Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister, and call intelligence [thy] kinswoman
This chapter does not hand the son a rule; it tells him to treat wisdom as family. So why should kinship, of all pictures, be the thing that keeps a young man safe?
Kelly links this call to the new life God gives. That life brings a new set of relations.
In Old Testament times little was known of a new life from God. Still it was there, implied if not clearly taught. Hence the new call to say to wisdom, "You are my sister." Receiving God's word made this true. In contrast with one born of the flesh, "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." We are born again by the word of truth. So we become a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Our new relationship is with wisdom and understanding: near of kin, suited, beloved, and necessary.
Verse 4 does not stand alone. Verse 3 has just told the son to bind these words on his fingers and write them on his heart.
Binding God's commands on the fingers means applying them to every detail of the work our hands do. Writing them on the tablet of the heart means recording them there for good, as the motives behind all we do or say (v. 3). So wisdom and understanding should be our closest relatives (v. 4). 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 (v. 5).
Chapter 7 is not aimed at the person who plans to sin. It warns the one who intends no evil and gets caught anyway.
It speaks of the snares laid for those who have no intention to do evil, but whose desires and passions leave them open to those snares. So the soul must fill itself beforehand with the precepts and counsels of wisdom. Then the snares cannot catch it at all.
Darby goes on to what fills the gap good intentions leave.
It is not enough (how often the Christian has found it!) to have no intention to do evil. It is not even enough to intend to do right. … The mind lives in another sphere. It is indeed another nature. Evil is offensive to it. This nature detects evil in the attraction itself and treats that as evil, instead of being drawn by it. … The words of counsel are to be kept as well as laid up, treasured, and kept before one's mind. They are to be confessed and owned as that with which we are of kin, to keep us from the flatteries and allurements of sin.
Kelly reads verse 5 in an older translation, which calls the rival "the stranger that flatters with her words." Against that word, calling wisdom your sister decides who is allowed close.
A "stranger" who seeks familiarity is enough to warn any soul that fears God. Man is made in such a way that this should always be a signal of danger. When man was first formed there was no such thing as a stranger. The woman meant to be his wife, his counterpart, was built out of the man himself. How much greater the danger now, in a fallen condition, when "the strange woman" throws off what is proper to her sex and appeals with flattering words to the vanity, the pride, or the lusts of man!
Davison ties this kinship to discernment. In verse 7 the young man who follows her is called simple.
We are urged to claim kinship with wisdom. This suggests that our only safety lies in paying attention to what wisdom says to us. Only those who are wise — those taught by God — will clearly see the character of this woman and have power to resist her advances. … If it was a simple one who went after her, it follows that a wise one would have avoided her. … Those who walk in darkness are the ones deceived by her. She will never deceive those who walk in the light. There lies our safety.
Willis turns to Solomon, who wrote these words.
It seems that he did not apply the wisdom God had given him to his own walk. And how often we are better able to tell someone else how to walk rightly than to follow the right path ourselves.
- Kin, first. Wisdom is addressed as a relative because the new life God gives has a real relationship with wisdom and understanding — "suited, beloved, and necessary."
- Kin is written in. Kinship starts on the fingers and the heart. Apply God's commands to every detail of your work, and keep them there as your motives.
- Kin gets there first. This chapter's snare catches people who never meant to sin. So fill the soul with wisdom's counsels beforehand.
- Kin excludes the stranger. A stranger who seeks closeness is itself the danger signal. Family has your ear; a stranger must not.
- Kin walks in daylight. The one deceived here is simple, and out after dark. Those taught by God see her character. She never deceives those who walk in the light.
that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words.
In verses 1–4 the father asks his son to keep his words and to treat wisdom as family. Verse 5 gives the reason for it all: to keep him away from a woman whose weapon is her speech. (Older translations read "the strange woman… the stranger who flatters with her words.")
The verse begins with "to keep you." That points back to the words the father told his son to store up. One writer notes that this guarding starts before the temptation arrives, not just during it.
This personal appeal presses the value of the word as the great means of protection. "My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with you." There is not only the need to depend on God when trial comes. There is also the positive value of the truth and of God's will filling you beforehand. So the soul is strengthened inside against the snares outside, and they find the father's precepts already holding the ground.
The father's teaching moves from the hands, to the heart, to the family circle. What it guards against is wider than one type of seduction.
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 recording them for good as the motives behind all our actions and words (v. 3). So wisdom and understanding should be our closest relatives (v. 4). 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 (v. 5).
The verse names her twice, and the second name is the telling one. A stranger who pushes for closeness is itself the danger signal. That was not how man and woman began.
That she was a "stranger" who sought familiarity is enough for any soul with the fear of God. Man is made in such a way that it should always be a signal of danger. At the beginning there were no strangers; the woman came out of the man to be his wife, his counterpart. The danger is far greater now that we are fallen. "The strange woman" throws off the modesty proper to her, and appeals with flattering words to a man's vanity, pride, or lusts!
Her words are not just immoral. They are the opposite of honest speech. Trait by trait, she is the reverse of what she should have been.
Of her character we are not left in any doubt; she flatters instead of speaking sober truth to men; her counsel is foolish and not marked by divine wisdom. She is faithless, when she should have been true to the trust given to her. She is a deceiver, when she should have dealt honestly. She is unstable, when she ought to have stood firm. She is self-seeking, when she ought to have cared for the needs of others. Above all she is a harlot, when she ought to have been marked by moral virtue. She lies in wait everywhere, with flattering lips and every enticement of the flesh, to captivate the simple ones.
Not everyone can see through her. The story's setting shows who is at risk.
Only those who are wise — that is, those taught by God — will see this woman's character and have power to resist her advances… We are told that this incident happened in the dark. So it has always been… This woman loves darkness rather than light, because her deeds are evil. Those who walk in darkness are the ones she deceives. She will never deceive those who walk in the light. There lies our safety.
The warning does not stop at maturity. Even those Christ has set free need to watch themselves daily.
We are not in the flesh, because of the deliverance Christ has worked and given us. But the flesh is still in us. It is always ready to trap us into self-gratification, using Satan's tricks and the world's influence. God's power keeps us only as each one walks in faith — as one who has died and been crucified with Him, in continual self-judgment, with a living sense that He loved me and gave Himself for me. Where this has been forgotten, what dismal falls there have been, even among the strong!
- Kept — the verse is a purpose, not a command: everything stored up in verses 1–4 exists so that you may be kept.
- Kept by what — words laid up ahead of time, so the father's precepts already hold the ground when the snare appears.
- Kept by kin — wisdom and understanding held as your nearest relatives, worked into the hands and written on the heart.
- Kept from whom — a stranger who seeks closeness, flatters instead of telling the truth, and aims at vanity, pride, or lust.
- Kept where — in the light. She works in the dark and deceives the simple, but she never deceives those who walk in the light.