And behold, there met him a woman in the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
She is clamorous and unmanageable; her feet abide not in her house
The verse stops the story to describe the woman herself: her voice, her will, her feet. Three quick strokes explain how a young man walking home in the dark ends up ruined.
Commentators read the three descriptions as one connected picture. The noise outside matches a will that no one can rein in, and that will is what keeps her moving.
The "strange woman" even dresses like a prostitute, and her heart is craftier still, yet she is loud and no one can control her. Her house is no home. Her will is never satisfied, and it drives her feet into the streets and the open squares. At every corner she lies in wait.
The chapter has already called her a "strange woman". One writer shows how much that one word carries.
"Strange" is a word used a great deal, and it matters. Any god who is not Jehovah is a strange god; fire that did not come from the altar was strange fire. It means what does not belong to us, what stands outside the relationship God has given us... God made them male and female, "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh" — the closest tie there is, and she belonged to him. Expressing that tie was right. This was mere corrupt lust. The woman was a stranger to the relationship God formed.
That is why her feet cannot stay indoors. She has no tie there to hold her.
One writer traces the roaming back to what has happened inside her. Shame has been worn away, and the loss shows itself as an inability to settle anywhere.
But now we have the boldness of a hardened conscience — a terrible thing. Christ can meet a defiled person whose heart is broken; but a bold one is shocking. A heart like that has no home.
There is mercy hidden in that line. A broken heart, however defiled, is not beyond Christ. What shocks is hardness, not failure.
The trap is only half the story. Who walks into it matters too.
On one side is a young man who is idle and thoughtless rather than wicked or immoral in his habits; on the other is a woman given over to shameless immorality... Here is a weak character, harmless so far, as people say, vain and out to please himself. He is in the path of temptation, drifting nearer the point of danger as the twilight deepens and the dark makes shameful deeds easy. His youth and inexperience make him all the more attractive prey to a woman who has sunk to the lowest depths.
He had no purpose of his own to keep him anywhere else.
It was not a deliberate purpose... but the path of wisdom and her teaching would never have led him there. It would have led him elsewhere and kept him there. He followed at least the idleness of his own heart.
Her feet will not stay at home. One writer describes what a home is meant to be — the place God gives a wife to serve in.
Wives are reminded that their place of service is the home, and that no work or pleasure should be allowed to get in the way of it. God Himself has given them the home as their field of work, so it is a matter of faithfulness to Him that they work in it with care.
It would be easy to file this away as an old street scene. One writer warns that the same danger sits inside every believer.
There are certainly the deepest moral principles in the gospel and in the church... But if we are no longer in the flesh, through the deliverance Christ has won and given us, the flesh is still in us. It is always ready, through Satan's tricks and the world's pull, to trap us into pleasing ourselves. We are kept by God's power only as each of us walks in faith, as one who has died and been crucified with Him, judging himself all the time and keeping a living sense that He loved me and gave Himself for me.
- No tie — "Strange" means standing outside the relationship God formed. She belongs to no one, and that is where the description starts.
- No home — A conscience hardened past shame cannot settle. Boldness in sin costs a person the ability to rest anywhere.
- No stopping — A will that is never satisfied pushes her feet into the streets. She waits at every corner for whoever passes.
- No purpose — She catches a young man who was not chasing sin, only following the idleness of his heart. Wisdom's path would have kept him elsewhere.
- No safety in self — The flesh is still in us. God's power keeps those who walk in faith, judging themselves and living in the sense of Christ's love and self-giving.
now without, now in the broadways, -- and she lieth in wait at every corner.
In Proverbs 7 a young man drifts through the streets at dusk, and a woman meets him there. Verse 12 explains why. She does not stay at home and wait for anyone to come to her.
Her restlessness has a cause, and it has a target.
The "strange woman" even wears the dress of a prostitute, and her heart is more cunning still. She is loud and uncontrollable. Her house is no home. Her unsatisfied will drives her feet into the streets and the open squares. At every corner she lies in wait. The careless youth is the one she picks. She gives him full credit for an empty heart and no understanding. So she does not hesitate to storm him at once, unarmed and unsettled as he is.
The young man in this chapter is not out hunting for evil. That is what makes the warning so sharp.
On one side is a young man. He is idle and thoughtless, not evil or immoral in his habits. On the other side is a woman given up to shameless immorality. When a woman gives up every claim to modesty, who can be so recklessly corrupt or seductive? But the warning is all the more telling because the youth has no purpose of lust, and no particular passion either. Nothing has been eating away at his moral principles. There has been no long wearing down of the barriers that kept improper advances out. Here is a weak character, harmless so far, as people say, but vain and self-pleasing. We see him in the way of temptation, drawing nearer the point of danger, as the twilight grows and the darkness favours shameful deeds.
The corner goes with the hour. She works in the dark, and the safety she offers will not hold.
The world has its own ways and enticements (Prov. 7). Here is "the stranger who flatters with her tongue." Her call comes "near the corner," "in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night." She is "cunning of heart," and there is no security in it. The most she can claim is, "the man of the house is not at home." But Scripture says, "While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape" (1 Thess. 5:3).
The short phrases from Proverbs here follow an older translation.
Commentators do not stop at the street scene. Some read this woman as a picture of religious systems that are unfaithful to the One they claim to represent.
Here we see the character of this woman clearly. "Great Babylon," the mother of others like her in character. Many systems have sprung from her, and like her are unfaithful to the One they claim to represent. Most are deep in the politics of their own countries. So what they teach is moral, but far removed from what is spiritual. Moral unfaithfulness has turned them off the path of virtue and loyalty to their Lord. Now they stand as a danger to those who go straight on their way. The greatest danger of these systems is that they keep up a religious pretence.
Nearness is not the same as safety. One writer applies this to Christian company, where the ties are warmer than anything Israel knew — and warmer ties mean greater exposure.
Christ has worked a deliverance and given it to us, so we are not in the flesh. But the flesh is still in us. It is always ready to trap us into pleasing ourselves, through Satan's schemes and the world's influence. God's power keeps us only as each one walks in faith. That means walking as one who has died and been crucified with Him, in constant self-judgment, with a living sense that He loved me and gave Himself for me. Where this has been forgotten, what miserable falls there have been, even among the strong!
If she is at every corner, no route avoids her. The answer offered is not a better route but a better teacher.
She is everywhere lying in wait with flattering lips and every enticement of the flesh to capture the simple ones. Our only safety lies in being taught by God as true sons of wisdom.
- Restless. Her house is no home. An unsatisfied will pushes her feet into the streets, and she waits at every corner.
- Everywhere. She lies in wait at every corner, so changing your street is no defence.
- Drifting. Her target is not the man set on evil. It is the one with no purpose at all, edging toward danger as the twilight grows.
- Disguised. Commentators read her as a picture of systems that keep up a religious pretence. The danger can look respectable.
- Guarded. The flesh is still in us and always ready. Safety comes from God's teaching and God's power, not from our own strength.
And she caught him and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
Chapter 7 sets a trap in slow motion. A young man drifts into the dark, and a woman is already waiting for him. Verse 13 is the moment the trap closes — a grab, a kiss, and a face that shows no trace of shame before the speech even begins.
She does not negotiate. She sizes up an easy target and moves at once, before he can think.
The heedless youth is her choice. She gives him full credit for an empty heart and a mind without understanding. So she thinks nothing of storming at once someone so unarmed and unsettled. She caught him and kissed him. Then she hardened her face to the utmost boldness, and told him of her peace offerings and the vows she had paid that day.
