Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Wisdom crieth without - literally, wisdoms; i:e., consummate wisdom. Maurer makes the Hebrew not plural, but a form in the singular, as the English version. The plural form for a singular is a similar usage to that whereby God is called "the praises of Israel" - i:e., Israel's perfect object of praise; and Ecclesiastes has "vanities" for utter vanity. Wisdom is again personified and introduced as appealing to all (Proverbs 8:1, etc.): wisdom is what Christ is made unto us by God (1 Corinthians 1:30); "In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom" (Colossians 2:3). What was in the views of godly men, in Solomon's days, an abstraction, became concrete when Christ was manifested on earth. Still, "the wisdom of God" (Luke 11:49), as "the Word," dwelt with God from eternity (John 1:1-3), and Solomon, by the Spirit, sets this forth (Proverbs 8:22-31). The manifold character of this divine wisdom (Isaiah 11:2-3), and the multiplicity of the messengers of this wisdom of God in all ages of the Church, accord with the plural form. After laying the foundation in "the fear of the Lord" (Proverbs 1:7), and then showing who are to be hearkened to, namely, godly parents (Proverbs 1:8-9), then who are to be shunned (Proverbs 1:10-19), Solomon now proceeds to give the universal invitation of wisdom personified. The warning against ungodly associates fitly precedes wisdom's invitation to piety (Psalms 34:15; Psalms 37:27); just as Abraham was called out of the idolatrous associations of Uz of the Chaldees before he was taken into full covenant and communion with God, (Genesis 12:1-20.)