Proverbs 14 Bible study: A way which seems right

The chapter opens, "Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands" (14:1) (tap wise woman). The book has said something close before: "Wisdom has built her house" (Proverbs 9:1). In Hebrew builds in 14:1 and has built in 9:1 are the same form, and so is her house. 14:1's first word is the word of 9:1's Wisdom, spelled with a different first vowel, and the word for women follows it; the notes on chapter 9 set the two verses side by side. Here is what almost everyone misses: the WEB's the foolish one in 14:1 is ivvelet, folly, and this chapter has that word seven times, more than any other chapter of the Hebrew Bible (tap folly): "the folly of fools is deceit" (14:8), "He who is quick to become angry will commit folly" (14:17), "The simple inherit folly" (14:18), twice in "the folly of fools crowns them with folly" (14:24), and "he who has a quick temper displays folly" (14:29). Wisdom comes back through the chapter too: "A scoffer seeks wisdom, and doesn’t find it" (14:6), "The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way" (14:8), and near the end, "Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding" (14:33).

אִוֶּלֶתivveletsay iv-VE-let

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "folly". Strong's: "silliness". This chapter has it seven times, more than any other chapter of the Hebrew Bible. The first is in 14:1, where the WEB gives it as the foolish one: "but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands" (14:1). Then "the folly of fools is deceit" (14:8), "He who is quick to become angry will commit folly" (14:17), "The simple inherit folly" (14:18), twice in "the folly of fools crowns them with folly" (14:24), and "he who has a quick temper displays folly" (14:29). Of its 25 uses in the Hebrew Bible, 23 are in Proverbs.