Proverbs 7 commentary

We must lay up God's commandments safely. Not only, Keep them, and you shall live; but, Keep them as those that cannot live without them. Those that blame strict and careful walking as needless and too precise, consider not that the law is to be kept as the apple of the eye; indeed the law in the heart is the eye of the soul. Let the word of God dwell in us, and so be written where it will be always at hand to be read. Thus we shall be kept from the fatal effects of our own passions, and the snares of Satan. Let God's word confirm our dread of sin, and resolutions against it.

Here is an affecting example of the danger of youthful lusts. It is a history or a parable of the most instructive kind. Will any one dare to venture on temptations that lead to impurity, after Solomon has set before his eyes in so lively and plain a manner, the danger of even going near them? Then is he as the man who would dance on the edge of a lofty rock, when he has just seen another fall headlong from the same place. The misery of self-ruined sinners began in disregard to God's blessed commands. We ought daily to pray that we may be kept from running into temptation, else we invite the enemies of our souls to spread snares for us. Ever avoid the neighbourhood of vice. Beware of sins which are said to be pleasant sins. They are the more dangerous, because they most easily gain the heart, and close it against repentance. Do nothing till thou hast well considered the end of it. Were a man to live as long as Methuselah, and to spend all his days in the highest delights sin can offer, one hour of the anguish and tribulation that must follow, would far outweigh them.

CHAPTER 7

Pr 7:1-27. The subject continued, by a delineation of the arts of strange women, as a caution to the unwary.

1-4. Similar calls (Pr 3:1-3; 4:10, &c.).

5. The design of the teaching (compare Pr 2:16; 6:24).

6. For--or, "Since," introducing an example to illustrate the warning, which, whether a narrative or a parable, is equally pertinent.

window--or, "opening"

looked--literally, "watched earnestly" (Jud 5:28).

casement--or, "lattice."

7. simple--as in Pr 1:4.

void of, &c.--(Compare Pr 6:32).

8. her corner--where she was usually found.

went ... house--implying, perhaps, confidence in himself by his manner, as denoted in the word

went--literally, "tread pompously."

9. The time, twilight, ending in darkness.

black ... night--literally, "pupil," or, "eye," that is, middle of night.

10. attire--that of harlots was sometimes peculiar.

subtile--or, "wary," "cunning."

11-12. loud--or, "noisy," "bustling."

stubborn--not submissive.

without ... streets, ... corner--(Compare 1Ti 5:13; Tit 2:5).

13-15. The preparations for a feast do not necessarily imply peculiar religious professions. The offerer retained part of the victim for a feast (Le 3:9, &c.). This feast she professes was prepared for him whom she boldly addresses as one sought specially to partake of it.

16-17. my bed--or, "couch," adorned in the costliest manner.

18-20. There is no fear of discovery.

21. caused ... yield--or, "inclines."

flattering--(Compare Pr 5:3).

forced him--by persuasion overcoming his scruples.

22. straightway--quickly, either as ignorant of danger, or incapable of resistance.

23. Till--He is now caught (Pr 6:26).

24. The inferential admonition is followed (Pr 7:26, 27), by a more general allegation of the evils of this vice.

26-27. Even the mightiest fail to resist her deathly allurements.

My son, keep my words - See Pro 2:1.

As the apple of thine eye - As the pupil of the eye, which is of such essential necessity to sight, and so easily injured.

Bind them upon thy fingers - See on Pro 3:3 (note).

Thou art my sister - Thou art my dearest friend, and I will treat thee as such.

The strange woman - The prostitute, the adulteress.

I looked through my casement - The casement is a small aperture in a large window, or a window opening on hinges. Here it means the lattice, for they had no glass windows in the East. And the latticed windows produced a double advantage

1. Making the apartments sufficiently private; and

2. Admitting fresh air to keep them cool.

Among the simple ones - The inexperienced, inconsiderate young men.

A young man void of understanding - בעל ראשאהץ חסר לב, "destitute of a heart." He had not wisdom to discern the evil intended; nor courage to resist the flatteries of the seducer.

He went the way to her house - She appears to have had a corner house sufficiently remarkable; and a way from the main street to it.

In the twilight, in the evening - Some time after sun-setting; before it was quite dark.

In the black and dark night - When there were neither lamps nor moon-shine.

A woman with the attire of a harlot - It appears that sitting in some open place, and covering the face, or having a veil of a peculiar kind on, was the evidence of a harlot, Gen 38:14, Gen 38:15-19. No doubt, in Solomon's time, they had other distinctions. In all other countries, and in all times. the show of their countenance did testify against them; they declared their sin as Sodom; they hid it not. However, this does not seem to have been a mere prostitute; for she was, according to her own declaration, a married woman, and kept house, Pro 7:19, if her assertions relative to this were not falsehoods, and calculated the better to render him secure, and prevent the suspicion of endangering himself by cohabiting with a common woman; which I am rather inclined to think was the case, for she was subtle of heart.

She is loud and stubborn - המיה homiyah, she is never at rest, always agitated; busily employed to gain her end, and this is to go into the path of error: סררת sorereth, "turning aside;" preferring any way to the right way. And, therefore, it is added, her feet abide not in her house, she gads abroad; and this disposition probably first led her to this vice.

Now is she without - She is continually exposing herself, and showing by her gait and gestures what she is, and what she wants. These two verses are a parenthesis, intended to show the character of the woman.

So she caught him - Laid fast hold on him, and kissed him, to show that she was affectionately attached to him.

And with an impudent face - העזה פניה heezzah paneyha, "she strengthened her countenance," assumed the most confident look she could; endeavored to appear friendly and sincere.

I have peace-offerings with me - More literally, "the sacrifices of the peace-offerings are with me." Peace-offerings Mymlv shelamim, were offerings the spiritual design of which was to make peace between God and man, to make up the breach between them which sin had occasioned; see the notes on Leviticus 7 (note), where every kind of sacrifice offered under the law is explained. When the blood of these was poured out at the altar, and the fat burnt there, the breast and right shoulder were the priest's portion; but the rest of the carcass belonged to the sacrificer, who might carry it home, and make a feast to his friends. See Lev 3:1-11. Much light is cast on this place by the fact that the gods in many parts of the East are actually worshipped in brothels, and fragments of the offerings are divided among the wretches who fall into the snare of the prostitutes - Ward's Customs.

Have I payed my vows - She seems to insinuate that she had made a vow for the health and safety of this young man; and having done so, and prepared the sacrificial banquet, came actually out to seek him, that he might partake of it with her, Pro 7:15. But, as she intended to proceed farther than mere friendship, she was obliged to avail herself of the night season, and the absence of her husband.

I have decked my bed - ערשי arsi, "my couch or sofa;" distinguished from משכבי mishcabi, "my bed," Pro 7:17, the place to sleep on, as the other was the place to recline on at meals. The tapestry, מרבדים marbaddim, mentioned here seems to refer to the covering of the sofa; exquisitely woven and figured cloth. חטבות אטון chatuboth etun, the Targum translates painted carpets, such as were manufactured in Egypt; some kind of embroidered or embossed stuff is apparently meant.

I have perfumed any bed with Myrrh - מר mor, "aloes," אהלים ahalim, and "cinnamon," קנמון kinnamon. We have taken our names from the original words; but probably the ahalim may not mean aloes, which is no perfume; but sandal wood, which is very much used in the East. She had used every means to excite the passions she wished to bring into action.

Come, let us take our fill of love - נרוה דדים nirveh dodim, "Let us revel in the breasts;" and then it is added, "Let us solace ourselves with loves," נתעלסה באהבים nithallesah boohabim; "let us gratify each other with loves, with the utmost delights." This does not half express the original; but I forbear. The speech shows the brazen face of this woman, well translated by the Vulgate, "Veni, inebriemur uberibus; et fruamur cupidinis amplexibus." And the Septuagint has expressed the spirit of it: Ελθε, και απολαυσωμεν φιλιας - δευρο, και εγκυλισθωμεν ερωτι. "Veni, et fruamur amicitia - Veni, et colluctemur cupidine." Though varied in the words, all the versions have expressed the same thing. In the old MS. Bible, the speech of this woman is as follows: I have arrayed with cordis my litil bed, and spred with peyntid tapetis of Egipt: I have springid my ligginge place with mirre and aloes and calelcum, and be we inwardly drunken with Tetis, and use we the coveytied clippingis to the tyme that the dai wax light. The original itself is too gross to be literally translated; but quite in character as coming from the mouth of an abandoned woman.

For the good man - Literally, "For the man is not in his house."

He hath taken - Literally, "The money bag he hath taken in his hand." He is gone a journey of itinerant merchandising. This seems to be what is intended.

And will come home at the day appointed - ליום הכסא leyom hakkase, the time fixed for a return from such a journey. The Vulgate says, "at the full moon." The Targum, "the day of the assembly." In other words, He will return by the approaching festival.

With her much fair speech - With her blandishments and lascivious talk, she overcame all his scruples, and constrained him to yield.

As an ox goeth to the slaughter - The original of this and the following verse has been variously translated. Dr. Grey corrects and translates thus: "He goeth after her straightway, as an Ox goeth to the Slaughter; as a Dog to the Chain; and as a Deer till the Dart strike through his liver; as a Bird hasteneth to the Snare, and knoweth not that it is for its life." Very slight alterations in the Hebrew text produce these differences; but it is not necessary to pursue them; all serve to mark the stupidity and folly of the man who is led away by enticing women or who lives a life of intemperance.

Hearken unto me now, therefore, O ye children - Ye that are young and inexperienced, seriously consider the example set before your eyes, and take warning at another's expense.

For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her - That is, such like women have been the ruin of many. חללים chalalim, which we render wounded, also signifies solsliers or men of war; and עצמים atsumim, which we render strong men, may be translated heroes. Many of those who have distinguished themselves in the field and in the cabinet have been overcome and destroyed by their mistresses. History is full of such examples.

Her house is the way to hell - שאול sheol, the pit, the grave, the place of the dead, the eternal and infernal world. And they who, through such, fall into the grave, descend lower, into the chambers of death; the place where pleasure is at an end, and illusion mocks no more.

