Proverbs 7:14-27

7:14 “I have ¹  fresh meat at home; ² 

today I have fulfilled my vows!

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

to look for you, ³  and I found you!

7:16 I have spread my bed with elegant coverings, ⁴ 

with richly colored fabric ⁵  from Egypt.

7:17 I have perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

7:18 Come, let’s drink deeply ⁶  of lovemaking ⁷  until morning,

let’s delight ourselves ⁸  with sexual intercourse. ⁹ 

7:19 For my husband ¹⁰  is not at home; ¹¹ 

he has gone on a journey of some distance.

7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him; ¹² 

he will not return until ¹³  the end of the month.” ¹⁴ 

7:21 She persuaded him ¹⁵  with persuasive words; ¹⁶ 

with her smooth talk ¹⁷  she compelled him. ¹⁸ 

7:22 Suddenly he went ¹⁹  after her

like an ox that goes to the slaughter,

like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare ²⁰ 

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ²¹  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ²² 

7:24 So now, sons, ²³  listen to me,

and pay attention to the words I speak. ²⁴ 

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

do not wander into her pathways;

7:26 for she has brought down ²⁵  many fatally wounded,

and all those she has slain are many. ²⁶ 

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

going down ²⁸  to the chambers ²⁹  of death.

[7:14]  ¹ tn Heb “with me.”

[7:14]  ² tn 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]  ³ tn Heb “to look diligently for your face.”

[7:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “with spreads.” The sentence begins with the cognate accusative: “with spreads I have spread my bed.” The construction enhances the idea – she has covered her bed.

[7:16]  ⁵ tn The feminine noun means “dark-hued stuffs” (BDB 310 s.v. חֲטֻבוֹת). The form is a passive participle from a supposed root II חָטַב (khatav), which in Arabic means to be of a turbid, dusky color mixed with yellowish red. Its Aramaic cognate means “variegated”; cf. NAB “with brocaded cloths of Egyptian linen.” BDB’s translation of this colon is unsatifactory: “with dark hued stuffs of yarn from Egypt.”

[7:18]  ⁶ tn The form נִרְוֶה (nirveh) is the plural cohortative; following the imperative “come” the form expresses the hortatory “let’s.” The verb means “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill,” and can at times mean “to be intoxicated with.”

[7:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “loves.” The word דּוֹד (dod) means physical love or lovemaking. It is found frequently in the Song of Solomon for the loved one, the beloved. Here the form (literally, “loves”) is used in reference to multiple acts of sexual intercourse, as the phrase “until morning” suggests.

[7:18]  ⁸ tn The form is the Hitpael cohortative of עָלַס (’alas), which means “to rejoice.” Cf. NIV “let’s enjoy ourselves.”

[7:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “with love.”

[7:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the man.” The LXX interpreted it as “my husband,” taking the article to be used as a possessive. Many English versions do the same.

[7:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in his house.”

[7:20]  ¹² tn Heb “in his hand.”

[7:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “he will come back at.”

[7:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “new moon.” Judging from the fact that the husband took a purse of money and was staying away until the next full moon, the woman implies that they would be safe in their escapade. If v. 9 and v. 20 are any clue, he could be gone for about two weeks – until the moon is full again.

[7:21]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn The participle with “suddenly” gives a more vivid picture, almost as if to say “there he goes.”

[7:22]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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.

[7:24]  ²³ tn The literal translation “sons” works well here in view of the warning. Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “children.”

[7:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the words of my mouth.”

[7:26]  ²⁵ tn Heb “she has caused to fall.”

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

[7:27]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn The Qal active participle modifies “ways” to Sheol. The “road,” as it were, descends to the place of death.

[7:27]  ²⁹ 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.”