Her face shows no shame. Writers see that boldness as the mark of a conscience that has gone hard — and hardness is worse than weakness.
But now we have the boldness of a hardened conscience — a terrible thing. Christ can meet a defiled conscience with a broken heart; but a bold one is a shocking thing. There is no home to such a heart. It can flatter, awaken lust, and be ready to serve it to win its way. It counts on fear in those who are not hardened, though it has none itself.
Notice which of the two she seizes. She is not meeting her equal. The gap between them is the whole point of the warning.
On one side is a young man. He is idle and thoughtless rather than evil or immoral. On the other side is a woman given up to shameless immorality. When a woman gives up all claim to modesty, who can be so recklessly corrupt or seductive?
He had no plan to sin. Darby warns that this is no safeguard.
It is not enough (how often has the Christian found it!) to have no intention of doing evil, nor even to intend to do right. We are in a world of snares and temptations. We have to watch and pray, so that we do not enter into temptation. The divine things of wisdom are to fill the soul. The thoughts of wisdom are to guide the mind and the path. Then the allurements of evil and Satan's schemes take no hold on us.
The first words out of that bold face are religious ones. She speaks of her sacrifices and the vows she has paid that day. One writer reads that as religion turned into a licence.
The evident meaning of this is: having fulfilled religious formalities, we are now free to do as we like. The vow speaks of worship as a duty, an obligation. The peace offering speaks of fellowship. In the main, this is the burden of so-called religious instruction in many places today. In this chapter all these things happened in the dark, and this is the root of the false worship of God today.
Kelly sees the same mixture, and calls it what it is.
No one could deny that she was a religious woman. She made sure to pay her vows properly when she set out on a delicate affair of the heart. How terrible and how true this picture is of ritual and luxury in league, dragging the name of love down to illicit affairs and wild indulgence more guilty than the worst brutality!
Several writers see more here than one street encounter. The bold face belongs to a whole system that keeps the outward forms while betraying the one it belongs to.
We see this loyal wife's opposite in the woman with the bold face in chapter 7. Her husband, too, was absent. She tells her yielding victim that the man of the house is not at home. Her husband, too, trusted her, perhaps, but he did not trust safely — she shamefully deceived him. The great harlot of Revelation 17 is the final form of this base betrayal by the temptress.
- Dark first. All of it happens in the dark. Davison traces the root of false worship today to that same darkness: forms kept in public, evil done out of sight.
- Seized second. She does not persuade a willing man — she storms an unarmed one. A vacant, idle heart is her chosen target, not a wicked one.
- Bold third. A face that cannot blush shows a hardened conscience. A broken heart with a defiled conscience Christ can meet; a shameless one is a shocking thing.
- Religious fourth. Her opening line is about sacrifices and paid vows. Forms kept, obligations discharged, and now — she implies — she is free to do as she likes.
- Fatal last. Good intentions are no defence in a world of snares. Only one thing keeps a person safe: a soul filled with wisdom's words, watching and praying.
I have peace-offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows
The woman in this chapter does not open with seduction; she opens with religion. Her first words to a young stranger are about sacrifice and vows paid that same day. The trap works because that sounds so respectable.
Under the law, a peace offering was shared: part went to God on the altar, and the person who brought it ate the rest. So her announcement is an invitation to a meal — and a claim to be devout. One writer describes the front she puts up:
She caught and kissed him, and hardening her face to the utmost boldness, she tells him of her peace offerings, her vows paid that day. Providence was smiling on them, and the feast upon a sacrifice was a happy sign. Nobody could deny that she was a religious woman; she must pay her vows properly when she was venturing on a delicate affair of the heart. How terrible and how true this picture is — ritual religion and luxury in league, dragging the name of love down into forbidden affairs and debauchery more guilty than the most brutal!
(Older translations read "peace offerings" here, where the ESV has "sacrifices.")
The offering she names came with a rule about timing:
Sometimes the peace offering would be sacrificed as a special thanksgiving. When this was the case, the offerer ate his part of the sacrifice on the same day that the Lord received His part of it upon the altar. The joy of the feast on the offerer's part was not to be separated from the Lord's consuming fire upon the altar. This law matters greatly, because religious services can sink into seasons of mere sensual excitement. There may be festivals, or services, held in the name of Christ that are far from God's thoughts about Christ. Just as pagan festivals stir up religious emotions, so such "feasts" become an occasion for worldly entertainment. To them God attaches His solemn word: "abomination."
Notice the order of her words: worship first, then the invitation. One writer finds the same logic alive today:
The obvious meaning of this is: having gone through the religious formalities, we are now free to do as we like. The vow speaks of duty-bound worship and obligation, while the peace offering speaks of fellowship. In the main, this is the burden of so-called religious instruction in many places today. This is where the mass of people in the Christian world have got to. They take vows, fill offices, and carry on worship as a formal duty, and they think they are serving God this way. In this chapter all these things happened in the dark, and this is the root of the false worship of God today. Is this not the very thing the apostle warns us about when he says, "having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people" (2 Tim. 3:5)?
She did not aim her pious opening at a hardened man. Her target was weak, not wicked:
On the one side is a young man, idle and thoughtless. His habits are not evil or immoral. On the other side is a woman given up to shameless immorality. When a woman abandons every claim to modesty, who can be so corrupt or seductive? But the warning here is all the more striking because of what the young man is not. He has no purpose of lust, and no particular passion. Nothing has undermined his moral principles. Nothing has slowly worn down the barriers that kept improper advances out. Here is a weak character, harmless so far, as men say, but vain and self-pleasing. He walks into temptation and drifts nearer and nearer to the point of danger, as the twilight grows and the darkness favours shameful deeds.
The chapter does more than warn. It names what keeps a person standing:
In Proverbs 7 the house of the strange woman is the path to the grave. Hold yourself in check. Be firm in resisting temptations. Look to the Lord and listen to the words of the wise. These are the principles of life given in these chapters.
- Bait. Her opening line is religion, not seduction: fresh sacrifice, vows paid today. Nobody could deny she was a religious woman.
- Cover. The logic underneath: the forms are done, so I am now free to do as I like. That is the appearance of godliness with its power denied.
- Counterfeit. The peace offering meal had to be eaten while God's portion still burned on the altar. Cut a "feast" loose from God's thoughts about Christ and it becomes worldly entertainment. God calls that an abomination.
- Target. She does not pick a hardened man. She picks a thoughtless, self-pleasing youth, already drifting toward danger as the darkness comes on.
- Guard. Her house is the road to the grave. So hold yourself in check, resist firmly, look to the Lord, and listen to the words of the wise.
therefore came I forth to meet thee, to seek earnestly thy face, and I have found thee.
She does not wait for the young man to find her. She comes to meet him, claiming she searched for his face all along — but the whole speech is a trap.
One writer traces her flattery, and points out the detail that exposes it:
The heedless youth is her choice. She gives him full credit for an empty heart and a lack of understanding, and does not hesitate to storm someone so unarmed and unsettled. She caught him and kissed him. With her face hardened to the limit of shamelessness, she tells him of her peace offerings and her vows paid that day. He was the delight of her eyes and soul. She came to meet him, though she had likely never seen him before. She searched hard for his face, and now she had found him. Providence smiled on them.