Live - Thou shalt live. Eye - With all possible care and diligence.

Bind them - As a ring which is continually in a man's eye.

And call - Acquaint and delight thyself with her.

Passing - Idle and careless, near the corner of the street in which her house stood.

Without - Without the door of her house. Corner - Of the streets, where she might either conceal or discover herself, as she saw fit.

Offerings - I have paid my peace - offerings which I had vowed. Whereby she signifies, that she had plentiful provisions at her house for his entertainment. For the peace - offerings were to be of the best flesh, Lev 22:21, and a considerable part of these offerings fell to the offerer's share.

Hath taken - Which is an evidence that he designs to stay a considerable time. At the day - So that we need not fear any surprise.

As an ox - Going to it securely, as if it were going to a good pasture.

His liver - His vital parts, 'till his life be lost.

2. Keep my commandments, and live : and my law as the apple of thine eye .

i. e. Thou shalt live. A promise in the form of a command, as Prov. 3. 25.

With all possible care and diligence, as men guard that part from all dangers, yea even from the least mote. The Eye is a most noble and necessary, and therefore highly esteemed and beloved [illegible: 1+ letters]art of the Body▪ and the Apple thereof is the most honourable, and beautiful, and useful part of that part, and it is a most tender part, easily hurt or destroyed, and therefore needs to to be diligently watched.

Marginal references: Lev. 18. 5. Ch. 4. 4.

3. Bind them upon thy fingers , write them upon the table of thine heart .

As a Ring which is put upon them, and is continually in a Man's Eye. Constantly remember them, and meditate upon them.

Fix them in thy mind and affection. See on Prov. 3. 3.

Marginal references: Deut. 6. 8. & 11. 18. Ch. 3. 3. & 6. 21.

4. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman :

When other foolish young men seek wanton Mistresses, whom they frequently call Sisters or Kinswomen, let wisdom be thy Mistress, acquaint and delight thy self with her, and let her have the command of thy Heart, and the conduct of thy life.

5. That they may keep thee from the strange woman from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

This priviledge Solomon doth so oft inculcate, either because he found in himself the great power and besotting nature of lustful inclinations; or because he observed these Vices to abound more in his time, in which Peace and Prosperity made way for Luxury and Uncleanness.

Marginal references: Ch, 2. 16. & 5. 3.; Or, maketh smooth her words.

6. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement ,

This is either an historical relation, or rather a parabolical representation of that which frequently happened.

7. And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding.

Whose strength and heat made him most subject to lustful impressions, and who wanted judgment and experience as well as grace to keep him from such courses.

Marginal references: Heb. the Sons.

8. Passing through the street near her corner , and he went the way to her house .

Idle and careless.

Near the corner of the Street in which her House stood, such places being most convenient for that wicked purpose, as giving opportunity either for the discovery of Passengers in several Streets, or for the escape of such as might be in danger of being taken in her House. Comp. v. 12.

Not with intention to act gross filthiness with her as may be gathered from the following passages, but to gratifie his curiosity, and to understand the manner of such Persons, and to please himself with the fight of her, or discourse of her.

9. In the twilight in the evening , in the black, and dark-night :

When the Day labour being ended he was at leisure for any thing; and when such Strumpets used to walk abroad for prey.

When it begun to be black and dark.

Marginal references: Heb. in t[illegible: 1+ letters] evening of the day.

10. And behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot , and subtil of heart.

With an habit and carriage agreeable to her quality and design.

Or, wary or reserved, as she shewed in her following discourse, wherein she proposeth all things which might invite him, and conceals whatsoever might discourage him.

Marginal references: Heb. reserved

11. She is loud and stubborn , her feet abide not in her house .

Or, clamorous, or full of talk, which served her design.

Rebellious against God, and against her Husband, and incorrigible by all admonitions of Ministers or Friends.

She minds not her business, which lies at home, but gives up her self wholly to idleness, and pleasure, which she seeks abroad with other men.

Marginal references: Ch. 9. 13▪; 1 Tim. 5. 13▪ Tit. 2. 5.

12. Now is she without , now in the streets , and lieth in wait at every corner .

Standing or waiting without or nigh the Door of her house.

In places of resort.

At the corners of the Streets, where she might either conceal or discover her self, as she saw fit.

14. I have peace-offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows .

I have paid my Peace-offerings which I had Vowed. Whereby she signifies, either 1. that she was no common Harlot, but one of good repute for Religion. Or rather 2. that she had plentiful and excellent Provisions at her House for his entertainment. For the Peace-offerings were to be of the best Flesh, Levit. 22. 21. and a considerable part of these Offerings fell to the Offerers share, wherewith they used to feast themselves and their friends. See Levit. 2. 3, &c. and 7. 31, &c. and 19. 6, &c. and 22. 30, &c. whereas the Burnt-offerings were wholly consumed, and the Flesh of the Sin-offerings and Trespass-offerings belonged to the Priest.

Marginal references: Heb. Pe[illegible: 1+ letters] Offerings ar[illegible: 1+ letters] upon me.

15. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face , and I have found thee .

As not being able to take any pleasure in my Feast without thy company.

By an happy providence of God complying with my desires.

16. I have deckt my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linnen of Egypt .

She designs to inflame his lust by the mention of the Bed, and by its Ornaments and perfumes.

19. For the good-man is not at home, he is gone a long journey;

Whom she doth not call her Husband, lest the mention of that name should awaken his Conscience or Discretion.

20. He hath taken a bag of money with him , and will come home at the the day appointed .

Which is an evidence that he designs to go far and to stay a considerable time.

So that we need not fear any surprisal.

Marginal references: Heb. i[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1 word] hand.; Or, the [illegible: 1 word] Moon.

21. With much fair speech she caused him to yield , with the flattering of her lips she forced him .

Which implies that her alluring words were more effectualwith him than her impudent kisses, which possibly had a little alienated his mind from her.

Whereby he signifies that no provocation to sin is a sufficient excuse for sin.

She prevailed over him. Which argues that there was some reluctancy in his judgment or conscience against it.

22. He goeth after her straightway , as an oxe to the slaughter , or as a fool to the correction of the stocks ▪

Without delay and consideration.

Either being drawn and driven to it: Or going to it securely, as if it were going to a good Pasture.

Or, which is more agreeable to the order of the words in the Hebrew Text, as one in Fetters, or, bound with Fetters, to the correction of a Fool, i. e. to receive such correction or punishment, as belongs to fools. Which may imply, either 1. that he hath no more sense of the shame and mischief which he is bringing upon himself than a Fool. Or, 2. that he can no more resist the temptation, nor avoid the danger than a man fast tied with Chains or Fetters can free himself, although his be a moral and voluntary and not a natural impotency.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word].; [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]

23. Till a dart strike through his liver , as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

i. e. His vital parts, whereof the Liver is one. Till his lif be lost, as it is explained in the next Clause.

Which may be referred either to foolish and inconsiderate young Man; or to the silly Bird to which he is compared, which comes to the same thing.

25. Let not thine heart decline to her ways , go not astray in her paths.

Either to the paths which lead to her House: or to her manner of living.

26. For she hath cast down many wounded, yea many strong men have been slain by her.

Men that excel others, either 1. in bodily strength, upo which they presume, which yet is wasted and by degrees ruined by these courses. Or. 2. in wisdom and fortitude and resolution. Whereby he implies how much more necessary it is for a weak and foolish young Man to use all possible care and diligence to avoid this mischief.

27. Her house is the way to hell , going down to the chambers of death.

Or, to the Grave; for the word is used in both senses; and this sense seems better to agree both with the foregoing and following words. Although, without repentance, Hell will certainly be their portion, and their first death will be followed by the second.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 18. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters] 9. [illegible: 1 word]

Pro 7:1-3

The introduction first counsels in general to a true appreciation of these well-considered life-rules of wisdom. 1 My son, keep my words,    And treasure up my commandments with thee. 2 Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live;    And my instruction as the apple of thine eye. 3 Wind them about thy fingers,    Write them on the tablet of thy heart.

The lxx has after Pro 7:1 another distich; but it here disturbs the connection. Regarding צפן, vid., at Pro 2:1; אתּך refers, as there, to the sphere of one’s own character, and that subjectively. Regarding the imper. וחיה, which must here be translated according to its sense as a conclusion, because it comes in between the objects governed by שׁמר, vid., at Pro 4:4. There וחיה is punctuated with Silluk; here, according to Kimchi (Michlol 125a), with Segol-Athnach, וחיה, as in the Cod. Erfurt. 2 and 3, and in the editions of Athias and Clodius, so that the word belongs to the class פתחין באתנח (with short instead of long vowel by the pausal accent): no reason for this is to be perceived, especially as (Pro 4:4) the Tsere (ê from aj) which is characteristic of the imper. remains unchanged. Regarding אישׁון העין, Arab. insân el-'ain, the little man of the eye, i.e., the apple of the eye, named from the miniature portrait of him who looks into it being reflected from it, vid., at Psa 17:8; the ending ôn is here diminutive, like Syr. achuno, little brother, beruno, little son, and the like. On Pro 7:3, vid., at Pro 6:21; Pro 3:3. The תפילין שׁל ידתפילין, prayer-fillets, phylacteries. were wound seven times round the left arm and seven times round the middle finger. The writing on the table of the heart may be regarded as referring to Deu 6:9 (the Mezuzoth).= the door-posts, afterwards used by the Jews to denote the passages of Scripture written on the door-posts.

Pro 7:4-5

The subject-matter of this earnest warning are the admonitions of the teacher of wisdom, and through him of Wisdom herself, who in contrast to the world and its lust is the worthiest object of love, and deserves to be loved with the purest, sincerest love: 4 Say to wisdom: “Thou art my sister!”    And call understanding “Friend;” 5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman,    From the stranger who useth smooth words.

