Proverbs 7:13-15

Context

7:13 So she grabbed him and kissed him,

and with a bold expression¹ she said to him,

7:14 “I have² fresh meat at home;³

today I have fulfilled my vows!

7:15 That is why I came out to meet you,

to look for you,⁴ and I found you!

Proverbs 7:25-27

Context

7:25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways –

do not wander into her pathways;

7:26 for she has brought down⁵ many fatally wounded,

and all those she has slain are many.⁶

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

going down⁸ to the chambers⁹ of death.

[7:13] ¹tn Heb “she makes bold her face.” The Hiphil perfect of עָזַז (’azar, “to be strong”) means she has an impudent face (cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV), a bold or brazen expression (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

[7:14] ²tn Heb “with me.”

[7:14] ³tn Heb “I have peace offerings.” The peace offerings refer to the meat left over from the votive offering made at the sanctuary (e.g., Lev 7:11-21). Apparently the sacrificial worship meant as little to this woman spiritually as does Christmas to modern hypocrites who follow in her pattern. By expressing that she has peace offerings, she could be saying nothing more than that she has fresh meat for a meal at home, or that she was ceremonially clean, perhaps after her period. At any rate, it is all probably a ruse for winning a customer.

[7:15] ⁴tn Heb “to look diligently for your face.”

[7:26] ⁵tn Heb “she has caused to fall.”

[7:26] ⁶tn Heb “numerous” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or “countless.”

[7:27] ⁷tn 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] ⁸tn The Qal active participle modifies “ways” to Sheol. The “road,” as it were, descends to the place of death.

[7:27] ⁹tn “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.”