The verse begins with "so now." Her vows and sacrifices, just mentioned, become her reason for coming out to meet him. One writer reads that logic as the heart of the deception:
The obvious meaning of this is: having gone through the religious formalities, we are now free to do as we like. The vow speaks of servile worship and obligation. The peace offering speaks of fellowship. In the main, this is the burden of so-called religious instruction in many places today... People take vows, fill offices, and carry on servile worship in a formal way, and they think they are serving God this way. In this chapter all these things happened in the dark, and this is the root of the false worship of God today.
Nothing in the chapter says the young man went out that evening intending evil. That is precisely the warning:
Wisdom is not arguing here against open wickedness, where the will is active. It speaks of the snares laid for people who have no intention of doing evil, but whose lusts and passions leave them open to those snares.
His very harmlessness is what marks him out as a target:
A weak character, harmless so far, as men say, vain and self-pleasing, walks in the way of temptation. He edges nearer the point of danger as the twilight grows and the darkness favours shameful deeds. For his youth and inexperience make him the more attractive prey to the woman who has sunk to the lowest depths.
The meeting comes to him. So the defence has to be in place before she opens her mouth:
It is not enough — how often the Christian has found this! — to have no intention of doing evil, nor even to intend to do right. We are in a world of snares and temptations. We have to watch and pray, so that we do not enter into temptation. We need the soul filled with the divine things of wisdom. We need the thoughts of wisdom guiding the mind and the path, so that the allurements of evil and Satan's schemes take no hold on us. The mind lives in another sphere.
Another writer finds the same guard in the opening verses of the chapter:
Binding God's commands on the fingers speaks of applying them to every detail of work done by the hands. Writing them on the tablet of the heart means we record them permanently as the motives for all our actions and words. So wisdom and understanding should be our closest relatives, and they keep us from the seductions of harlots.
The eager search ends somewhere. Commentators apply that ending both to immorality and to counterfeit religion:
The warning presses on us: "She has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men" (v. 26). Even their strength becomes a subtle snare. Strong men think they are strong enough to come away unharmed from a trip into evil company. How dreadfully deceiving! For "her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death" (v. 27). This is just as true of false religions as it is literally. By flattery and finely dressed promises, these evil imitations of Christianity seduce great numbers.
(Note: the wording of verse 26 here follows an older translation.)
- Sought. She says his face was the one she looked for. She had likely never seen him before. It is flattery dressed up as destiny.
- Sanctified. Her "so now" rests on paid vows and peace offerings. The religious duty is done, so appetite runs free. Formalities in the dark become the cover for the sin.
- Simple. The victim had no plan to do evil. The chapter warns about snares set for people whose only fault so far is an idle, unguarded heart.
- Safeguarded. Fit the defence before the meeting. Wisdom written on the heart, thoughts living in another sphere — then the allurement gets no grip.
- Slain. Being "found" by her ends at her house, the way to death. Strength is no protection: strong men are the ones who think they can risk it.
I have decked my bed with tapestry coverlets of variegated linen from Egypt;
Chapter 7 shows a young man walking at dusk toward a house he should have avoided. The woman who meets him does not argue. She describes her furniture. Verse 16 is her sales pitch: she has already made the bed, and she made it with imported luxury.
Nothing here is spontaneous. She names the coverings and where they came from. She dressed the room in advance. One writer notes how boldly she speaks.
Yet this shameless woman did not blush to describe how far she would go, hiding nothing... How terrible and how true this picture is! Religious ritual and luxury work together here. They prostitute the name of love, using it for illicit affairs and for a debauchery more guilty than the most brutal.
The word is marbaddim, translated 'coverings of tapestry,' but may simply mean 'coverlets.' Prov. 7:16; Prov. 31:22. The Hebrew word occurs nowhere else in Scripture.
So the covers themselves may be plain coverlets. What makes them sound grand is her description of them.
She does not just say the linen is fine. She says where it came from. Egypt is not a neutral address. One writer looks at Israel's habit of leaning on Egypt and lists these same luxuries, quoting this verse in an older wording. He refuses to admire them.
There may be the silver and the gold, and the "tapestry, and carved work, and fine linen of Egypt" — but it is Egypt still! There may be its wisdom, and policy, and power; its horses and chariots — but still the word of the Lord remains in all its force.
Fine fabric changes nothing about the source. A beautiful room can still come out of the wrong country.
Writers hear more than one voice in this invitation. The same tactic — costly beauty that makes a false offer feel safe — appears wherever worship aims to please the senses.
Religion, so called, is at this moment decking herself with her most powerful charms. She is throwing off the coarseness of the middle ages. She calls in every resource of refined taste and of a cultivated, enlightened age. Sculpture, music, and painting pour their rich treasures into her lap. With them she prepares a powerful drug to lull the thoughtless crowd into a sleep that only the unspeakable horrors of death, judgment, and the lake of fire will break. So corrupt religion allures, by her powerful influence, those who will not listen to wisdom's heavenly voice.
Another writer names both kinds of seduction, and the one thing that keeps us from them:
Wisdom and understanding should be our closest relatives. They keep us from the seductions of harlots, whether literal harlots or false religions that put on a beautiful appearance and flattering words to deceive their victims.
The man in this story did not set out to sin. That is the danger this chapter exposes. It also shows why the defence has to be in place long before the invitation comes.
It is not enough to have no intention of doing evil. It is not even enough to intend to do right. How often the Christian has found this! We are in a world of snares and temptations. We have to watch and pray, so that we do not enter into temptation. The divine things of wisdom must fill the soul. The thoughts of wisdom must guide the mind and the path. Then the enticements of evil and Satan's tricks get no hold on us.
The chapter follows the guest out of the room.
...let every reader soberly consider that evil can be so attractive that great numbers are deceived by it, and so take the way to the chambers of death and hell. How dreadful an end for the sake of a few moments of lustful pleasure!
- Decked. She dresses the bed before the guest arrives. It is a prepared display, and she names the furnishings without shame.
- Imported. The linen comes from Egypt. Fine material from Egypt is still Egyptian; quality never cleans up the source.
- Borrowed. Corrupt religion uses the same method. She decks herself with art and taste to lull people who will not hear wisdom.
- Undefended. The man had no plan to sin. Good intentions are not a defence; only a soul filled with wisdom's words is.
- Downward. The furnished room charms the guest, and the road runs on to the chambers of death — a dreadful end for a few moments of pleasure.
I have perfumed my couch with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Here the seducer's speech reaches its high point: three costly spices on a bed. Why does Scripture record her sales pitch in such detail, and where else do these perfumes appear?
These three spices are not random luxuries. Elsewhere they belong to holy things and to Christ Himself.
The myrrh and cassia … are the main ingredients in the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30). So they certainly stand for graces of the Spirit found in Him. The aloes count among the "chief spices" (Song 4:14). Myrrh is a gum. It drips out of the plant on its own, though you can also get it by cutting the plant.
That is what makes her invitation so shocking. She has taken perfumes that belong to worship and turned them into bait.
The blasphemy of that adulterous woman stands in solemn contrast to all this wealth of love and grace. She claims these fragrant odours for herself and uses them to attract the ungodly (Prov. 7:17). This is all the more terrible when we see in her the one who … is finally seen as "Babylon the great" in all her lewdness, to meet her just doom (Rev. 17, 18). There, too, she trades in a stolen fragrance (for she has no heart for Christ) — "cinnamon and spice and incense" (Rev. 18:13). Wherever she is recognised, let the saints of God heed the call: "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).