The childlike, sisterly, and friendly relationship serves also to picture forth and designate the intimate confidential relationship to natures and things which are not flesh and blood. If in Arabic the poor is called the brother of poverty, the trustworthy the brother of trustworthiness, and abu, um (אם), achu, ucht, are used in manifold ways as the expression for the interchangeable relation between two ideas; so (as also, notwithstanding Ewald, §273b, in many Hebr. proper names) that has there become national, which here, as at Job 17:14; Job 30:29, mediated by the connection of the thoughts, only first appears as a poetic venture. The figurative words of Pro 7:4 not merely lead us to think of wisdom as a personal existence of a higher order, but by this representation it is itself brought so near, that אם easily substitutes itself, Pro 2:3, in the place of אם. אחתי of Solomon’s address to the bride brought home is in its connection compared with Book of Wisdom 8:2. While the ôth of אחות by no means arises from abstr. ûth, but achôth is derived from achajath, מודע (as Rth 2:1, cf. מודעת, Pro 3:2), here by Mugrash מודע, properly means acquaintance, and then the person known, but not in the superficial sense in which this word and the Arab. ma'arfat are used (e.g., in the Arabic phrase quoted by Fleischer, kanna aṣḥaab ṣarna m'aaraf - nous étions amis, nous en sommes plus que de simples connaissances), but in the sense of familiar, confidential alliance. The infin. לשׁמרך does not need for its explanation some intermediate thought to be introduced: quod eo conducet tibi ut (Mich.), but connects itself immediately as the purpose: bind wisdom to thyself and thyself to wisdom thus closely that thou mayest therewith guard thyself. As for the rest, vid., Pro 2:16; this verse repeats itself here with the variation of one word.

Pro 7:6-7

How necessary it is for the youth to guard himself by the help of wisdom against the enticements of the wanton woman, the author now shows by a reference to his own observation. 6 For through the window of my house,    From behind the lattice I looked out; 7 Then saw I among the simple ones,    Discerned among the young people, a youth devoid of understanding. כּי refers indeed to the immediately following clause, yet it actually opens up the whole following exemplification. The connection with Pro 7:5 would be closer if instead of the extended Semitic construction it were said: nam quum ...prospicerem vidi, etc. חלּון (from חלל, to bore through) is properly a place where the wall is bored through. אשׁנב .hguor (from שׁנב = Arab. shaniba, to be agreeable, cool, fresh) is the window-lattice or lattice-window, i.e., lattice for drawing down and raising up, which keeps off the rays of the sun. נשׁקף signifies primarily to make oneself long in order to see, to stretch up or out the neck and the head, καραδοκεῖν, Arab. atall, atal'a, and tatall'a of things, imminere, to overtop, to project, to jut in; cf. Arab. askaf of the ostrich, long and bent, with respect to the neck stretching it up, sakaf, abstr. crooked length. And בּעד is thus used, as in Arab. duna, but not b'ad, is used: so placed, that one in relation to the other obstructs the avenue to another person or thing: “I looked forth from behind the lattice-window, i.e., with respect to the persons or things in the room, standing before the lattice-window, and thus looking out into the open air” (Fleischer). That it was far in the night, as we learn at Pro 7:9, does not contradict this looking out; for apart from the moon, and especially the lighting of the streets, there were star-lit nights, and to see what the narrator saw there was no night of Egyptian darkness. But because it was night 6a is not to be translated: I looked about among those devoid of experience (thus e.g., Löwenstein); but he saw among these, observed among the youths, who thus late amused themselves without, a young man whose want of understanding was manifest from what further happened. Bertheau: that I might see, is syntactically impossible. The meaning of וארא is not determined by the אבינה following, but conversely אבינה stands under the operation of ו (= אבינה, Neh 13:7), characterizing the historic aorist. Regarding פּתי, vid., at Pro 1:4. בּנים is the masc. of בּנות, Arab. benât in the meaning maiden. בבּנים has in correct texts, according to the rules of the accents, the ב raphatum.Regarding the Targ. of Pro 7:6-7, vid., Perles, Etymologische Studien, 1871, p. 9.

Pro 7:8-9

Now follows, whither he saw the young fop [Laffen] then go in the darkness. 8 Going up and down the street near her corner,    And he walked along the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, when the day declined,    In the midst of the night and deep darkness.

We may interpret עבר as appos.: juvenem amentem, ambulantem, or as the predicate accus.: vidi juvenem ... ambulantem; for that one may so express himself in Hebrew (cf. e.g., Isa 6:1; Dan 8:7), Hitzig unwarrantably denies. The passing over of the part. into the finite, 8b, is like Pro 2:14, Pro 2:17, and that of the inf. Pro 1:27; Pro 2:8. שׁוּק, Arab. suk (dimin. suweiḳa, to separate, from sikkat, street, alley), still means, as in former times, a broad street, a principal street, as well as an open place, a market-place where business is transacted, or according to its etymon: where cattle are driven for sale. On the street he went backwards and forwards, yet so that he kept near to her corner (i.e., of the woman whom he waited for), i.e., he never withdrew himself far from the corner of her house, and always again returned to it. The corner is named, because from that place he could always cast a look over the front of the house to see whether she whom he waited for showed herself. Regarding פּנּהּ for פּנּתהּ, vid., at Psa 27:5 : a primary form פּן has never been in use; פּנּים, Zec 14:10, is plur. of פּנּהּ. אצל (from אצל, Arab. wasl, to bind) is, as a substantive, the side (as the place where one thing connects itself with another), and thus as a preposition it means (like juxta from jungere) beside, Ital. allato. דּרכו is the object. accus., for thus are construed verbs eundi (e.g., Hab 3:12, Num. 30:17, cf. Pro 21:22).

Pro 7:10-12

Finally, the young man devoid of understanding sees his waiting rewarded: like meets like. 10 And, lo, a woman coming to meet him,      In the attire of an harlot and of subtle heart. 11 Boisterous is she, and ungovernable;      Her feet have no rest in her own house. 12 At one time before her door, at another in the street,      And again at every corner she places herself on the watch. “Pro 7:12 (Hitzig) expresses what is wont to be, instead of a single event, Pro 7:11, viz., the custom of a street harlot. But she who is spoken of is not such an one; lurking is not applicable to her (cf. Job 31:9), and, Pro 7:11, it is not meant that she is thus inclined.” But Hitzig’s rendering of Pro 7:11, “she was boisterous ... in her house her feet had no rest,” is inaccurate, since neither היאו nor שׁכנוּ is used. Thus in Pro 7:11 and Pro 7:12 the poet gives a characteristic of the woman, introduced by הנּהו into the frame of his picture, which goes beyond that which then presented itself to his eyes. We must with Pro 7:12 reject also Pro 7:11; and even that would not be a radical improvement, since that characteristic lying behind the evident, that which was then evident begins with וּנצרת לב (and subtle in heart). We must thus suppose that the woman was not unknown to the observer here describing her. He describes her first as she then appeared. שׁית Hitzig regards as equivalent to שׁוית, similitude (from שׁוה), and why? Because שׁית does not mean “to lay against,” but “to place.” But Exo 33:4 shows the contrary, and justifies the meaning attire, which the word also has in Psa 73:6. Meîri less suitably compares 2Ki 9:30, but rightly explains תקון (dressing, ornament), and remarks that שׁית elliptical is equivalent to בּשׁית. It is not the nominative (Bertheau), but the accusative, as תבנית, Psa 144:12, Ewald, §279d. How Hitzig reaches the translation of ונצרת לב by “and an arrow in her heart” (et saucia corde)Virgil’s Aeneid, iv. 1. one can only understand by reading his commentary. The usage of the language, Pro 4:23, he remarks, among other things, would stamp her as a virtuous person. As if a phrase like נצר לב could be used both sensu bono and sensu malo! One can guard his heart when he protects it carefully against moral danger, or also when he purposely conceals that which is in it. The part. נצוּר signifies, Isa 1:8, besieged (blockaded), Eze 16:12, protected, guarded, and Isa 48:6; Isa 65:4, concealed, hidden. Ewald, §187b, refers these three significations in the two passages in Isaiah and in the passage before us to צרר, Niph. נצר (as נגל); but (1) one would then more surely take צוּר (cf. נמּול, נבכים) as the verbal stem; (2) one reaches the idea of the concealed (the hidden) easier from that of the preserved than from that of the confined. As one says in Lat. homo occultus, tectus, abstrusus, in the sense of κρυψίνους, so it is said of that woman נצרת לב, not so much in the sense of retenta cor, h.e. quae quod in corde haberet non pandebat, Fr. retenue (Cocc.), as in the sense of custodita cor, quae intentionem cordis mentemque suam callide novit premere (Mich.): she is of a hidden mind, of a concealed nature; for she feigns fidelity to her husband and flatters her paramours as her only beloved, while in truth she loves none, and each of them is to her only a means to an end, viz., to the indulgence of her worldly sensual desire. For, as the author further describes here, she is המיּה (fem. of המה = המי, as Pro 1:21; Isa 22:2), tumultuosa, externally as internally impetuous, because full of intermingling lust and deceit (opp. ἡσύχιος, 1Pe 3:4; 1Ti 2:11), and סררת, self-willed, not minding the law of duty, of discretion, or of modesty (from סרר, Arab. sharr, pervicacem, malum esse). She is the very opposite of the noiseless activity and the gentle modesty of a true house-wife, rude, stubborn, and also vagrant like a beast in its season (Hos 4:14): in domo ipsius residere nequeunt pedes ejus; thus not οἰκουρός or οἰκουργός (Tit 2:5), far removed from the genuine woman - like εἴσω ἥσυχον μένειν δόμωνEurip. Herac.) - a radt, as they call such a one in Arab. (Wünsche on Hos 12:1 or as she is called in Aram. נפקת בּרא.

Pro 7:13

After this digression the poet returns to the subject, and further describes the event as observed by himself.

And she laid hold on him and kissed him;

Put on a bold brow and said to him.

The verb נשׁק is here, after its primary signification, connected with the dat.: osculum fixit ei. Thus also Gen 27:26 is construed, and the Dagesh in לּו is, as there, Dag. forte conj., after the law for which the national grammarians have coined the technical name אתי מרחיק (veniens e longinquo, “coming out of the distance,” i.e., the attraction of a word following by one accented on the penult.). The penult.-accenting of נשׁקה is the consequence of the retrogression of the accent (נסוג אחור), which, here where the word from the first had the penult, only with Metheg, and thus with a half a tone, brings with it the dageshing of the לו following, as the original penultima-accenting of והחזיקה does of the בו which follows it, for the reading בּו by Löwenstein is contrary to the laws of punctuation of the Textus receptus under consideration here.Vid., Baer’s Torath Emeth, p. 29f., and Psalmen-Commentar under Psa 52:5.

