Proverbs 7 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Proverbs 7

Warning Against the Adulteress

7:1   My son, keep my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you;
2   keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3   bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
4   Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
5   to keep you from the forbidden¹ woman,
    from the adulteress² with her smooth words.
6   For at the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
7   and I have seen among the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man lacking sense,
8   passing along the street near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
9   in the twilight, in the evening,
    at the time of night and darkness.
10   And behold, the woman meets him,
    dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.³
11   She is loud and wayward;
    her feet do not stay at home;
12   now in the street, now in the market,
    and at every corner she lies in wait.
13   She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with bold face she says to him,
14   “I had to offer sacrifices,⁴
    and today I have paid my vows;
15   so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16   I have spread my couch with coverings,
    colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17   I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
    aloes, and cinnamon.
18   Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
19   For my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
20   he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”
21   With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with her smooth talk she compels him.
22   All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
  or as a stag is caught fast⁵
23     till an arrow pierces its liver;
  as a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24   And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25   Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
26   for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27   Her house is the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.

Footnotes

[1] 7:5 Hebrew strange
[2] 7:5 Hebrew the foreign woman
[3] 7:10 Hebrew guarded in heart
[4] 7:14 Hebrew peace offerings
[5] 7:22 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac); Hebrew as a chain to discipline a fool

Commentary

v1-5: The writer continues the emphasis on sexual purity; God's word is our guide. As we get closer to the Lord, we become more sensitive to personal sins, but also better able to resist temptation. We keep the words of God in our hearts; and the words keep us from sin; compare v5 with 6.24.

v6-9: The young man who fell into adultery.

v6: Solomon observed a real man, devoid of understanding, and therefore vulnerable to temptation.

v7: He was "among the simple," his fellowship was not with the godly, but with those like him.

v8: He went "down the street near her corner" before going to her house; he failed to steer clear of evil (se 4.14-15). If we expose ourselves to temptation, when we are more likely to fall into sin.

v9: It is significant that it was night time; perhaps the man hoped to keep his sin secret (Ps 139.11-12).

v10-13: The prostitute's appearance. She was dressed like a prostitute, attractive but obvious. Her crafty heart was hidden by her smooth talk (v21); behind those words was a spirit of deceit.

She would not stay at home, for she had an unfaithful attitude. She had been guilty of sin before, and doubtless would again. She caught him, like a victim in a snare.

v14-20: The prostitute's words;

to cover her conscience, and his (v14);
a pretence of love towards him (v15);
sin is made attractive (v16-18);
no danger of interruption, for we like to keep our sins secret (v19-20).

v21-23: The summary of his destruction. Her persuasive and smooth words trapped him. He followed immediately, straight to his own destruction.

v24-27: Concluding warning. These things do happen, and we must learn from them, and be on our guard. There are "many" victims, but I need not be one. Some thought themselves safe, confident that they would not fall; our security must be in God through faith in Christ.