The same writer notes the only other places this word for cinnamon appears.
Sweet cinnamon. — This word appears in only two other places. One is the sad one we have just mentioned (Prov. 7:17). The other stands in blessed contrast: the true bride has all these fragrant perfumes put upon her — surely by grace alone (Song 4:14).
One woman claims the perfume; the other has it placed on her as a gift.
A few verses earlier this woman spoke of her sacrifices and vows. The perfumed bed follows in the same breath.
No one could deny that she was a religious woman. She must pay her vows properly when she was about to risk a delicate affair of the heart. Yet she, the wanton, did not blush to speak of going the whole way without disguise. "I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love." How terrible and how true this picture is! Religious ritual and luxury are in league, prostituting the name of love to unlawful affairs and to debauchery more guilty than the most brutal.
One writer hears the same speech wherever religion dresses itself up to charm the crowd.
Religion, so called, is at this moment decking herself with her most powerful charms. She has cast off the coarseness of the Middle Ages. Now she calls to her aid all the resources of refined taste and of a cultivated, enlightened age. Sculpture, music and painting are pouring their rich treasures into her lap. With them she prepares a powerful drug to lull the thoughtless crowd to sleep — a sleep broken only by the unspeakable horrors of death, judgement, and the lake of fire. She too can say, "I have peace offerings with me; today I have paid my vows… I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon." So corrupt religion lures, by her powerful influence, those who will not listen to wisdom's heavenly voice.
The chapter also shows where safety lies. One writer points to the detail that the whole scene happens after dark.
Only those who are wise, that is, those taught by God, will clearly see the character of this woman and have power to resist her advances. In verse 7, Solomon tells us he noticed one going after this woman, and he says he was a "simple one." When divine wisdom instructs us rightly, we pass the simple stage — the baby stage. Then we can tell the difference between good and evil, Heb. 5:13-14. If it was a simple one who went after her, it follows that a wise one would have avoided her. We are told this happened in the dark. So it has always been… This woman loves darkness rather than light because her deeds are evil. She deceives those who walk in darkness. She will never deceive those who walk in the light. That is where our safety lies.
- Perfume. Myrrh, aloes and cinnamon belong to the holy anointing oil and the chief spices. That fragrance speaks of Christ.
- Stolen. She claims that fragrance for herself and trades in it; she has no heart for the One it belongs to.
- Given. The true bride wears the very same perfumes, but they are put upon her by grace, not seized.
- Dressed up. Paid vows and a scented bed in one speech. Religion and vice work together, then and now, and lure those who will not hear wisdom.
- Light. The victim is simple, and the scene is dark; those who walk in the light are never deceived by her.
Come, let us revel in love until the morning, let us delight ourselves with loves.
This invitation is the last move in a staged seduction: in a dark street a woman offers a young man a whole night of what she calls love. Everything turns on that word — is it love at all, and what does it cost the man who says yes?
The chapter does not say "let us sin." It says "love," twice. One commentator shows what she does to that word.
Yet she, the shameless woman, was not ashamed to spell out everything plainly. She lists her tapestry coverings, her coloured cloths from Egypt, her couch perfumed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. How terrible and how true is this picture of religious ritual and luxury working together! It prostitutes the name of love, giving that name to illicit affairs and debauchery more guilty than the most brutal.
Just before this, she told him she had paid her vows and offered her sacrifices. One writer reads that as the logic behind her invitation.
The evident meaning of this is, having fulfilled religious formalities, we are now free to do as we like. The vow speaks of worship done as a duty and an obligation. The peace-offering speaks of fellowship. In the main, this is the burden of so-called religious instruction in many places today.
The young man who hears this offer is not a hardened sinner. One commentator says that is why the warning lands so hard.
On one side is a young man. He is idle and thoughtless, but his habits are not evil or immoral. On the other side is a woman given up to shameless immorality... The warning strikes home all the more because the young man has no plan of lust and no particular passion driving him. Nothing has been eating away at his moral principles. Nothing has worn down the barriers that kept improper advances out. He is a weak character, harmless so far, as men say, vain and pleased with himself — and he stands in the path of temptation.
She asks for the hours "till morning." The chapter places the whole scene in the twilight and the dark, and that detail matters.
The chapter tells us this happened in the dark. It has always been so. Not only are Christians called sons of wisdom in the New Testament, they are also called "sons of light," 1 Thess 5:5. This woman loves darkness rather than light because her deeds are evil. She deceives those who walk in darkness. She will never deceive those who walk in the light. That is where our safety lies.
Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Some read it as it stands: a warning to a young man about a real woman. Others see the strange woman of chapters 1–7 as a picture of something larger.
Look closely at every place where this woman is described. She is a fitting picture of what the New Testament calls "Mystery, great Babylon, the mother of harlots" (Rev. 17:5). The first seven chapters of Proverbs call us five times to consider this woman. She is clearly a great danger to the sons of wisdom, and we need to take great care in case we fall for her flattery.
On either reading, her method is the same.
She promises the night; the chapter tells you the destination, and also names the way out.
In Proverbs 7 the house of the strange woman is the path to the grave. Hold yourself in check. Stand firm against temptation. Look to Jehovah and listen to the words of the wise. These are the principles of life given in these chapters.
- Word — She says love twice. But she only borrows the name of love for something else. Test the word before you accept the offer.
- Cover — Her paid vows and her sacrifice come first: religious duty is done, so now "we are free to do as we like." Religious form clears her path; it never holds her back.
- Dark — She wants the hours until morning, because the dark is where she works. She will never deceive those who walk in the light.
- Prey — She picks a young man whose habits are not immoral, only empty and self-pleasing. That is all she needs.
- End — She offers a night of delight, but the road leads to the grave. Safety lies in self-control, firmness, and listening to wisdom instead of to her.
For the husband is not at home, he is gone a long journey;
This line is not another temptation. It is reassurance, aimed at the fear still holding the young man back.
She does not fail to quiet the fears that might frighten even the most thoughtless and reckless. She declares that her husband was away from home, gone on a long journey. He had plenty of money with him, and was not due back before full moon. It was not a Joseph who listened, but a match for Potiphar's wife who enticed. Who can wonder that the foolish youth gave in, despite his conscience! But oh, what sadness in the words that describe him giving himself to the ruin of soul and body!
Joseph is the contrast — the young man who refused his master's wife.
The absent man is not a stranger to her. He is her husband, and his journey is itself a sign of how safe he felt leaving her behind. One writer places her beside a loyal wife, and the contrast is total.
The opposite of this loyal wife is the woman with the bold face in chapter 7. Her husband, too, was absent: "My husband is not at home," she tells her yielding victim; "he has gone on a long journey. He took a bag of money with him, and will come home at full moon." Her husband trusted her too, perhaps. But he did not trust safely — she deceived him shamefully. She proved herself untrue.
The chapter sets the whole scene at twilight and in deep darkness. It also calls the young man who fell simple.
If it was a simple one who went after her, it follows that a wise one would have avoided her. We are told that this incident happened in the dark. So it has ever been. The New Testament calls Christians sons of wisdom. It also calls them "children of light" (1 Thessalonians 5:5). This woman loves darkness rather than light because her deeds are evil. She deceives those who walk in darkness. She will never deceive those who walk in the light. There lies our safety.
