes me wonder if this ties in to the parable of the 10 virgins.

**I doubt that the dividing line between these churches has much to do with today’s denominational lines. Simple membership in the “right” church will not be enough.

Isaiah 3

In this chapter Isaiah prophesies about what will become of Judah and Jerusalem (at this point, the Israelites are divided into these two kingdoms) because they have rejected the Lord, and it’s not a pretty picture.

Verse 1

This verse refers to the Israelites losing the “stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water.” I believe this refers to items that were originally in Solomon’s temple. The bread had reference to the Queen of Heaven, and under King Josiah’s reforms these were removed, along with belief in a female deity. According to Margaret Barker,

The Enochic Apocalypse of Weeks, which summarizes the history of Israel without mentioning the Exodus and so is free of any Moses/Aaron/Deuteronomy influences, describes thus the changes in the time of Josiah, when the refugees in Egypt claimed that the Queen had been abandoned: ‘In the sixth week all who live in [the temple] shall become blind and the hearts of all of them shall godlessly forsake Wisdom.’ Wisdom’s first gift had been the vision which was eternal life, and this loss of vision was remembered as the significant change at the end of the first temple period. Wisdom was forsaken and vision was lost. Wisdom and her house is another recurring theme with the Bread of the Presence. This suggests it was an element in the cult [religion] of the first temple, where Melchizedek had been high priest, and Wisdom the Queen of Heaven, the patroness of Jerusalem. … The offerings to the Queen had been ‘cakes’… [used] to portray or depict her. (Barker, The Great High Priest, 91)

The bread and water also become sacramental. Again from Barker,

It has long been recognized that the Fourth Gospel [Gospel according to John] presents Jesus as Wisdom…. Thus, in the Fourth Gospel, when Jesus offers himself as the bread from heaven, in contrast to the manna which was the heavenly bread offered by Moses; this should be understood as a return to the heavenly bread by which Wisdom offered herself to her devotees and gave them eternal life. Cyril of Alexandria… said that manna was the shadow of the bread to come, the bread of angels which was spiritual and of Wisdom. This bread gave life…. Although the Bread of the Presence was food for the priests, when David took it to feed his men (1 Sam. 21:6), he pre-figured its being given to others too. (Barker, The Great High Priest, 93)

In both cases, consuming the bread and water are symbolic of consuming, or unifying, with God. God’s presence, power, and glory come into us to feed us, nourish us, and sustain life. According to Isaiah, the Israelites are rejecting this unity with God. Without this unity, they lose God’s influence, lose wisdom, and become subject to oppressors.


Verses 2-26

These verses describe what will become of Israel (and those in the last days), who reject the Lord and His covenant.

-vs. 6-7: This is totally my interpretation, but these verses may make reference to people lamenting the loss of the true covenant. The Hebrew of “I will not be an healer” could be translated as “I will not be a binder up,” with binding having covenant connotations. Essentially, Israel will have lost the power and authority to make binding covenants. Jesus Christ restored this power to his apostles (Matt. 16:19, D&C 124:93).

-v. 9: “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them.” Compare this to Alma 5:14. Speaking of countenances and the Book of Mormon, there’s an interesting ancient Mayan tradition where priests would wear the mask of a given god, thereby assuming the power of that god (if I understand correctly). Thus, when Alma asked whether you have “received His image in your countenance,” he may have been asking it in this context, essentially asking whether we had received the power of Christ within us.

-v. 10: For the most part, Isaiah uses an ancient form of Hebrew poetry called chiasmus. In this form, each poem is a reflection of itself, so it follows the pattern ABDCECDBA, with the mirror image being a bit different from the original, but making the same point. Both “ends” of the poem point to the center, which is generally Isaiah’s main point. In this chapter, that comes at verse 10, and underscores that things will be well with the righteous. Who are the righteous? Isaiah defines them as those who will “eat the fruit.” This could be pointing back to those who partake of the fruit of the tree of life, truly unifying with God, and keeping the first great commandment. These are not just people who are generally civil to others or who avoid outwardly sins. There’s something more to it. One must love God and unify with Him completely.

-v. 12: I am not settled on this yet, but I think that when it refers to “women rule over them,” it may be referring to the Israelites choosing the harlot over Wisdom. I’ll explain more in a future post. The point is, when we follow the wrong leaders, we lose the path to eternal life.

-v. 13: The Lord is always merciful! He pleads with us to follow Him! He is our advocate.

-v. 14: Ultimately, the Lord will be our judge, along with ancients. The “ancients” probably refers to those who practiced the original covenant and priesthood: think Adam, Noah, Enoch, Melchizedek. Why would they be judges? Because they were the original keepers of the vineyard that Isaiah references here. That “vineyard” included the tree of life and the true temple, but the Israelites (and others) have “eaten” (“burned” is probably a better reading here) the vineyard.

-v. 16-23: I’ve heard it suggested that “daughters of Zion” can refer to anyone who is part of the covenant, both male and female, so this may not strictly refer to women. Taken broadly, it shows that the covenant people have rejected the Lord and his Wisdom, and chosen instead materialism and worldly status (the harlot). Are we guilty of materialism? Do we derive our status and value from worldly accolades? Do we make an effort to keep up with Joneses?

-v. 24-26: Choosing the world over the Lord will have consequences. Isaiah describes it as a stink, burning, and a rent. This seems analogous to the great and spacious building. The end result is war, desolation, and societal instability – kind of describes the world we live in today. That would seem to indicate which choice we have made.