Proverbs 7:8-18

8 that passeth by the streets, beside the corner (who passeth along the street, beside the corner); and he goeth nigh the way of her house,
9 in dark time, when the day draweth to night, in the darkness and mist in the night.
10 And lo! a woman, made ready with (the) ornament of an whore to deceive souls, meeteth him,
11 and she is a jangler, and going about, and unpatient of rest, and may not stand in the house with her feet; (and she is a gossip, who goeth about restlessly, yea, who cannot stand still in her own house;)
12 and now withoutforth, now in [the] streets, now beside [the] corners, she ambusheth (him).
13 And she taketh (hold of), and kisseth the young man; and flattereth (him) with wooing cheer, that is, unrestful(ly), and without shame, and saith,
14 I owed sacrifices for health (I have paid my offerings for my deliverance); today I have yielded my vows.
15 Therefore I went out into thy meeting, and I desired to see thee; and I have found thee.
16 I have made (ready) my bed with cords, I have arrayed it with tapets painted of Egypt; (I have prepared my bed, yea, I have arrayed it with coloured tapestries from Egypt;)
17 I have besprinkled my bed with myrrh, and aloes, and canel (and cinnamon).
18 Come thou, be we filled with touching of teats, and use we embracings that be coveted; till the day begin to be clear.

Proverbs 7:8-18 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.