Read as a picture, this verse becomes the most searching line in the chapter. One writer hears in her excuse the same words Jesus gave to a servant who stopped expecting his master.
We see now that unfaithfulness to an absent Lord has made this woman what she is. We have here almost the identical words that fell from the lips of our Lord in a parable: "But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk" (Luke 12:45). These unfaithful servants seem to have some vague idea that Christ is coming back to set up His Kingdom. But they put that day so far off that they have lost interest in it. Meanwhile they claim lordship over the rest of the servants and live thoroughly worldly lives. They do not hesitate to use their Master's goods to satisfy their own desires.
Commentators differ in how far they press this. Some read the chapter as a warning against adultery. Others see in her the flattery of the world, or unfaithfulness among the Lord's servants.
Notice what her assurance actually rests on. She cannot say the husband will never come; she can only say he is not here yet.
The ways and enticements of the world (Proverbs 7) offer no security. She is "the stranger who flatters with her tongue"; she is "subtle of heart." The most she can claim is, "my husband is not at home." But, "while people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape" (1 Thessalonians 5:3).
- The excuse. Her last argument is not that the sin is good. It is that the owner is away. She quiets the one fear still holding the young man back.
- The absence. She trades on a trust she has already broken. Her husband left her free because he believed in her.
- The darkness. The whole transaction needs twilight; those who walk in the light are not the ones she deceives.
- The delay. This is also the voice of the servant who says his Lord is delayed and then lives as though the house were his own.
- The return. Her own words admit it — he will come home. Absence is never acquittal; it is only an appointment not yet kept.
he hath taken the money-bag with him, he will come home on the day of the full moon.
Her last argument is not passion but arithmetic: a husband on a long trip, a money bag in his hand, a fixed date for his return. The rest of the chapter shows what happens to the young man who accepts that sum.
Her closing words target the one thing that could still stop him: the fear of getting caught. One commentator shows what she takes away, and what the young man must silence in himself:
She does not fail to quiet the fears which might frighten even the most thoughtless and bold. She declares that the man, the husband, was away from home and gone on a long journey. He had plenty of money with him, and would not return before full moon. It was not a Joseph who listened, but a match for Potiphar's wife who enticed. Who can wonder that the foolish youth surrendered, despite his conscience! But how much sorrow there is in the language that describes him giving himself to the ruin of soul and body! "He goes after her suddenly." He does not dare to think of Jehovah, or of his own relation to Him. He gives no thought to father and mother, or to brothers and sisters. He does not think of the permanent wrong done to the absent husband, or of his own sin and crime.
Notice how thin her case is. She never claims the thing is right or safe — only that nobody is home tonight. One writer sets her claim beside the way ruin arrives on people who feel secure:
The most she can claim is, "my husband is not at home." But, "While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape" (1 Thess. 5:3).
Her words have an echo in the New Testament. A servant who counts on a master who stays away reasons just as she does, and lives as she lives:
We see now that unfaithfulness to an absent Lord has made this woman what she is. We have here almost the identical words that fell from the lips of our Lord in a parable. "But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk" (Luke 12:45). These unfaithful servants seem to have some vague idea that Christ is coming back again to establish His Kingdom. But they put that day so far off that they have lost interest in it. Meanwhile they claim lordship over the rest of the servants and live thoroughly worldly lives. They do not hesitate to use their Master's goods to satisfy their own desires.
The victim in this chapter is not a hardened sinner. That is what makes the scene so pointed:
On one side is a young man, idle and thoughtless rather than of evil or immoral habits; on the other is a woman given up to shameless immorality. And when a woman abandons all claim to modesty, who can be so recklessly corrupt or seductive? But the warning is all the more striking because the youth has no purpose of lust, and no particular passion at work. There is no thought or room for a general undermining of his moral principles.
If he had no bad intention and still ended up ruined, then intention is not the defence. Something must already occupy the mind before the temptation arrives.
This is a very important point. It is not enough (how often the Christian has found it!) to have no intention of doing evil, nor even to intend to do right. We are in a world of traps and temptations. We have to watch and pray, so that we do not enter into temptation. The soul must be filled with the divine things of wisdom. The thoughts of wisdom must guide the mind and the path, so that the attractions of evil and Satan's tricks take no hold on us.
She counted on time. The chapter counts the dead, and rules out the excuse that stronger people would have coped:
Her house is the way to hell. She has cast down many wounded, and strong men are all her slain. It is not human strength that resists temptation and passion. Such temptation has ruined many who were mighty in this world, and even mighty in character.
- Her case — The whole seduction rests on one claim: the husband is far away, carrying his money, and not due back yet. She never argues that the act is right.
- Her miscalculation — An absence with a fixed return date is not safety. Destruction falls on the very people who say "peace and security."
- Her portrait — Her reasoning is the unfaithful servant's reasoning: "My master is delayed in coming." Push the day far enough off, and you stop caring about it.
- Her target — Not the hardened sinner, but the idle and thoughtless young man, with no plan to do evil and no defence ready.
- Her defeat — Good intentions do not resist temptation, and human strength does not either. Only a mind already filled with wisdom, watching and praying, walks past her door.
With her much enticement she beguiled him; with the smoothness of her lips she constrained him.
She talks, and he goes. The trap in this chapter closes by speech, not by force. So what makes such words so hard to refuse? And what keeps a person free of them?
Earlier in the chapter the son is warned against a woman who "flatters with her words" (ESV: "the adulteress with her smooth words"). One writer notes that the danger begins with the simple fact that she is a stranger seeking closeness.
This is how God works in His goodness. He keeps a person "from the strange woman, from the stranger that flatters with her words." She was a "stranger" who sought closeness. For any soul with the fear of God, that alone is enough. Man is made in such a way that this should always warn him of danger. When man was first made, there was no stranger. The woman was built out of the man to be his wife, his counterpart. The danger is far greater now that man has fallen. "The strange woman" throws off the modesty proper to a woman. She appeals with flattering words to the vanity, the pride, or the lusts of man!
Flattering words are not simply pleasant words. They are untrue words, and that is the point of them.
Accepting flattery is accepting falsehood, for flattery is actually deceit: it is not even honestly meant, nor is it sober, real fact. Satan is extremely skilled in such methods.
The same method shows up wherever people are led away from truth. Fine delivery is no proof of a safe message.
Already men were going about deceiving believers. Note carefully that they were doing so "with enticing words." Smooth, elegant, persuasive speech is the main tool of deceivers. How often have simple, unsuspecting people said of some campaigner, "Oh, but he must be all right: he spoke so well!" Then a little checking afterwards showed he was as far from all right as could be.
Persuasion here is not only attraction. Part of her speech is aimed at removing the one thing that might have stopped him.
She also calms the fears that might frighten even the most thoughtless and daring. She declares that her husband is away from home. He has gone on a long journey, he has plenty of money, and he will not return before full moon. It was not a Joseph who listened, but a match for Potiphar's wife who enticed. Who can wonder that the foolish youth surrendered, in spite of conscience!
Her fine speech began with talk of sacrifices offered and vows paid that very day. One writer reads that opening as the oldest excuse in the world.
The obvious meaning of this is: having carried out the religious formalities, we are now free to do as we like. The vow speaks of servile worship and obligation. The peace offering speaks of fellowship. This is where the mass of people have got to in Christendom. People take vows, fill offices, and carry on servile worship in a formal way. They think they are serving God this way. In this chapter all these things happened in the dark, and this is the root of the false worship of God today.