As בו and לו have received the doubling Dagesh, so on the other hand, according to Ewald, §193b, it has disappeared from העזה (written with Raphe according to Kimchi, Michlol 145a). And as נשׁקה has the tone thrown back, so the proper pausal ותּאמר is accented on the ult., but without attracting the לו following by dageshing, which is the case only when the first of the two words terminates in the sound of ā (āh). העז פניו is said of one who shows firmness of hardness of countenance (Arab. slabt alwajh), i.e., one who shows shamelessness, or, as we say, an iron forehead (Fl.).

Pro 7:14-15

She laid hold on him and kissed him, both of which actions were shameless, and then, assuming the passivity and modesty befitting the woman, and disregarding morality and the law, she said to the youth: 14 “To bring peace-offerings was binding upon me,      To-day have I redeemed my vows. 15 Therefore am I come out to meet thee,      To seek thy face, and have found thee.”

We have translated זבחי שׁלמים “peace-offerings,” proceeding on the principle that שׁלם (sing. only Amo 5:22, and on the Phoenician altar at Marseilles) denotes contracting friendship with one (from שׁלם, to hold friendly relationship), and then the gifts having this in view; for the idea of this kind of offering is the attestation and confirmation of communion with God. But in view of the derivatives שׁלמנים and שׁלּוּם, it is perhaps more appropriate to combine שׁלם with שׁלּם, to discharge perfectly, and to translate it thank-payment-offering, or with v. Hofmann, a due-offering, where not directly thank-offering; for the proper eucharistic offering, which is the expression of thanks on a particular occasion, is removed from the species of the Shelamim by the addition of the words על־תּודה (Lev 7:12-25). The characteristic of the Shelamim is the division of the flesh of the sacrifice between Jahve and His priests on the one side, and the person (or persons) bringing it on the other side: only one part of the flesh of the sacrifice was Jahve’s, consumed by fire (Lev 3:16); the priests received one part; those who brought the offering received back another part as it were from the altar of God, that they might eat it with holy joy along with their household. So here the adulteress says that there was binding upon her, in consequence of a vow she had taken, the duty of presenting peace-offerings, or offerings that were due; to-day (she reckons the day in the sense of the dies civilis from night to night) she has performed her duties, and the שׁלמי נדר have yielded much to her that she might therewith regale him, her true lover; for with על־כּן she means to say that even the prospect of the gay festival which she can prepare for him moved her thus to meet him. This address of the woman affords us a glimpse into the history of the customs of those times. The Shelamim meals degenerated in the same manner as our Kirmsen.Kirmse = anniversary of the dedication of a church, village fête.

Secularization lies doubly near to merrymaking when the law sanctions this, and it can conceal itself behind the mask of piety. Regarding שׁחר, a more exact word for בּקּשׁ, vid., at Pro 1:28. To seek the countenance of one is equivalent to to seek his person, himself, but yet not without reference to the wished-for look [aspectus] of the person.

Pro 7:16-18

Thus she found him, and described to him the enjoyment which awaited him in eating and drinking, then in the pleasures of love. 16 “My bed have I spread with cushions,      Variegated coverlets, Egyptian linen; 17 I have sprinkled my couch      With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come then, we will intoxicate ourselves with love till the morning,      And will satisfy ourselves in love.”

The noun ערשׂ, from ערשׂ, = Arab. 'arash, aedificare, fabricari, signifies generally the wooden frame; thus not so much the bed within as the erected bed-place (cf. Arab. 'arsh, throne, and 'arysh, arbour). This bedstead she had richly and beautifully cushioned, that it might be soft and agreeable. רבד, from רב, signifies to lay on or apply closely, thus either vincire (whence the name of the necklace, Gen 41:42) or sternere (different from רפד, Job 17:13, which acquires the meaning sternere from the root-meaning to raise up from under, sublevare), whence מרבדּים, cushions, pillows, stragulae. Böttcher punctuates מרבדּים incorrectly; the ב remains aspirated, and the connection of the syllables is looser than in מרבּה, Ewald, §88d. The צטבות beginning the second half-verse is in no case an adjective to מרבדים, in every case only appos., probably an independent conception; not derived from חטב (cogn. חצב), to hew wood (whence Arab. ḥaṭab, fire-wood), according to which Kimchi, and with him the Graec. Venet. (περιξύστοις), understands it of the carefully polished bed-poles or bed-boards, but from חטב = Arab. khaṭeba, to be streaked, of diverse colours (vid., under Psa 144:12), whence the Syriac machṭabto, a figured (striped, checkered) garment. Hitzig finds the idea of coloured or variegated here unsuitable, but without justice; for the pleasantness of a bed is augmented not only by its softness, but also by the impression which its costliness makes on the eye. The following אטוּן מצרים stands in an appositional relation to חטבות, as when one says in Arabic taub-un dı̂bâg'-un, a garment brocade = of brocade. אטוּן (after the Syr. for אטוּן, as אמוּן) signifies in the Targum the cord (e.g., Jer 38:6), like the Arab. ṭunub, Syr. (e.g., Isa 54:2) tûnob; the root is טן, not in the sense of to bind, to wind (Deitr.), but in the sense of to stretch; the thread or cord is named from the extension in regard to length, and אטון is thus thread-work, whether in weaving or spinning.Hence perhaps the Greek ὀθόνη, which Fick in his Vergl. Wörterbuch connects with the Arab. verb-root vadh, to bind, wind, clothe, but not without making thereto interrogation marks.

The fame of Egyptian manufactures is still expressed in the Spanish aclabtea, fine linen cloth, which is equivalent to the modern Arabic el-ḳobṭı̂je (ḳibṭije); they had there particularly also an intimate acquaintance with the dye stuffs found in the plants and fossils of the country (Klemm’s Culturgeschichte, v. 308-310).

Pro 7:19-20

The adulteress now deprives the youth of all fear; the circumstances under which her invitation is given are as favourable as possible. 19 “For the man is not at home,      He has gone on a long journey. 20 He has taken the purse with him:      He will not return home till the day of the full moon.”

It is true that the article stands in האישׁ, Arab. alm'ar-fat, i.e., serves to define the word: the man, to whom here κατ ̓  ̓ξοχήν and alone reference can be made, viz., the husband of the adulteress (Fl.); but on the other side it is characteristic that she does not say אישׁי (as e.g., Gen 29:32), but ignores the relation of love and duty in which she is placed to him, and speaks of him as one standing at a distance from her (Aben-Ezra). Erroneously Vogel reads בּבּית after the Targ. instead of בּביתו. We say in Hebr. אינו בביתו, il n'est pas chez soi, as we say לקח בּידו, il a pris avec soi (cf. Jer 38:10). מרחוק Hitzig seeks to connect with the verb, which, after Isa 17:13; Isa 22:3, is possible; for the Hebr. מרחוק (ממּרחק), far off, has frequently the meaning from afar, for the measure of length is determined not from the point of departure outward, but from the end, as e.g., Homer, Il. ii. 456; ἕκαθεν δέ τε φαίνεται αὐγή, from afar the gleam is seen, i.e., shines hither from the distance. Similarly we say in French, il vient du coté du nord, he comes from the north, as well as il va du coté du nord, he goes northwards. But as we do not say: he has gone on a journey far off, but: on a distant journey, so here מרחוק is virtually an adj. (vid., under Isa 5:26) equivalent to רחוקה (Num 9:10): a journey which is distant = such as from it he has a long way back. Michaelis has well remarked here: ut timorem ei penitus adimat, veluti per gradus incedit. He has undertaken a journey to a remote point, but yet more: he has taken money with him, has thus business to detain him; and still further: he has even determined the distant time of his return. צרור־הכּסף .nruter (thus to be written after Ben-Asher, vid., Baer’s Torath Emeth, p. 41) is the purse (from צרר, to bind together), not one of many, but that which is his own. The terminus precedes 20b to emphasize the lateness; vid., on כּסא under Psa 81:4. Graec. Venet. τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ καιροῦ, after Kimchi and others, who derive כסא (כסה) from the root כס, to reckon, and regard it as denoting only a definite time. But the two passages require a special idea; and the Syr. ḳêso, which in 1Ki 12:32; 2Ch 7:10, designates the time from the 15th day of the month, shows that the word denotes not, according to the Talmud, the new moon (or the new year’s day), when the moon’s disk begins to cover itself, i.e., to fill (יתכסה), but the full moon, when it is covered, i.e., filled; so that thus the time of the night-scene here described is not that of the last quarter of the moon (Ewald), in which it rises at midnight, but that of the new moon (Hitzig), when the night is without moonlight. Since the derivation of the word from כסא (כסה), to cover, gives the satisfactory idea of the covering or filling of the moon’s disk, we do not seek after any other; Dietrich fixes on the root-idea of roundness, and Hitzig of vision (כסא = סכה, שׂכה, vid., on the contrary, under Psa 143:9). The ל is that of time at which, in which, about which, anything is done; it is more indefinite than בּ would be. He will not return for some fourteen days.

Pro 7:21

The result: - 21 She beguiled him by the fulness of her talking,      By the smoothness of her lips she drew him away.

Here is a climax. First she brought him to yield, overcoming the resistance of his mind to the last point (cf. 1Ki 11:3); then drove him, or, as we say, hurried him wholly away, viz., from the right path or conduct (cf. Deu 13:6, Deu 13:11). With הטּתּוּ (= הטּתהוּ) as the chief factum, the past imperf. is interchanged, 21b. Regarding לקח, see above, p. 56. Here is the rhetoric of sin (Zöckler); and perhaps the לקח of 20a has suggested this antiphrastic לקח to the author (Hitzig), as חלק (the inverted לקח, formed like שׁפל, which is the abstr. of שׁפל as that is of חלק) and תּדּיחנּוּ are reciprocally conditioned, for the idea of the slippery (Psa 73:18) connects itself with חלק.

