Proverbs 7:21-23

7:21 She persuaded him ¹  with persuasive words; ² 

with her smooth talk ³  she compelled him. ⁴ 

7:22 Suddenly he went ⁵  after her

like an ox that goes to the slaughter,

like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare ⁶ 

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ⁷  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ⁸ 

Proverbs 7:26-27

7:26 for she has brought down ⁹  many fatally wounded,

and all those she has slain are many. ¹⁰ 

7:27 Her house is the way to the grave, ¹¹ 

going down ¹²  to the chambers ¹³  of death.

Luke 11:8

11:8 I tell you, even though the man inside ¹⁴  will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s ¹⁵  sheer persistence ¹⁶  he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

Luke 18:5

18:5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out ¹⁷  by her unending pleas.’” ¹⁸ 

[7:21]  ¹ tn Heb “she turned him aside.” This expression means that she persuaded him. This section now begins the description of the capitulation, for the flattering speech is finished.

[7:21]  ² sn The term לֶקַח (leqakh) was used earlier in Proverbs for wise instruction; now it is used ironically for enticement to sin (see D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 280-92).

[7:21]  ³ tn Heb “smooth of her lips”; cf. NAB “smooth lips”; NASB “flattering lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause representing what she says.

[7:21]  ⁴ tn The verb means “to impel; to thrust; to banish,” but in this stem in this context “to compel; to force” into some action. The imperfect tense has the nuance of progressive imperfect to parallel the characteristic perfect of the first colon.

[7:22]  ⁵ tn The participle with “suddenly” gives a more vivid picture, almost as if to say “there he goes.”

[7:22]  ⁶ tn The present translation follows R. B. Y. Scott (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 64). This third colon of the verse would usually be rendered, “fetters to the chastening of a fool” (KJV, ASV, and NASB are all similar). But there is no support that עֶכֶס (’ekhes) means “fetters.” It appears in Isaiah 3:16 as “anklets.” The parallelism here suggests that some animal imagery is required. Thus the ancient versions have “as a dog to the bonds.”

[7:23]  ⁹ sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).

[7:23]  ¹⁰ tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.

[7:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “she has caused to fall.”

[7:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “numerous” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or “countless.”

[7:27]  ¹⁷ tn The noun “Sheol” in parallelism to “the chambers of death” probably means the grave. The noun is a genitive of location, indicating the goal of the road(s). Her house is not the grave; it is, however, the sure way to it.

[7:27]  ¹⁸ tn The Qal active participle modifies “ways” to Sheol. The “road,” as it were, descends to the place of death.

[7:27]  ¹⁹ tn “Chambers” is a hypocatastasis, comparing the place of death or the grave with a bedroom in the house. It plays on the subtlety of the temptation. Cf. NLT “Her bedroom is the den of death.”

[11:8]  ²¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man in bed in the house) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:8]  ²² tn Grk “his”; the referent (the first man mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:8]  ²³ tn The term ἀναίδεια (anaideia) is hard to translate. It refers to a combination of ideas, a boldness that persists over time, or “audacity,” which comes close. It most likely describes the one making the request, since the unit’s teaching is an exhortation about persistence in prayer. Some translate the term “shamelessness” which is the term’s normal meaning, and apply it to the neighbor as an illustration of God responding for the sake of his honor. But the original question was posed in terms of the first man who makes the request, not of the neighbor, so the teaching underscores the action of the one making the request.

[18:5]  ²⁵ tn The term ὑπωπιάζω (Jupwpiazw) in this context means “to wear someone out by continual annoying” (L&N 25.245).

[18:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “by her continual coming,” but the point of annoyance to the judge is her constant pleas for justice (v. 3).