Proverbs Personifies Wisdom for Us...

20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

Now we come into a description of wisdom, she is personified in order for us to understand her. Wisdom is likened to the merchant woman in the East; she is in the street crying out because she has something to sell. It is interesting that she is not describes as one hidden away or on the mountain top that one must journey thousands of miles to find, she is like a merchant woman in the streets crying out with a loud voice. It is not pots, pans, dishes and trinkets she is selling but rather her wares are wisdom, understanding, prudence, instruction and discretion. There is a pleading element to wisdom, she is not passively sitting by but rather she is calling out to those who go by; one has to close their ears in order to avoid her, they choose another path to avoid her because she is crying out in the street! The message here is that there is wisdom, knowledge, discretion and experience to be gained by literally every event of life, with every event she is there crying out to every passerby, “Receive my instruction, hearken to my counsels”. Also look at Proverbs 1:22-23 & Proverbs 8:1-6. One who goes astray does so by choice because Wisdom pleads “Buy of Me”, “Hearken to Me”.