Proverbs 7:20-27

20 He took a bag of money with him; he will not come home until full moon."
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 Right away he follows her, and goes like an ox to the slaughter, or bounds like a stag toward the trap
23 until an arrow pierces its entrails. He is like a bird rushing into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life.
24 And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths.
26 for many are those she has laid low, and numerous are her victims.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

Proverbs 7:20-27 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.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.