Commentators read this chapter on two levels — as a literal warning about immorality, and as a picture of corrupt religious systems that use the same technique.
Wisdom and understanding should be our closest relatives (v. 4), by which we are kept from the seductions of harlots, whether literal harlots or false religions that put on a beautiful appearance and flattering words to deceive their victims (v. 5).
She caught someone already unprotected, and already out at night.
In verse 7, Solomon tells us he noticed one going after this woman. He says he was a "simple one." When divine wisdom teaches us properly, we pass the simple stage — the babe stage. Then we can tell the difference between good and evil. If it was a simple one who went after her, it follows that a wise one would have avoided her. This happened in the dark. So it has always been. This woman loves darkness more than light, because her deeds are evil. She deceives those who walk in darkness. She will never deceive those who walk in the light. That is where our safety lies.
Against flattering words, the defence is a word of a different kind — one that exposes rather than pleases.
Only by this Word can anyone have full confidence. It lights the way in front of him, while unbelievers walk in darkness. At times we need the last phrase here: "Reproofs of instruction are the way of life." The light exposes everything that does not fit the truth. When we receive the light, we welcome the reproofs it brings with it. How vital this is as a power to keep us from the evil woman who knows how to seduce by flattery those who are not protected by the light of God. Such warnings are badly needed. Even the saints of God are not exempt from this temptation, as David's history shows. We depend continually on God's preserving grace.
- Words. She never lays a hand on him. Her speech does the whole work, appealing to vanity, pride and lust.
- Falsehood. Flattery is not kindness turned up high — it is deceit, and receiving it means receiving a lie.
- Cover. Her flattery opens with religion: formalities first, then freedom to do as she likes.
- Darkness. She catches a simple one at night; those walking in the light are never her victims.
- Light. The Word that reproves keeps a person free. Welcome its correction, and her smooth talk loses its grip.
He went after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, and as stocks [serve] for the correction of the fool;
A young man walks off with the woman whose words have just won him over. Solomon compares him to an ox on its way to the butcher. The picture asks the question the whole chapter turns on: how does a person walk into his own ruin without seeing it coming?
The verse turns on a word of timing: he follows her at once. One writer lists what he never stopped to think about.
But oh, how moving are the words that describe him giving himself up to ruin of soul and body! "He goes after her suddenly." He does not dare to think of Jehovah, or of his own relation to Him. He does not dare to think of father and mother, of brothers or sisters. He does not dare to think of the wrong to the absent husband that can never be undone, or of his own sin and crime.
An ox walks to the slaughterhouse without alarm. That is the point of the image, and the same commentator draws out how much the young man had already been softened up before he moved.
She also makes sure to quiet the fears that might frighten even the most thoughtless and daring. She tells him that her husband is away from home. He has gone on a long journey, he has taken plenty of money, and he will not be back before the full moon... Who can wonder that the foolish young man gave in, despite his conscience!
The second half of the verse is hard to translate. The ESV reads "as a stag is caught fast." Older translations read "as a fool to the correction of the stocks." One Hebrew word lies behind the difference.
The Hebrew word ekes means 'fetter' or 'ankle band.' Isaiah 3:18 translates it 'tinkling ornaments' for the feet. There it is part of the dress of the proud daughters of Zion, who liked to make a tinkling noise when they walked. But God would bring all such ornaments to nothing. Translators render the same Hebrew word 'stocks' in Proverbs 7:22.
He thinks he is walking toward pleasure. The word says he is walking into chains.
The trap closed suddenly, but he had been drifting toward it long before. One writer looks back past the temptation itself to the man's conscience.
The young man who lacked sense went — note the way to her house. He did not plan it, as verse 21 shows. But the path of wisdom and her teaching would never have led him there... He was not walking in that light in which a man does not stumble. The conscience is never truly good there. It is not a bad conscience as such, but a good conscience always stays in the presence of God... Here were passions ready for the trap, with nothing to guard them, and a conscience that liked darkness better than light.
Willpower is not what keeps a man out of this trap. One writer points to what does.
The soul that does not watch and pray — that is not filled with wisdom's ways and wisdom's thoughts, kept by God's presence — will meet temptation somewhere... Human strength is not what resists temptation and passion. Such temptation has ruined many who were mighty in this world, and even mighty in character.
Another writer turns to verse 26, quoted here from an older translation, and finds the danger inside the strength itself.
"She has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men" (v. 26). Their strength itself becomes a hidden snare. Strong men think they are strong enough to walk into bad company and come away unharmed.
Scripture does not soften this, and neither should those who teach it.
Again and again, and yet again, Solomon warns his son against immoral women. His language is solemn and earnest. He warns him of their attractions, and shows clearly how completely ruined a man is if he falls... To agree together to stay silent on these delicate subjects is not wise, and it is certainly not what the Bible does.
- Drift — He did not set out to sin. Wisdom would never have led him near her door. Idleness and a conscience that liked the dark did.
- Flattery — She removed every fear before he moved: the husband is away, well supplied with money, and not back until the full moon. Words spring the trap, not force.
- Suddenly — Then the fall is instant. He gives no thought to God, to his parents, to the wronged husband, or to his own crime. He passes over everything that should have stopped him.
- Fetters — The word behind "stocks" means an ankle-band. He thinks he is walking free; he is walking into chains. The ox does not know the yard it is entering.
- Strong men — Strength is no defence; it is the snare. The men who think they can visit evil and walk away are the ones counted among her slain. That is why the warning is repeated, and why silence is not wisdom.
till an arrow strike through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for its life.
The verse is the last line of a story: an adulterous woman has talked a young man into following her, and the writer now tells us what the young man does not know. Two pictures carry the point: an arrow through the liver and a bird flying into a trap both say the damage is done before he knows the price.
One commentator maps the chapter: two appeals, and a long picture between them that ends at our verse.
Chapter 7 opens with a fresh appeal from a father to his "son" individually (vv. 1-5). Then comes the vivid picture of a young man with no understanding, drawn into the worst corruption by an adulterous woman (vv. 6-23). The chapter closes with a call to the "sons" as a group — a brief, earnest, and solemn warning (vv. 24-27) of the same kind, but deeper still.
The arrow does not simply wound him. It reaches an organ where a wound is fatal.
The large and heavy gland that produces the bile. A wound in the liver is fatal. Prov. 7:23. A liver poured out is a symbol of deep anguish. Lam. 2:11: cf. Job 16:13.
The verse says he does not know. One commentator names what he never lets himself consider.
But how moving are the words that describe him giving himself up to the ruin of soul and body! "All at once he follows her." He does not dare to think of Jehovah, or of his own relation to Him. He does not think of father and mother, of brothers or sisters. He does not think of the wrong done to the absent husband, which can never be put right. He does not think of his own sin and crime — let alone of giving himself to so vile a lover, or of the insult to society, degraded and godless as it is.
The bird rushes in because it sees food, not wire. One writer explains the design of a snare, and what Satan uses for bait.
A snare must stay hidden to work. It is useless to set a net where a bird can see it, Prov. 1:17; in the same way the hook in fishing is always hidden. The baits that Satan uses are things that men like. They are not always moral evils in themselves — riches, honour, and so on. But they may end in the loss of the soul. 1 Tim. 3:7; 1 Tim. 6:9; 2 Tim. 2:26. "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death." Prov. 14:27.
The verse names the price as his life. One writer weighs that price against what it buys.