Pro 7:22-23

What followed: - 22 So he goes after her at once      As an ox which goeth to the slaughter-house,      And as one bereft of reason to the restraint of fetters, 23 As a bird hastens to the net,      Without knowing that his life is at stake -      Till the arrow pierces his liver.

The part. הולך (thus to be accentuated according to the rule in Baer’s Torath Emeth, p. 25, with Mercha to the tone-syllable and Mahpach to the preceding open syllable) preserves the idea of the fool’s going after her. פּתאם (suddenly) fixes the point, when he all at once resolves to betake himself to the rendezvous in the house of the adulteress, now a κεπφωθείς, as the lxx translates, i.e., as we say, a simpleton who has gone on the lime-twig. He follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter-house, unconscious that he is going thither to be slaughtered; the lxx ungrammatically destroying the attributive clause: ὥσπερ δὲ βοῦς ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἄγεται. The difficulties in וּכעכס (thus punctuated, after Kimchi, with a double Segol, and not וכעכס, as is frequently the case) multiply, and it is not to be reconciled with the traditional text. The ox appears to require another beast as a side-piece; and accordingly the lxx, Syr., and Targ. find in עכס a dog (to which from אויל they also pick out איּל, a stag), Jerome a lamb (et quasi agnus כבשׂ), Rashi a venomous serpent (perhaps after ἔχις?), Löwenstein and Malbim a rattlesnake (נחשׁ מצלצל after עכּס); but all this is mere conjecture. Symmachus’ σκιρτῶν (ἐπὶ δεσμῶν ἄφρων) is without support, and, like the favourite rendering of Schelling, et sicut saliens in vinculum cervus (איל), is unsuitable on account of the unsemitic position of the words. The noun עכס, plur. עכסים, signifies, Isa 3:18, an anklet as a female ornament (whence Isa 3:16 the denom. עכּס, to make a tinkling of the anklets). In itself the word only means the fetter, compes, from עכס, Arab. 'akas, 'akash, contrahere, constringere (vid., Fleischer under Isa 59:5); and that it can also be used of any kind of means of checking free movement, the Arab. 'ikâs, as the name of a cord with which the camel is made fast by the head and forefeet, shows. With this signification the interpretation is: et velut pedicâ (= וכבעכס) implicatus ad castigationem stulti, he follows her as if (bound) with a fetter to the punishment of the fool, i.e., of himself (Michaelis, Fleischer, and others). Otherwise Luther, who first translated “in a fetter,” but afterwards (supplying ל, not ב): “and as if to fetters, where one corrects fools.” But the ellipsis is harsh, and the parallelism leads us to expect a living being in the place of עכס. Now since, according to Gesenius, עכס, fetter, can be equivalent to a fettered one neither at Isa 17:5; Isa 21:17, nor Pro 23:28 (according to which עכס must at least have an active personal signification), we transpose the nouns of the clause and write וכאויל אל־מוּסר עכס, he follows her as a fool (Psychol. p. 292) to correction (restraint) with fetters; or if אויל is to be understood not so much physically as morally, and refers to self-destroying conduct (Psa 107:7): as a madman, i.e., a criminal, to chains. The one figure denotes the fate into which he rushes, like a beast devoid of reason, as the loss of life; and the other denotes the fate to which he permits himself to be led by that woman, like a criminal by the officer, as the loss of freedom and of honour.

Pro 7:24-25

With ועתּה, as at Pro 5:7, the author now brings his narrative to a close, adding the exhortation deduced from it: 24 And now, ye children, give ear unto me,      And observe the words of my mouth! 25 Let not thine heart incline to her ways,      And stray not in her paths.

The verb שׂטה (whence jēst, like jēt, Pro 4:15, with long ē from i) the author uses also of departure from a wicked way (Pro 4:15); but here, where the portraiture of a faithless wife (a סוטה) is presented, the word used in the law of jealousy, Num 5, for the trespass of an אשׁת אישׁ is specially appropriate. שׂטה is interchanged with תּעה (cf. Gen 21:14): wander not on her paths, which would be the consequence of straying on them. Theodotion: καὶ μὴ πλανηθῇς ἐν ἀτραποῖς αὐτῆς, with καί, as also Syr., Targ., and Jerome. The Masora reckons this verse to the 25 which have אל at the beginning and ואל at the middle of each clause (vid., Baer in the Luth. Zeitschrift, 1865, p. 587); the text of Norzi has therefore correctly ואל, which is found also in good MSS (e.g., the Erfurt, 2 and 3).

Pro 7:26-27

The admonition, having its motive in that which goes before, is now founded on the emphatic finale: 26 For many are the slain whom she hath caused to fall,      And many are her slain. 27 A multiplicity of ways to help is her house,      Going down to the chambers of death.

The translation “for many slain has she laid low” (Syr., Targ., Jerome, Luther) is also syntactically possible; for רבּים can be placed before its substantive after the manner of the demonstratives and numerals (e.g., Neh 9:28, cf. אחד, Sol 4:9), and the accentuation which requires two servants (the usual two Munachs) to the Athnach appears indeed thus to construe it. It is otherwise if רבים here meant magni (thus e.g., Ralbag, and recently Bertheau), and not multi; but רבים and עצמים stand elsewhere in connection with each other in the signification many and numerous, Psa 35:18; Joe 2:2; Mic 4:3. “Her slain” are those slain by her; the part. pass. is connected with the genitive of the actor, e.g., Pro 9:18; cf. (Arab.) ḳatyl âlmḥabbt, of one whom love kills (Fl.). With Pro 7:27 cf. Pro 2:18; Pro 9:18. In 27a, בּיתהּ is not equivalent to בביתה after Pro 8:2, also not elliptical and equivalent to דרכי ביתה; the former is unnecessary, the latter is in no case established by Psa 45:7; Ezr 10:13, nor by Deu 8:15; 2Ki 23:17 (see, on the other hand, Philippi’s Status Constructus, pp. 87-93). Rightly Hitzig has: her house forms a multiplicity of ways to hell, in so far as adultery leads by a diversity of ways to hell. Similarly the subject and the predicate vary in number, Pro 16:25; Psa 110:3; Job 26:13; Dan 9:23, and frequently. If one is once in her house, he may go in this or in that way, but surely his path is to destruction: it consists of many steps to hell, such as lead down (דרך, fem. Isa 37:34, masc. Isa 30:21) to the extreme depths of death (cf. Job 9:9, “chambers of the south” = its remotest regions veiling themselves in the invisible); for חדר (Arab. khiddr) is the part of the tent or the house removed farthest back, and the most private (Fl.). These חדרי־מות, cf. עמקי שׁאול, Pro 9:18, approach to the conception of גּיהנּם, which is afterwards distinguished from שאול.

The Word of God Recommended.

1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. 2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. 4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: 5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

These verses are an introduction to his warning against fleshly lusts, much the same with that, ch. vi. 20, &c., and ending (v. 5) as that did (v. 24), To keep thee from the strange woman; that is it he aims at; only there he had said, Keep thy father's commandment, here (which comes all to one), Keep my commandments, for he speaks to us as unto sons. He speaks in God's name; for it is God's commandments that we are to keep, his words, his law. The word of God must be to us, 1. As that which we are most careful of. We must keep it as our treasure; we must lay up God's commandments with us, lay them up safely, that we may not be robbed of them by the wicked one, v. 1. We must keep it as our life: Keep my commandments and live (v. 2), not only, "Keep them, and you shall live;" but, "Keep them as you would your life, as those that cannot live without them." It would be death to a good man to be deprived of the word of God, for by it he lives, and not by bread alone. 2. As that which we are most tender of: Keep my law as the apple of thy eye. A little thing offends the eye, and therefore nature has so well guarded it. We pray, with David, that God would keep us as the apple of his eye (Ps. xvii. 8), that our lives and comforts may be precious in his sight; and they shall be so (Zech. ii. 8) if we be in like manner tender of his law and afraid of the least violation of it. Those who reproach strict and circumspect walking, as needless preciseness, consider not that the law is to be kept as the apple of the eye, for indeed it is the apple of our eye; the law is light; the law in the heart is the eye of the soul. 3. As that which we are proud of and would be ever mindful of (v. 3): "Bind them upon thy fingers; let them be precious to thee; look upon them as an ornament, as a diamond-ring, as the signet on thy right hand; wear them continually as thy wedding-ring, the badge of thy espousals to God. Look upon the word of God as putting an honour upon thee, as an ensign of thy dignity. Bind them on thy fingers, that they may be constant memorandums to thee of thy duty, that thou mayest have them always in view, as that which is graven upon the palms of thy hands." 4. As that which we are fond of and are ever thinking of: Write them upon the table of thy heart, as the names of the friends we dearly love, we say, are written in our hearts. let the word of God dwell richly in us, and be written there where it will be always at hand to be read. Where sin was written (Jer. xvii. 1) let the word of God be written. It is the matter of a promise (Heb. viii. 10, I will write my law in their hearts), which makes the precept practicable and easy. 5. As that which we are intimately acquainted and conversant with (v. 4): "Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister, whom I dearly love and take delight in; and call understanding thy kinswoman, to whom thou art nearly allied, and for whom thou hast a pure affection; call her thy friend, whom thou courtest." We must make the word of God familiar to us, consult it, and consult its honour, and take a pleasure in conversing with it. 6. As that which we make use of for our defence and armour, to keep us from the strange woman, from sin, that flattering but destroying thing, that adulteress; particularly from the sin of uncleanness, v. 5. Let the word of God confirm our dread of that sin and our resolutions against it; let it discover to us its fallacies and suggest to us answers to all its flatteries.

The Foolish Young Man; Enticements of the Adulteress.

