Proverbs 7:1-26

The Wiles of the Harlot

1 My son, 1keep my words And treasure my commandments within you.
2 2Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching 3as the apple of your eye.
3 4Bind them on your fingers; 5Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," And call understanding your intimate friend;
5 That they may keep you from an adulteress, From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6 For 6at the window of my house I looked out 7through my lattice,
7 And I saw among the 8naive, And discerned among the youths A young man 9lacking sense,
8 Passing through the street near 10her corner; And he takes the way to 11her house,
9 In the 12twilight, in the evening *, In the middle of the night and in the darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him, 13Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.
11 She is 14boisterous and rebellious, Her 15feet do not remain at home;
12 She is now in the streets, now 16in the squares, And 17lurks by every corner.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him And with a 18brazen face she says to him:
14 "I was due to offer 19peace offerings; Today I have 20paid my vows.
15 "Therefore * I have come out to meet you, To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.
16 "I have spread my couch with 21coverings, With colored 22linens of Egypt.
17 "I have sprinkled my bed With 23myrrh, aloes and 24cinnamon.
18 "Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with caresses.
19 "For my husband is not at home, He has gone on a long * journey;
20 He has taken a 25bag of money with him, At the full moon he will come home."
21 With her many persuasions she entices him; With her 26flattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows * her As an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver; As a 27bird hastens to the snare, So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 Now therefore, my sons, 28listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart 29turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths.
26 For many are the victims she has cast down, And 30numerous are all her slain.

Proverbs 7:1-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 7

The sum of this chapter is to exhort men to attend to the doctrines and precepts of Wisdom, in order to avoid the adulterous woman; the exhortation to keep them with care, affection, and delight, in order to answer the end, is in Pr 7:1-5. A story is told, of Solomon's own knowledge, of a young man ensnared and ruined by a lewd woman; it begins Pr 7:6. The young man is described as foolish, and as throwing himself in the way of temptation, Pr 7:7-9; the harlot that met him is described by her attire, her subtlety, her voice, her inconstancy, her impudence, and pretensions to piety, Pr 7:10-14. The arguments she made use of to prevail upon him to go with her are taken partly from the elegance of her bed, the softness of it, and its sweet perfume, and satiety of love to be enjoyed in it, Pr 7:15-18; and partly from the absence of her husband, who was gone a long journey, and had made provision for it for a certain time, Pr 7:19,20. By which arguments she prevailed upon him to his utter ruin: which is illustrated by the similes of an ox going to the slaughter, a fool to the stocks, and a bird to the snare, Pr 7:21-23. And the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to hearken to the words of Wisdom, and to avoid the ways and paths of the harlot, by which many and mighty persons have been ruined; they being the direct road to hell and death, Pr 7:24-27.

Cross References 30

Footnotes 17

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