Proverbs 9:2 - Exposition

She hath killed her beasts. So in the parable of the marriage of the king's son ( Matthew 22:1-46 ; which is parallel to the present), the king sends his servants to notify the guests that the oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Wisdom has stores of nourishment for understanding and affection; and Christ has offered himself as a Victim in our behalf, and now makes bounteous offers of grace, and especially has ordained the sacrament of the Lord's Supper for the strengthening and refreshing of the soul. She hath mingled her wine; Septuagint, "She hath mixed ( ἐκέρασεν ) her wine in a bowl." The wine which, untempered, was too luscious or too fiery to drink, was made palatable by a certain admixture of water, it was always so mixed at the Passover; and the ancient Christian Liturgies direct the mixture in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, doubtless from traditional use. Some, however, think that allusion is here made to the custom of adding drugs to wine in order to increase its potency. Among the Greeks, ἄκρατος οἶνος meant "wine without water," and in Revelation 14:10 we have ἄκρατον κεκερασμένον , "undiluted wine mixed." And probably in the text the notion is that the fluid for the guests' delectation is properly prepared, that there may be no trouble when they arrive (see on Proverbs 23:30 ). She hath also furnished her table, by arranging the dishes, etc; thereon ( Psalms 23:5 , "Thou preparest a table before me," where the same verb, arak, is used; comp. Isaiah 21:5 ). Moralizing on this passage, St. Gregory says, "The Lord 'killed the sacrifices' by offering himself on our behalf. He 'mingled the wine,' blending together the cup of his precepts from the historical narration and the spiritual signification. And he 'set forth his table,' i.e. Holy Writ, which with the bread of the Word refreshes us when we are wearied and come to him away from the burdens of the world, and by its effect of refreshing strengthens us against our adversaries" ('Moral,' 17:43, Oxford transl.).