6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, 7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, 8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows. 15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: 20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. 21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. 22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; 23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

Solomon here, to enforce the caution he had given against the sin of whoredom, tells a story of a young man that was ruined to all intents and purposes by the enticements of an adulterous woman. Such a story as this would serve the lewd profane poets of our age to make a play of, and the harlot with them would be a heroine; nothing would be so entertaining to the audience, nor give them so much diversion, as her arts of beguiling the young gentleman and drawing in the country squire; her conquests would be celebrated as the triumphs of wit and love, and the comedy would conclude very pleasantly; and every young man that saw it acted would covet to be so picked up. Thus fools make a mock at sin. But Solomon here relates it, and all wise and good men read it, as a very melancholy story. The impudence of the adulterous woman is very justly looked upon, by all that have any sparks of virtue in them, with the highest indignation, and the easiness of the young man with the tenderest compassion; and the story concludes with sad reflections, enough to make all that read and hear it afraid of the snares of fleshly lusts and careful to keep at the utmost distance from them. It is supposed to be a parable, or imagined case, but I doubt it was too true, and, which is worse, that notwithstanding the warning it gives of the fatal consequences of such wicked courses it is still too often true, and the agents for hell are still playing the same game and with similar success.

Solomon was a magistrate, and, as such, inspected the manners of his subjects, looked often through his casement, that he might see with his own eyes, and made remarks upon those who little thought his eye was upon them, that he might know the better how to make the sword he bore a terror to evil-doers. But here he writes as a minister, a prophet, who is by office a watchman, to give warning of the approach of the enemies, and especially where they lie in ambush, that we may not be ignorant of Satan's devices, but may know where to double our guard. This Solomon does here, where we may observe the account he gives,

I. Of the person tempted, and how he laid himself open to the temptation, and therefore must thank himself if it end in his destruction. 1. He was a young man, v. 7. Fleshly lusts are called youthful lusts (2 Tim. ii. 22), not to extenuate them as tricks of youth, and therefore excusable, but rather to aggravate them, as robbing God of the first and best of our time, and, by debauching the mind when it is tender, laying a foundation for a bad life ever after, and to intimate that young people ought in a special manner to fortify their resolutions against this sin. 2. He was a young man void of understanding, that went abroad into the world, not principled as he ought to have been with wisdom and the fear of God, and so ventured to sea without ballast, without pilot, cord, or compass; he knew not how to depart from evil, which is the best understanding, Job xxviii. 28. Those become an easy prey to Satan who, when they have arrived to the stature of men, have scarcely the understanding of children. 3. He kept bad company. He was a young man among the youths, a silly young man among the simple ones. If, being conscious of his own weakness, he had associated with those that were older and wiser than himself, there would have been hopes of him. Christ, at twelve years old, conversed with the doctors, to set young people an example of this. But, if those that are simple choose such for their companions as are like themselves, simple they will still be, and hardened in their simplicity. 4. He was sauntering, and had nothing to do, but passed through the street as one that knew not how to dispose of himself. One of the sins of filthy Sodom was abundance of idleness, Ezek. xvi. 49. He went in a starched stately manner, so (it is said) the word signifies. He appeared to be a nice formal fop, the top of whose accomplishments was to dress well and walk with a good air; fit game for that bird of prey to fly at. 5. He was a night-walker, that hated and scorned the business that is to be done by day-light, from which the evening calls men in to their repose; and, having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, he begins to move in the twilight in the evening, v. 9. And he chooses the black and dark night as fittest for his purpose, not the moonlight nights, when he might be discovered. 6. He steered his course towards the house of one that he thought would entertain him, and that he might be merry with; he went near her corner, the way to her house (v. 8), contrary to Solomon's advice (ch. v. 8), Come not night the door of her house. Perhaps he did not know it was the way to an infamous house, but, however, it was a way that he had no business in; and when we have nothing to do the devil will quickly find us something to do. We must take heed, not only of idle days, but of idle evenings, lest they prove inlets to temptation.

II. Of the person tempting, not a common prostitute, for she was a married wife (v. 19), and, for aught that appears, lived in reputation among her neighbours, not suspected of any such wickedness, and yet, in the twilight of the evening, when her husband was abroad, abominably impudent. She is here described, 1. By her dress. She had the attire of a harlot (v. 10), gaudy and flaunting, to set her off as a beauty; perhaps she was painted as Jezebel, and went with her neck and breasts bare, loose, and en deshabille. The purity of the heart will show itself in the modesty of the dress, which becomes women professing godliness. 2. By her craft and management. She is subtle of heart, mistress of all the arts of wheedling, and knowing how by all her caresses to serve her own base purposes. 3. By her temper and carriage. She is loud and stubborn, talkative and self-willed, noisy and troublesome, wilful and headstrong, all tongue, and will have her saying, right or wrong, impatient of check and control, and cannot bear to be counselled, much less reproved, by husband or parents, ministers or friends. She is a daughter of Belial, that will endure no yoke. 4. By her place, not her own house; she hates the confinement and employment of that; her feet abide not there any longer than needs must. She is all for gadding abroad, changing place and company. Now is she without in the country, under pretence of taking the air, now in the streets of the city, under pretence of seeing how the market goes. She is here, and there, and every where but where she should be. She lies in wait at every corner, to pick up such as she can make a prey of. Virtue is a penance to those to whom home is a prison.

III. Of the temptation itself and the management of it. She met the young spark. Perhaps she knew him; however she knew by his fashions that he was such a one as she wished for; so she caught him about the neck and kissed him, contrary to all the rules of modesty (v. 13), and waited not for his compliments or courtship, but with an impudent face invited him not only to her house, but to her bed.

1. She courted him to sup with her (v. 14, 15): I have peace-offerings with me. Hereby she gives him to understand, (1.) Her prosperity, that she was compassed about with so many blessings that she had occasion to offer peace-offerings, in token of joy and thankfulness; she was before-hand in the world, so that he needed not fear having his pocket picked. (2.) Her profession of piety. She had been to-day at the temple, and was as well respected there as any that worshipped in the courts of the Lord. She had paid her vows, and, as she thought, made all even with God Almighty, and therefore might venture upon a new score of sins. Note, The external performances of religion, if they do not harden men against sin, harden them in it, and embolden carnal hearts to venture upon it, in hopes that when they come to count and discount with God he will be found as much in debt to them for their peace-offerings and their vows as they to him for their sins. But it is sad that a show of piety should become the shelter of iniquity (which really doubles the shame of it, and makes it more exceedingly sinful) and that men should baffle their consciences with those very things that should startle them. The Pharisees made long prayers, that they might the more plausibly carry on their covetous and mischievous provisions. The greatest part of the flesh of the peace-offerings was by the law returned back to the offerers, to feast upon with their friends, which (if they were peace-offerings of thanksgiving) was to be all eaten the same day and none of it left until the morning, Lev. vii. 15. This law of charity and generosity is abused to be a colour for gluttony and excess: "Come," says she, "come home with me, for I have good cheer enough, and only want good company to help me off with it." It was a pity that the peace-offerings should thus become, in a bad sense, sin-offerings, and that what was designed for the honour of God should become the food and fuel of a base lust. But this is not all. (4.) To strengthen the temptation, [1.] She pretends to have a very great affection for him above any man: "Therefore, because I have a good supper upon the table, I came forth to meet thee, for no friend in the world shall be so welcome to it as thou shalt, v. 15. Thou art he whom I came on purpose to seek, to seek diligently, came myself, and would not send a servant." Surely he cannot deny her his company when she put such a value upon it, and would take all this pains to obtain the favour of it. Sinners take pains to do mischief, and are as the roaring lion himself; they go about seeking to devour, and yet pretend they are seeking to oblige. [2.] She would have it thought that Providence itself countenanced her choice of him for her companion; for how quickly had she found him whom she sought!

2. She courted him to lie with her. They will sit down to eat and drink, and then rise up to play, to play the wanton, and there is a bed ready for them, where he shall find that which will be in all respects agreeable to him. To please his eye, it is decked with coverings of tapestry and carved works, exquisitely fine; he never saw the like. To please his touch, the sheets are not of home-spun cloth; they are far-fetched and dear bought; they are of fine linen of Egypt, v. 16. To gratify his smell, it is perfumed with the sweetest scents, v. 17. Come, therefore, and let us take our fill of love, v. 18. Of love, does she say? Of lust she means, brutish lust; but it is a pity that the name of love should be thus abused. True love is from heaven; this is from hell. How can those pretend to solace themselves and love one another who are really ruining themselves and one another?

3. She anticipated the objection which he might make of the danger of it. Is she not another man's wife, and what if her husband should catch them in adultery, in the very act? he will make them pay dearly for their sport, and where will the solace of their love be then? "Never fear," says she, "the good man is not at home" (v. 19); she does not call him her husband, for she forsakes the guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; but "the good man of the house, whom I am weary of." Thus Potiphar's wife, when she spoke of her husband, would not call him so, but he, Gen. xxxix. 14. It is therefore with good reason taken notice of, to Sarah's praise, that she spoke respectfully of her husband, calling him lord. She pleases herself with this that he is not at home, and therefore she is melancholy if she have not some company, and therefore whatever company she has she may be free with them, for she is from under his eye, and he shall never know. But will he not return quickly? No: "he has gone a long journey, and cannot return on a sudden; he appointed the day of his return, and he never comes home sooner than he says he will. He has taken a bag of money with him, either," (1.) "To trade with, to buy goods with and he will not return till he has laid it all out. It is a pity that an honest industrious man should be thus abused, and advantage taken of his absence, when it is upon business, for the good of his family." Or, (2.) "To spend and revel with." Whether justly or not, she insinuates that he was a bad husband; so she would represent him, because she was resolved to be a bad wife, and must have that for an excuse; it is often groundlessly suggested, but is never a sufficient excuse. "He follows his pleasures, and wastes his estate abroad" (says she), "and why should not I do the same at home?"

