Proverbs 7:1-27--Warning Against the Adulteress

Proverbs 7
English Standard Version

Warning Against the Adulteress
7 My son, keep my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden woman,
    from the adulteress with her smooth words.

6 For at the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
    at the time of night and darkness.

10 And behold, the woman meets him,
    dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
11 She is loud and wayward;
    her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
    and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to offer sacrifices,
    and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
    colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
    aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
23     till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

​24 And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.

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How many times have we seen Solomon give this same admonition to his son now?  He must truly believe that his son is already caught in this trap or is on the path to be caught in this trap.  It may also be as we read today's text that we see Solomon talking about himself in third person and he is afraid that his son will make the same youthful mistakes that he did.  Since sons often follow in their father's footsteps, it would make sense why Solomon would be concerned that his son might make the same mistakes that he did--especially with the issues that this family has had with sexual sin in the past--not just with David, but with his sons openly committing sexual sin.

The first part of the passage is almost identical to the openings that we've read so far.  In a sense Solomon is saying that he is the voice of God in his son's life (almost like a prophet) because Solomon has been careful to teach his son all the Law of the LORD (however, he's concerned that his son will do as he did and not as he said--a valid concern).  So, the admonition comes once more to stay away from forbidden, seductive women--even in the times when you are young and hormones are raging.

Though a young man is "senseless" and full of passion that he can get caught up in the moment, he still has the advice of his parents to tell him not to go into certain areas of town no matter what time of day it is, and to not go out at night when people who don't want their evil deeds to be exposed by the sunlight come out.  We see this young man alone with no friends around him to guard his purity in the part of town where he likely knows this adulterous woman lives, and he knows how to get to her place of "work."  He is not without fault here as he would have had to have brought something of value with him in exchange for what he is looking for.

The passage mostly focuses on how she tempts him and has laid a trap for him in much the same way that a hunter baits a trap and waits to take the kill-shot.  That's how it is here.  She seduces the young man with her words and even fragrances and putting out the best linens and spices that were fit for a king.  Yet, as soon as she gets him inside, the trap is sprung.  That is not to say that he doesn't have a role in this as he went that way and chose to listen to her and to follow her into the house.

Solomon ends by encouraging all the men that he rules over, but especially the young men, to be attentive to the words that he has spoken to them as if he was their father.  Don't let your heart become wayward, and don't be controlled by your passions in that moment.  Don't go near the house of the adulterous woman, or you too will become her victim.  The way of sexual sin leads to the Grave and the place that we would today call Hell.  It is the end for those who are godless and wicked, and such is the person who would exchange sex for money (or maybe no money is exchanged, but they simply do not care about the woman already being married and seek their own sexual gratification, even if it means they cause her to break her vows.  It doesn't matter if she wants to do it, you should respect God enough to not get between two married people who have taken vows before God).