These verses speak so plainly that there is no need to comment on them. But let every reader think carefully about this: evil can be so attractive that great numbers of people are deceived by it, and so take the road to the chambers of death and hell. How dreadful an end for the sake of a few moments of lustful pleasure!
Solomon returns to this warning more than once, and he does not soften the outcome.
Again and again, and yet again, Solomon warns his son against immoral women. In solemn and earnest language he warns him of their attractions, and shows plainly how completely ruined a man is if he falls.
The same book that shows a bird rushing into a snare also says a net spread in a bird's sight is useless. That second picture points to safety, and to what keeps a person in it.
A bird in the tree above with the snare on the ground is like a Christian walking in the Spirit; he is safe for the time being. But wisdom's children need to be kept up there after they have been carried up. They should not only "pray without ceasing"; they should also watch the movements of the enemy with care. Satan is not entirely ignorant of our tendencies, and we ought not to be ignorant of his schemes. Notice how crafty the bird-catcher is! See how carefully he spreads his net, and how he hides himself so that he is neither seen nor heard. And he is not content with catching those who were already seeking their portion here below; he tries to lure away even those in flight.
- Hidden — a snare works only while it stays out of sight, and Satan baits it with things people like, which need not be evils in themselves.
- Hurried — he follows her all at once, without daring to think of God, of family, of the wrong done to the absent husband, or of his own sin.
- Struck — the arrow reaches the liver, where a wound is fatal. The damage is done, not threatened.
- Unaware — he does not know the price, so the writer names it for him: his life.
- Escapable — a net in a bird's sight catches nothing, so watch the enemy's movements and keep praying.
And now, ye sons, hearken unto me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
The chapter has just told the story of a young man with no sense who walks straight into ruin. Now the teacher stops describing and starts pleading, turning from one son to a room full of them.
The chapter opens as private counsel and ends as a public appeal.
Chapter 7 opens with a fresh fatherly appeal to his "son" individually (vv. 1-5). Then comes the vivid picture of a young man without understanding, drawn into the worst corruption by an adulterous woman (vv. 6-23). It closes with a call to the "sons" as a group — a brief, earnest, solemn warning (vv. 24-27) of the same kind, but deeper still.
The call comes with a reason built into it. The speaker is not a distant moralist. He has been through the same pull himself, and the young are the people most sure they don't need him.
Young people act on impulse and trust themselves. As we have seen, the danger is not only for the depraved, but for the idle too, because of the corruption in the world through lust. So he sums up what has gone before with earnest affection, and adds a fresh warning of uncommon grace. "And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth." A father calls his sons to heed his words. They face pull from within and seduction from outside, so his call deserves the gravest attention. There is only one friend this close who has been through the same traps. No son can ignore his wise love without paying for it.
Attending to words is not an end in itself. It guards something deeper. The young man's collapse earlier in the chapter did not begin at the door of that house.
What then are the words of his mouth on that subject? "Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths." Joseph had no father nearby to advise him. The temptation came, and kept coming, through his master's wife. But he flatly refused her shameless flattery, like a man who sees the God no one can see. The ten commandments were not yet spoken; but he feared God, and he was jealous for his master's honour. "How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" ... Emptiness leaves the soul open for evil to enter and take possession... Evil begins not with the steps, but with the heart turning aside to such ways; to follow them is to stray.
A second writer ties this call to the verses that follow. There the woman's victims turn out to be strong men.
The chapter ends with more warning, which many deeply need. To both listen and to pay attention to the words of the Lord are of greatest importance. Then also, how vital to be in control of our own heart, not allowing it to waver or to stray in the paths of disobedience... Even their strength becomes a subtle snare, for strong men think they are strong enough to remain unharmed by trips into evil company. How dreadfully deceiving!
Kelly hears in that same line an echo of Samson, and even of David. David was not slain himself, but he "brought the sword on his house." Commentators differ over the wording here. One rendering says all her slain were strong; another reads that her slain are a mighty host.
There is a painful irony in the chapter's closing plea. The one calling the sons to listen did not, in the end, listen himself.
The strange women the Spirit of God warned him against in his youth are the women of other nations. The Spirit of the Lord foresaw the sad end of this great and wise king. So He warned him against the strange woman, pictured as the prostitute, who traps men and whose ways end in death. But he did not heed the heavenly wisdom that had taught and warned him... In the end, the temptations of the strange woman, which his own inspired pen had warned about, became a sad fact in his own history.
- Call. The story of the ruined young man ends in an appeal. The chapter widens from one son to all sons: listen.
- Credentials. The plea comes from the one friend who has been through the same traps. No son can brush off his wise love without paying for it.
- Heart. Listening guards the heart, and the heart is where the trouble starts. Evil begins not with the steps but with the heart turning aside.
- Strength. The strong are not exempt; the very confidence that says "I can handle it" is itself the trap.
- Solomon. Wisdom warned him in his youth, and he did not heed it. Hearing the words and keeping them are two different things.
Let not thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths
A father has just described a young man's ruin. Now he turns from the story and warns his sons. The danger reaches the heart before it reaches the feet. So where does straying begin?
The chapter ends with a father summing up his warning. One writer weighs why the young need to hear him:
Young people are quick to act on impulse and sure of themselves. As we have seen, the danger is not for the corrupt only, but for the idle too, because of the corruption in the world through lust. So he sums up what has gone before with affection, and adds a fresh warning of uncommon grace. A father calls his sons to heed his words against the pull inside them and the seduction outside them. Such a call deserves the gravest attention. No other friend stands so close and has been through the same snares. No son can ignore his wise love without paying for it.
The verse names the heart first and the path second. The same writer points to Joseph, who faced that pressure without a father nearby:
Joseph had no father nearby to advise him when the temptation came, and it kept coming, through his master's wife. But he refused her shameless flattery outright, as one who saw the Unseen. He feared God, and he guarded his master's honour... If the whole world lies in wickedness, or in the wicked one, then one needs dependence to walk the streets safely. One needs obedience too, with the worthy object in view. Emptiness exposes the soul for evil to enter and take possession... Evil begins not with the steps, but with the heart turning aside to such ways; to follow them is to stray.
One writer weighs the word "strange" and how Scripture uses it elsewhere:
"Strange" is a word used a good deal, and important. All gods that are not Jehovah are strange gods; fire not from the altar was strange fire. It is what does not belong to us, outside the relationship God has given us... Evil lures the heart into another channel. It turns away from weighing "the path of life," and follows the path of lust to death. What is right is not weighed in the soul. The special warning is withdrawal: do not come near the door of her house. Live away from it, in another scene of thought and being. There the will does not go down the path of lust, and lust gets no chance to seize hold of the will.
An empty heart is not a safe heart. One writer shows what should fill it, and what happens when something else does:
An unsatisfied heart is a constant source of danger. A divided heart is the continual cause of an inconsistent walk. But when Christ owns and fills the affections, we are above every temptation of the enemy... Always remember this: if our hearts are set on one single thing that the heart of God is not set on, to that extent we are out of communion... Let every young believer weigh this in the presence of God. Satan knows well, even if we forget, that his most successful temptations aim at the affections of the young.
Myrrh and cinnamon belong to the noblest use. One writer sees the same reversal in the world's pull on the heart today:
Sadly, there is a false use of myrrh and cinnamon... How sad that people degrade fragrances that should be kept for the noblest things. How much of that we see today! What should be only for our Lord now lures souls away, and the deceived are harmed. The world with its attractions has divided our hearts, trying to lure us away from Him. May we be so occupied with Him that nothing will be able to distract us!