IV. Of the success of the temptation. Promising the young man every thing that was pleasant, and impunity in the enjoyment, she gained her point, v. 21. It should seem, the youth, though very simple, had no ill design, else a word, a beck, a wink, would have served, and there would have been no need of all this harangue; but though he did not intend any such thing, nay, had something in his conscience that opposed it, yet with her much fair speech she caused him to yield. His corruptions at length triumphed over his convictions, and his resolutions were not strong enough to hold out against such artful attacks as these, but with the flattery of her lips she forced him; he could not stop his ear against such a charmer, but surrendered himself her captive. Wisdom's maidens, who plead her cause, and have reason on their side, and true and divine pleasures to invite men to, have a deaf ear turned to them, and with all their rhetoric cannot compel men to come in, but such is the dominion of sin in the hearts of men that its allurements soon prevail by falsehood and flattery. With what pity does Solomon here look upon this foolish young man, when he sees him follow the adulterous woman! (1.) He gives him up for gone; alas! he is undone. he goes to the slaughter (for houses of uncleanness are slaughter-houses to precious souls); a dart will presently strike through his liver; going without his breast-plate, he will receive his death's wound, v. 23. It is his life, his precious life, that is thus irrecoverably thrown away, he is perfectly lost to all good; his conscience is debauched; a door is opened to all other vices, and this will certainly end in his endless damnation. (2.) That which makes his case the more piteous is that he is not himself aware of his misery and danger; he goes blindfold, nay, he goes laughing to his ruin. The ox thinks he is led to the pasture when he is led to the slaughter; the fool (that is, the drunkard, for, of all sinners, drunkards are the greatest fools) is led to the correction of the stocks, and is not sensible of the shame of it, but goes to it as if he were going to a play. The bird that hastes to the snare looks only at the bait, and promises herself a good bit from that, and considers not that it is for her life. Thus this unthinking unwary young man dreams of nothing but the pleasures he shall have in the embraces of the harlot, while really he is running headlong upon his ruin. Though Solomon does not here tell us that he put the law in execution against this base harlot, yet we have no reason to think but that he did, he was himself so affected with the mischief she did and had such an indignation at it.

The Seduction of a Youth.

24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

We have here the application of the foregoing story: "Hearken to me therefore, and not to such seducers (v. 24); give ear to a father, and not to an enemy." 1. "Take good counsel when it is given you. Let not thy heart decline to her ways (v. 25); never leave the paths of virtue, though strait and narrow, solitary and up-hill, for the way of the adulteress, though green, and broad, and crowded with company. Do not only keep thy feet from those ways, but let not so much as thy heart incline to them; never harbour a disposition this way, nor think otherwise than with abhorrence of such wicked practices as these. Let reason, and conscience, and the fear of God ruling in the heart, check the inclinations of the sensual appetite. If thou goest in her paths, in any of the paths that lead to this sin, thou goest astray, thou art out of the right way, the safe way; therefore take heed, go not astray, lest thou wander endlessly." 2. "Take fair warning when it is given you." (1.) "Look back, and see what mischief this sin has done. The adulteress has been the ruin not of here and there one, but she has cast down many wounded." Thousands have been undone, now and for ever, by this sin; and those not only the weak and simple youths, such as he was of whom he had now spoken, but many strong men have been slain by her, v. 26. Herein, perhaps, he has an eye especially to Samson, who was slain by this sin, and perhaps to David too, who by this sin entailed a sword upon his house, though so far the Lord took it away that he himself should not die. These were men not only of great bodily strength, but of eminent wisdom and courage, and yet their fleshly lusts prevailed over them. Howl, fir-trees, if the cedars be shaken. Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (2.) "Look forward with an eye of faith, and see what will be in the end of it," v. 27. Her house, though richly decked and furnished, and called a house of pleasure, is the way to hell; and her chambers are the stair-case that goes down to the chambers of death and everlasting darkness. The cup of fornication must shortly be exchanged for the cup of trembling; and the flames of lust, if not quenched by repentance and mortification, will burn to the lowest hell. Therefore stand in awe and sin not.

CHAP. VII. Verſ. 1. My Son, keep my words]

ARiſtotle hath obſerved, and daily experience makes it good, that man ſhews his weakneſs no way more than about moderating the pleaſure of his Taſting and Touching; For as much as they belong to him, not as a man, but as a living creature.Turpe eſt ſeneſcere atatem, non tamen ſeneſcere laſciv[illegible: 1 letter]am. Nazianz. Now therefore as where the hedge is loweſt, there the beaſt leaps over ſooneſt: So Satan will bee ſure to aſſault us, where wee are leaſt able to withſtand him. And whereas old men have no cauſe to bee ſecure (David was old, when hee went in to Bathſheba, and Lot not young when hee defloured his two daughters: Of the Brabants it is ſaid, that quo magis ſeneſcunt, to magis ſt[illegible: 2 letters]l[illegible: 1 letter]eſcunt, Contra [non-Latin text not transcribed] & [non-Latin text not transcribed]: & Sen[illegible: 2 letters]c quaſi Semint[illegible: 2 letters]. the elder the fooliſher: And the Heathen Sages ſay, Metuendam [illegible: 1 letter]ſſe ſenectam, quod non veniat ſola, that old age is to bee feared, as that which comes not alone, but being it ſelf a diſeaſe[illegible: 1 letter], it comes accompained with many diſeaſes both of body and minde) young men eſpecially whom the Greeks call [non-Latin text not transcribed] of [non-Latin text not transcribed] to bee hot, and [non-Latin text not transcribed] of [non-Latin text not transcribed] to boyl, and who think they have a licence helluari, ſcortari, fores effringere, to drink and drab, which they count and call a trick of youth, have but more than need to bee conſtantly and carefully cautioned and called upon (as here they are) to fly fornication, 1 Cor. 6.8. to fly youthful luſts, 2 Tim. 2.22. with poſt-haſte to flee them, to abſtain from fleſhly luſts (Tanquam à mellito veneno) which war againſt the ſoul, 1 Pet. 2.11. The body cannot bee ſo wounded with weapons, as the ſoul is with luſts. Holy Timothy (ſo temperate a young man,1 Tim. 5.23. that Saint Paul was fain to preſcribe him phyſick, bidding him no longer to drink water, but a little wine for his ſtomacks ſake, and his often infirmities, contracted happily by his too much abſtinence, for the better keeping under his body, and bringing it into ſubjection) is in the ſame Chapter by the ſame Apoſtle exhorted,1 Tim. 5.2 to exhort the younger women with all Purity: Whereby is intimated, that through the deceit of his heart, and the ſlipperineſs of his age, even while hee was preſſing thoſe young women to purity, ſome impure motion might preſs in upon him; Which though but a ſtranger to Timothy (as Peter Martyr and others obſerve out of that paſſage in Nathans parable, 2 Sam. 12.5. that luſt was to David) yet might prove a troubleſome inmate if not ſuddenly ejected. It is no marvel therefore that the Wiſeman is ſo exceeding earneſt with his Son about the buſineſs of abhorring harlotry, the hatefulneſs whereof hee now paints out in a parable, ſetting it forth in livelieſt colours.

Verſ. 2. Keep my Commandements and live] i. e. Live happily, Iſa. 48.17. I am the Lord that teacheth thee to profit; therefore keep my Commandements; as if God ſhould ſay, it is for thy profit that I command thee, and not for mine own. In doing thereof there is great reward, ſaith David, Pſal. 19. and preſent reward, ſaith Solomon here; Do it and live. In the Courts of earthly Princes, there is [non-Latin text not transcribed], delaies and changes. Men are off and on in their promiſes: they are alſo ſlow and ſlack in their performances. But it is otherwiſe here: The very entrance of thy word giveth light, Pſal. 119.130. And the very onſet of obedience giveth life. It is but Hear, and your ſouls ſhall live, Iſa. 55.3. Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with mee, Rev. 22.12.

And my Law as the apple of thine eye] With all charineſs and circumſpection. The leaſt mote offends the eye, and the leaſt deviation violates the Law. Sin is homogeneal, all of a kind, though not all of the ſame degree: as the leaſt pibble is a ſtone, as well as the hugeſt rock, and as the drop of a bucket is water, as well as the main Ocean. Hence the leaſt ſins are in Scripture reproached by the names of the greateſt; Malice is called man-ſlaughter: Luſt, Adultery, &c. concupiſcence is condemned by the Law, even the firſt motions of ſin, though they never come to conſent, Rom. 7.7. Inward bleeding may kill a man. De minutis non curat lex, ſaith the Civilian: But the Law of God is Spiritual, though wee bee carnal. And as the Sunſhine ſhews us atomes and motes, that till then wee diſcerned not, ſo doth the Law diſcover and cenſure ſmalleſt failings. It muſt therefore bee kept curiouſly, even as the apple of the eye: as that little man in the eye that cannot bee touched, [non-Latin text not transcribed] ab but hee will bee diſtempered. Careful wee muſt bee, even in the minutula legis, the punctilios of duty. Men will not lightly loſe the leaſt ends of gold. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Nequa enim auri tantum maſſas toll[illegible: 1 letter]nt, ſed & bractcol[illegible: 1 letter]s.

Verſ. 3. Binde them upon thy fingers] That thou mayeſt have them alwaies in ſight: as God hath his people, Iſa. 49.16. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands: thy walls are continually before mee. The Hebrews here refer fingers to action, heart to meditation and retention. Men ſhould have the Law of God at their fingers ends. (Any of us Jews, ſaith Joſephus, being asked of any point of the Law, anſwereth it as readily as if hee had been asked his own name) they ſhould alſo bee doers of the word, and not hearers onely. The hand is [non-Latin text not transcribed], the inſtrument of action.Ariſtot. David lifted up both his hands to the word, as if hee would pull it to him with both hands, as if hee would do the deed in good earneſt.Pſal. 119.48 The Heavens are the work of Gods fingers, Pſal. 8.3. The Law ſhould bee of ours.

Verſ. 4. Say unto wiſdome, thou art my Siſter] q. d. If thou muſt needs have a Lady to ſet thy love upon, Let mee commend a Miſtreſs to thee more amiable and affable than any that thou canſt meet with; and that is Heavenly Wiſdome. Say unto her, thou art my Siſter, &c. Chriſt oft wooes his Spouſe by this title, My Siſter, my Spouſe. As the neareſt affinity is Spouſe, ſo the neareſt conſanguinty in Siſter. There are all bonds to knit us to Chriſt, there ſhall be all to knit Chriſt to us, if wee fall in with Wiſdome: this is to become a kin to Chriſt, Mat. 12.56. And that is the trueſt nobility, where God himſelf is top of the kin, and Religion the root, in regard whereof all the reſt (riches, retinue, &c.) are but ſhadows and ſhapes of nobleneſs.

