Proverbios 7

1 Más advertencia sobre mujeres inmorales
Hijo mío, sigue mi consejo,
atesora siempre mis mandatos.

2 ¡Obedece mis mandatos y vive!
Guarda mis instrucciones tal como cuidas tus ojos.

3 Átalas a tus dedos como un recordatorio;
escríbelas en lo profundo de tu corazón.

4 Ama a la sabiduría como si fuera tu hermana
y haz a la inteligencia un querido miembro de tu familia.

5 Deja que ellas te prevengan de tener una aventura con una mujer inmoral
y de escuchar las adulaciones de una mujer promiscua.

6 Mientras estaba junto a la ventana de mi casa,
mirando a través de la cortina,

7 vi a unos muchachos ingenuos;
a uno en particular que le faltaba sentido común.

8 Cruzaba la calle cercana a la casa de una mujer inmoral
y se paseaba frente a su casa.

9 Era la hora del crepúsculo, al anochecer,
mientras caía la densa oscuridad.

10 La mujer se le acercó,
vestida de manera seductora y con corazón astuto.

11 Era rebelde y descarada,
de esas que nunca están conformes con quedarse en casa.

12 Suele frecuentar las calles y los mercados,
ofreciéndose en cada esquina.

13 Lo rodeó con sus brazos y lo besó,
y mirándolo con descaro le dijo:

14 «Acabo de hacer mis ofrendas de paz
y de cumplir mis votos.

15 ¡Tú eres precisamente al que estaba buscando!
¡Salí a encontrarte y aquí estás!

16 Mi cama está tendida con hermosas colchas,
con coloridas sábanas de lino egipcio.

17 La he perfumado
con mirra, áloes y canela.

18 Ven, bebamos sin medida la copa del amor hasta el amanecer.
Disfrutemos de nuestras caricias,

19 ahora que mi esposo no está en casa.
Se fue de viaje por mucho tiempo.

20 Se llevó la cartera llena de dinero
y no regresará hasta fin de mes».

21 Y así lo sedujo con sus dulces palabras
y lo engatusó con sus halagos.

22 Él la siguió de inmediato,
como un buey que va al matadero.
Era como un ciervo que cayó en la trampa,

23 en espera de la flecha que le atravesaría el corazón.
Era como un ave que vuela directo a la red,
sin saber que le costará la vida.

24 Por eso, hijos míos, escúchenme
y presten atención a mis palabras.

25 No dejen que el corazón se desvíe tras ella.
No anden vagando por sus caminos descarriados.

26 Pues ella ha sido la ruina de muchos;
numerosos hombres han caído en sus garras.

27 Su casa es el camino a la tumba.
Su alcoba es la guarida de la muerte.

Proverbios 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

Invitations to learn wisdom. (1-5) The arts of seducers, with warnings against them. (6-27)

Verses 1-5 We must lay up God's commandments safely. Not only, Keep them, and you shall live; but, Keep them as those that cannot live without them. Those that blame strict and careful walking as needless and too precise, consider not that the law is to be kept as the apple of the eye; indeed the law in the heart is the eye of the soul. Let the word of God dwell in us, and so be written where it will be always at hand to be read. Thus we shall be kept from the fatal effects of our own passions, and the snares of Satan. Let God's word confirm our dread of sin, and resolutions against it.

Verses 6-27 Here is an affecting example of the danger of youthful lusts. It is a history or a parable of the most instructive kind. Will any one dare to venture on temptations that lead to impurity, after Solomon has set before his eyes in so lively and plain a manner, the danger of even going near them? Then is he as the man who would dance on the edge of a lofty rock, when he has just seen another fall headlong from the same place. The misery of self-ruined sinners began in disregard to God's blessed commands. We ought daily to pray that we may be kept from running into temptation, else we invite the enemies of our souls to spread snares for us. Ever avoid the neighbourhood of vice. Beware of sins which are said to be pleasant sins. They are the more dangerous, because they most easily gain the heart, and close it against repentance. Do nothing till thou hast well considered the end of it. Were a man to live as long as Methuselah, and to spend all his days in the highest delights sin can offer, one hour of the anguish and tribulation that must follow, would far outweigh them.

Chapter Summary

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.