- Heart — evil does not begin with the steps but with the heart turning aside; to follow is already to have strayed.
- Strange — "strange" means what is not yours, outside the relationship God gave. The answer is to withdraw, not to bargain.
- Distance — live in another scene of thought, far from her door. There lust gets no grip on the will.
- Emptiness — an unsatisfied or divided heart is a constant danger. An empty soul lets evil enter and take possession.
- Occupation — when Christ fills the affections, the heart rises above every temptation of the enemy.
for she hath cast down many wounded, and all slain by her were strong.
The seventh chapter of Proverbs ends with a father counting the dead. He has watched one young man walk into a trap. Now he asks a wider question. Not "could this happen?" but "who has already fallen, and what did their strength do for them?"
The two lines look like the same thing said twice — many wounded, many killed. One commentator argues the second line goes further. Its point is who the dead were.
And who has lived here a while without the saddest memories and the most humbling sights to confirm it? "For she has cast down many wounded, and all slain by her are strong." That seems to be the force of the second clause... it is difficult to understand that "all" her slain should be strong. The Revised Version suggests that "all her slain are a mighty host." Whether or not you accept that, it is true, and it goes further than the line before it, which fits the Hebrew style. No wonder the words recall not only Samson but even David. He was not slain himself, but he brought the sword on his house, and made the enemies of Jehovah blaspheme.
The ESV reads "all her slain are a mighty throng," which follows that same reading. One writer adds a name the reader may not expect — the man who wrote the warning. "But think of Solomon: after receiving these inspired descriptions and warnings, he forgot them all" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
If the fallen were strong, the obvious defence has already failed. One writer shows how their strength itself became the trap.
Even their strength becomes a subtle snare. Strong men think they are strong enough to stay unharmed by trips into evil company. How dreadfully deceiving!
So the answer is not stronger willpower. Another writer points to what keeps the soul instead.
The soul that does not watch and pray will meet temptation somewhere. Such a soul is not filled with wisdom's ways and wisdom's thoughts, and is not kept by God's presence... Human strength does not resist temptation and passion. Such temptation has ruined many who in this world were mighty, and even morally mighty. They fell into the snare and were ruined. Men who boast of themselves in other things have proved weakness in this, and were brought to ruin.
The chapter keeps calling this woman "strange." The word has a precise sense.
"Strange" is a word much used and important. All gods that are not Jehovah are strange gods; fire not from the altar was strange fire. It means that which does not belong to us, that is not in the divinely given relationship we are in... God made them male and female, "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." That is the closest relationship, as belonging to him, and its expression was right. This was mere corrupt lust — the woman a stranger to this divinely formed relationship. It drained the nature and the heart, and ended in death.
The verse just before this one warns the heart before it warns the feet.
Emptiness exposes the soul for evil to enter and take possession. "Abide in me, and I in you"... There is no other way to bear fruit that pleases the Father. He is glorified in this, that we bear much fruit — not just that we are kept from sin and shame and ruin. Evil does not begin with the steps. It begins with the heart turning aside to such ways, and to follow them is to stray.
One man is not on the casualty list. Joseph "had no father near to counsel him" when the temptation came, yet he refused her shameless flattery outright, "as one who saw the Unseen" (William Kelly).
Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Some read it of the sin named. Others read the woman as a picture of a corrupt religious system. One writer sets out her character:
She flatters men instead of telling them sober truth. Her counsel is foolish, not marked by divine wisdom. She is faithless instead of being true to the trust given her. She is a deceiver instead of dealing honestly... Above all she is a harlot when she ought to have been marked by moral virtue.
One writer applies the verse that way: "by flattery and promises beautifully adorned, these evil imitations of Christianity seduce great numbers" (L M Grant).
- Count — The verse is a casualty report. The shock is in the second line: not the weak, but the strong, and a mighty host of them.
- Names — The words recall Samson and David. Solomon wrote them, and then forgot them himself.
- Strength — The strength that looks like protection is the snare. Strong men assume they can visit evil and walk away unharmed.
- Strange — The word means what does not belong to you. It marks what stands outside the relationship God gave, like strange gods and strange fire.
- Heart — Ruin begins before the feet move. The guard is not willpower but a heart kept full, abiding in Christ and watching in prayer.
Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
Chapter 7 has followed a young man to the door of a strange woman's house. The closing line names that house by where it leads, not by where it stands.
The verse sounds extreme. One writer answers that it is exact.
And how forceful the words that follow! "Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death." They are words of truth and sobriety, so they exaggerate in nothing.
Older translations read "hell" here, where this one reads "Sheol." That word does not have one flat meaning.
Sheol is often translated "grave," and three times it is "pit." It refers to an invisible place or state. It may have several applications, according to the connection of each passage… "The wicked shall return to Sheol." Psalm 9:17.
The chapter calls this woman "strange." One writer traces what that word means.
"Strange" is a word much used and important. All gods that are not Jehovah are strange gods; fire not from the altar was strange fire. It is that which does not belong to us, not in the divinely given relationship in which we are… This was mere corrupt lust; the woman was a stranger to this relationship God formed. It spent the nature and the heart, and ended in death. The heart, drawn by evil, is turned into another channel, away from pondering "the path of life," following the path of lust to death.
The safeguard he offers is distance, not strength of will.
The special warning is withdrawal: not coming near the door of her house. It is living away in another scene of thought and being. There the will does not go in the path of lust, and lust has no chance to seize hold of the will.
The people ruined here are not the weak ones.
It is not human strength that resists temptation and passion. Such temptation has ruined many who in this world were mighty, and even morally mighty. They fell under the snare and were ruined. Those who otherwise boast about themselves have turned out weak in this very thing, and have been brought to ruin.
Strength does more than fail here. It is what talks a person into going.
Even their strength becomes a subtle snare, for strong men think they are strong enough to stay unharmed by excursions into evil company. How dreadfully deceiving!
Commentators also see a larger system in this woman. One traces her end to servants who stopped expecting their master to come back.
These unfaithful servants seem to have a hazy idea that Christ is coming back again to establish His Kingdom. But they put the date so far off that they have lost interest in it… Such will be the end of this system, Babylon the Great, the sum of all false profession. Again in this chapter her end is brought before us: "Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death," v. 27.
Another writer takes the same verse beyond the literal house.
This is just as true of false religions as it is literally. By flattery and promises beautifully dressed up, these evil imitations of Christianity seduce great numbers and lead them down to hell.
The road starts in the heart, before the feet move. The answer given is not just avoidance but occupation.
"Abide in Me, and I in you." "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you"; so spoke the Holy, the True. There is no other way of fruit pleasing to the Father. In this the Father is glorified, that we bear much fruit — not merely that we be kept from sin and shame and ruin. Evil begins not with the steps, but with the heart turning aside to such ways; to follow them is to stray.
- House — The verse names the building by where it leads. Its words are sober and exact.
- Way — "Sheol" covers the grave and the unseen state of the dead. It is where the wicked end up.
- Strange — She stands outside any relationship God gave. What flatters the heart spends it, and ends in death.
- Door — The safeguard is distance, not confidence. Stay away from her door and live in another world of thought.
- Slain — Strong men fill her list, because strength is what persuades a person he can walk in and walk out.