Proverbs 7:23-27

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ¹  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ² 

7:24 So now, sons, ³  listen to me,

and pay attention to the words I speak. ⁴ 

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 ⁵  many fatally wounded,

and all those she has slain are many. ⁶ 

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

going down ⁸  to the chambers ⁹  of death.

[7:23]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn The literal translation “sons” works well here in view of the warning. Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “children.”

[7:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “the words of my mouth.”

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

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

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

[7:27]  ⁹ 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.”