The Proverbs
Proverbs 7
Chapter VII · Vol. II, p. 1088
1 Solomon persuadeth to a sincere and kind familiarity with wisdom. 6 In an example of his own experience, he showeth 10 the cunning of a lewd woman, 22 and the desperate simplicity of a young wanton. 24 He dissuadeth from such dangerous courses.
1 My ason,1 keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
A.M. cir. 3029. B.C. cir. 975.
a ch.1.8; 2.1-7; 3.1,3,21; 4.1,20,21; 5.1,2.
1 My son. The speaker is either God as the heavenly Father, or an earthly father, inspired by his Spirit, and speaking by his authority. That God himself is the speaker, seems warranted by the familiar reference to 'my commandments,' 'my law,' and the unqualified promises of life in keeping them—statements and promises far beyond the dignity and power of any earthly parent, and which God alone is able to make and realize.—C.
3 Bindd them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
d De.6.8; 11.18. ch.3.3; 6.21. Ps.119.9,11. Je.31.33. 2 Co.3.3.
4 Saye unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
e ch.2.2-4; 3.6; 4.5-8, with Job 17.14. Mat.12.49,50. Jn.14.21,23.
5 Thatg they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
g ch.5.3; 2.16; 6.24. Ec.7.26.
6 For2 at the window of my house3 I looked through my casement,
2 What follows appears to have been a fact observed by Solomon.
3 This narrative by no means contradicts the opinion that God the Father is the speaker and instructor; for the heart of a believer, the church of his redeemed, and heaven itself, is each called his house.—C.
7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths,4 a young man hvoid of understanding,5
12 Nown is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
n ch.9.14; 23.27. Eze.16.24,25. Je.3.2.
13 So oshe caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said8 unto him,
o Ge.39.7-12. Ec.7.26. Is.3.9.
8 Heb. she strengthened her face, and said, Je.3.3.
15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with pfine linen of Egypt.
p 1 Ki.10.28. Is.19.9. Eze.27.7.
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; let us solace ourselves with loves.
19 For the goodman1 is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
1 Her husband, whom she mentions with contempt, and pretends that there was no fear of his discovering them.
20 He hath taken a bag of money with 2him, and will come home at the day appointed.3
A.M. cir. 3029. B.C. cir. 975.
2 Heb. in his hand.
3 Or, the new moon.
21 Withq her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the rflattering of her lips she forced him.
22 He goeth after her straightway,4 as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the scorrection of the stocks;5
4 Heb. suddenly, Ac.14.13.
s Job 13.27. Je.20.2. Ac.16.24.
5 'As a hart boundeth into the toils' (Boothroyd). But this translation requires an unauthorized change on the original. The evident meaning is, that as a fool pursues his course to punishment blindly, and without thought, because he is a fool, so the victim of seduction (temporal or spiritual) follows his tempter, not merely because he is weak in moral principle, but void of a sound intellect.—C.
23 Tillt a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
24 Hearkenu unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth:
u ch.1.8; 2.1,2; 3.1; 4.1,20; 5.1; 6.20,21; see ver.1-4.
25 Letv not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths:
v ch.4.14,15; 5.8; 6.25; 23.31,33. Mat.5.28.
Notes
Ver. 1-5. My dear young friends, let me again press upon your consciences to lay up my advices and instructions in your judgment, heart, and memory; and carefully, tenderly, and readily to observe and practise them. Make yourselves familiar with Jesus Christ, and his spiritual instructions, as the most powerful means of preservation from the ensnaring arts and flatteries of whorish women, which is a privilege of infinite importance. 6-9. For, from my own window I observed a thoughtless young fop sauntering under night in the streets, and in a stately manner walking towards a corner which these infamous strumpets used to haunt. 10-20. There, one dressed in a light and whorish manner, and extremely skilled in the arts of enticement,—one extremely talkative, ready to brawl with her husband, given to idle visiting, and gadding about to places of dissipation and concourse,—met him, caught him in her arms and kissed him, and in an impudent manner told him that, being a devout lady, she had that very day been offering thank-offerings to God; and being to feast upon her share of the flesh thereof, she had solicitously sought him to take a part of it, and had happily found him;—and that she had decked and perfumed her bed in the most engaging manner,—in which they might riot all night in exquisite pleasures, without any danger, as the silly fellow called her husband was gone a long journey, had a great deal of business to transact, and would not return till the full moon. 21-23. Notwithstanding his showing some aversion at first, she, by her fair pretences and flattering speeches, quickly compelled him to follow her, as willingly, and no less stupidly, than an ox goeth to the slaughter, or a madman to the stocks,—never thinking of anything but pleasure, till the enraged husband sheath his sword in his bowels, or the judgments of God accomplish his irretrievable ruin!—24-27. Let me therefore beseech you, my dear young men, whom I unfeignedly regard, diligently to observe and practise these warnings which I have repeatedly given you. Never indulge the smallest inclination towards such women; never listen to their enticements; never indulge the smallest fellowship or familiarity with such; never hope to be safe in, or to return from, such courses; for many, even of those noted in valour and wisdom, have been totally ruined in reputation, estate, body, and soul by such women; and fellowship with them is the certain road to a miserable death and eternal damnation.
Ver. 14. Peace-offerings. The law of God, De. 12. 6, 7, adjudged the greater part of the peace-offering to the offerer as a feast for himself and his friends. And here, by a perverse interpretation, the beneficence of religion is made a cloak and incentive to sin.—Note, And let every Christian note it well: to turn the grace of God into licentiousness is a constant inclination in man, and a constant temptation of Satan. Let believers watch and pray that they follow neither. C.
Ver. 18. It is thus that by the misapplication of words, the world, the flesh, and the devil continue to seduce and destroy. Love is an attribute, a name for God himself; yet, under this name, the seducer covers her own perjury, her victim's lewdness, and the disregard and enmity of both to God. C.
Reflections.—It is necessary to love, search, and meditate on God's law day and night; and to make it the constant food of our heart and standard of our life. Then should we find therein the most sanctifying virtue. Magistrates and ministers should carefully inspect the people committed to their charge! And there is need of frequent and fervent prayers to God for our friends and neighbours, as we know not in what guilt fearful temptations may involve them if not overcome. The devil quickly finds business for idle and unseasonable saunterers, especially if young. And when women are once addicted to flaunting, loose, and gaudy apparel, and to wheedling in love matters, and are extremely talkative, and given to an unsettled and dissipated course, it will require no great pains to make harlots of them. Terribly base and impudent these women become who have thrown off the restraints of modesty peculiar to their sex. And sad is the case when husbands and wives are glad to be rid of one another's company. It is shameful, wicked, and ruinous, when Satan and his abominable agents or lusts are, in days of youth, preferred to Jesus Christ and his grace. But fearful and speedy destruction, from the crime itself, or from the hand of God or man, awaits the whorish adulterer. Surely then we should be solicitous to improve the falls and miseries of others, as a warning for us to take heed, lest, in the same thoughtless and inconsiderate manner, we hurry ourselves into everlasting ruin.