Call underſtanding thy kinſwoman] i. e. Bee throughly and familiarly acquainted with her. Surely as in nature hee is accounted a ſingular Idiot, that knows not his own ſiſters or near kinsfolk: ſo in Religion, hee is ſtrangely ſimple and ſtupid, that is not acquainted with the grounds of behaviour▪ and comfort, as they are contained in the word.

Verſ. 5. That they may keep thee] The wiſdome from above can and will preſerve a man from hankering after ſtrange fleſh. The worlds wiſards have been moſt of them tackt and tainted with this vice, and that by a juſt hand of God upon them, for the contempt of Religion, Rom. 1.28. which is indeed the moſt excellent preſervative. Hence when the Apoſtle had ſaid, 1 Tim. 4.7. exerciſe godlineſs, hee adds (as a motive) Godlineſs is profitable to all things, verſ. 8. See further for this, Prov. 23.26, 27. and 2.16. and 6.23, 24. with the Notes there.

Verſ. 6. I looked through my caſement] Little did this young fool think whoſe eye was upon him: leſs did hee heed the all-ſeeing eye of Heaven. Solomon was obſerving his ſubjects carriages, and found a miſcarriage. Magiſtrates, as they have many eyes upon them (whence alſo they have their name in the Hebrew tongue) ſo they are to have their eyes upon many,Nagid a Neged, quod in eam omnes conjiciam oculos. watching when other men ſleep, and obſerving what other men ſlight. The Poets feign, that Jupiter over-looks the world, and that Somnus or Sleep durſt never come a neer him. A King that ſitteth in the Throne of Judgement, ſcattereth away all evil with his eyes, Prov. 20.8.

Verſ. 7. Among the ſimple ones] The word ſignifieth ſuch a one as may bee ſoon perſwaded, eaſily drawn any way by a twined threed, with a wet finger. Fatuellus, Cor ejus in virium flecti. ſuch as whom it is no hard matter to couzen, and collude with.

Verſ. 8. Neer her corner] Which hee ſhould have balked, according to Chap. 5.8. See the Note there. Mens own inconſideration, ſecurity and dallying with the beginnings of ſin, or with the occaſion, doth uſually tempt the Devil to tempt them; and hee feeling their pulſe thereby which way it beats, fits them a penny-worth, provides them of mates, ſets one Delilah or other to binde them (as ſhee did Sampſon) with the green withs of fleſhly pleaſure. But let a man divorce the fleſh from the world, and the Devil can do him no hurt.

Verſ. 9. In the black and dark night] Thinking to obſcure himſelf: but Solomon ſaw him, how much more God, cui obſcura patent, muta reſpondent, ſilentium confitetur, before whom night will convert it ſelf into noon, and ſilence prove a ſpeaking evidence? Fooliſh men think to hide themſelves from God, by hiding God from themſelves. See Pſal. 139.11, 12.

Verſ. 10▪ And behold there met him a woman] Fit Lettice for ſuch lips; a fit helve for ſuch a hatchet. Every corner is full of ſuch duſt-heaps, the Land is even darkened with them, as Egypt once was with the locuſts, Exod. 10.15.

With the attire of an Harlot] See the Note on Chap. 6.25. The Hebrew word here ſignifies a ſet habit or ornament finely fitted to the body: veſtitus in quo plicae, ſaith Lavater, pleated garments, plaited hair, &c. let ſuch take heed of the plica polonica, [non-Latin text not transcribed] pro [non-Latin text not transcribed] qua[illegible: 1 letter]i nudato pudendo, ut cum ad concubitum accenderet. that dreadful diſeaſe.

And ſubtile of heart] Or, Truſſed up about the breaſts, with her upper-parts naked: So Leus Ben. Gerſom. Erat nudo collo & pectore, corde tenus, &c. Shee met him with her naked-breaſts (at this day too commonly uſed by ſuch as would bee held no Harlots) yea, with ſomething elſe naked (as ſome ſenſe this text) which modeſty forbids to name.

Verſ. 11. Her feet abide not in her houſe] As the modeſt womans do, Tit. 2.5. who is therefore called domiporta, ſet forth by the ſnail, which carries her houſe on her back, and compared to the Vine, that grows by the houſe ſide, Pſal. 128. The Egyptian women ware no ſhooes, that they might the better keep home. Of the Italian women, it is ſaid, that they are Magpyes at the door, Heylins Geog. Saints in the Church, Goats in the Garden, Devils in the Houſe, Angels in the Streets, and Sirens in the Windows.

Verſ. 12. Now ſhee is without] See the Note on verſ. 11. and further obſerve, that the former faults, loudneſs of language, ſtubbornneſs againſt an husbands lawful commands and reſtraints, and this of gadding up and down to ſee and to bee ſeen, albeit they bee not certain ſigns, yet they are ſtrong preſumptions of a whoriſh diſpoſition.

Verſ. 13. So ſhee caught him and kiſſed him] Strange impudency in this ſtrange woman, who hath not her name for nought. Potiphars wife was ſuch a beaſt: ſo was Meſſalina the Empreſs, wife to Claudius, Joane Queen of Naples, and other prodigious ſtrumpets, of the kind of thoſe whom they call Borboritae. Wee have heard (ſaith a grave Divine) of Virgins,D. Hall. which at firſt ſeemed modeſt, bluſhing at the motions of an honeſt love; who being once corrupt and debauched, have grown flexible to eaſie intreaties to unchaſtity; and from thence boldly laſcivious ſo as to ſollicite others, Martin. Vivald. in candelabro. cap. de confeſ. Mercer. ſo as to proſtitute themſelves to all commers, yea, (as our Caſuiſts complain of ſome Spaniſh ſtewes) to an unnatural filthineſs.

Verſ. 14. I have peace-offerings] Sacris abutitur ut ſcoleratis mos eſt, ſhee pretends Religion to her filthy practices: So did thoſe wicked women that lay with Elies ſons at the door of the Tabernacle, 1 Sam. 2.22. So did King Edward the fourth, his holy whore, as hee uſed to call her,Speed. that came to him out of a Nunnery when hee liſt to call for her. And ſuch were thoſe Kedeſhoth, or common whores, ſo called in Hebrew, becauſe ſuch abomination was committed under a pretext of Religion, Gen. 38.21. Deut. 23.17. But what an odde thing was that of David, that would not lye with Bathſheba till purified? Doth hee make conſcience of ceremonial, and none of moral purity?

This day have I paid my vows] A votary then ſhee was (by all means) and ſo more than ordinarily religious. So was Doeg, why elſe was hee deteined before the Lord? 1 Sam. 21.7. A Doeg may ſet his foot as far into Gods Sanctuary as a David. That many Popiſh Votaries are no better than this huſwife in the text, ſee the Lisbon-Nunnery, &c. beſides thoſe thouſands of Infants skulls found in the fiſh-pools by Gregory the Great.

Verſ. 15. Therefore came I forth] As having much good chear at home;Sine Cerere & Libero frig[illegible: 1 letter]t Ven[illegible: 2 letters]. as at all peace-offerings they had. Gluttony is the gallery that libidinouſneſs walks through.

Diligently to ſeek thy face] Or thy perſon, not thy purſe, thee, not thine do I ſeek. Quis credit?

And I have found thee] By a providence no doubt, God muſt have a hand in it, or elſe 'tis marvel. God hath given mee my hire (ſaid Leah) becauſe I have given my Maid to my Husband, Gen. 30.18. See 1 Sam. 23.7. Zach. 11.5.

Verſ. 16. I have decked my bed] Leſt haply by being abroad ſo late, hee ſhould queſtion where to have a bed, ſhee aſſures him of a dainty one, with curious curtains.

Verſ. 17. With Myrrhe, Aloes, &c.] This might have minded the young man, that hee was going to his grave; for the bodies of the dead were ſo perfumed. Such a meditation would have much rebated his edge, cooled his courage. Jeruſalems filthineſs was in her skirts: and why? ſhee remembred not her latter end, Lam. 1.9. As the ſtroaking of a dead hand (they ſay) cureth a tympany; and as the aſhes of a viper applied to the part that is ſtung, draws the venome out of it: ſo the ſerious thought of death will prove a death to fleſhly luſts.Mr. Wards Sermons. I meet with a ſtory of one that gave a looſe young man a Ring with a deaths-head, with this condition, that hee ſhould one hour daily (for ſeven daies together) look and think upon it; which bred a ſtrange alteration in his life.

Verſ. 18. Until the morning] But what if death draw the curtains, and look in the while? If death do not, yet guilt will. And here beaſts are more happy in carnal contentments, than ſenſual voluptuaries; for in their delights they ſeldome ſurfeit, but never ſin; and ſo never finde any cauſe or uſe for pangs of repentance, as Epicures do, whoſe pleaſure paſſeth, but a ſting ſtaies behinde. Job calleth ſparks the ſons of fire, being ingendred by it upon fuel; as pleaſures are the ſons of mens luſts, when the object and they lye and couple together: And they are not long-lived; they are but as ſparks, they dye as ſoon as begotten.

Verſ. 19. For the good man is not at home] Heb. The man, not my man, or my husband, &c. the very mention (how much more the preſence?) of ſuch a man might have marred the mirth.

Verſ. 20. Hee hath taken a bag of mony] And ſo will not return in haſte. Let not the children of this world bee wiſer than wee: Lay up treaſure in Heaven; provide your ſelves baggs that wax not old, Luk. 12.33. Do as Merchants, that being to travel into a far Country, deliver their mony here upon the Exchange, that there they may receive it. Evagrius in Cedrenus bequeathed three hundred pound to the poor in his will; but took a bond beforehand of Syneſius the Biſhop for the re-payment of this in another life, according to the promiſe of our Saviour of an hundred fold advantage.

Verſ. 21. With much fair ſpeech] Fair words make fools fain. This Circe ſo enchanted the yonker with her fine language, that now ſhee may do what ſhe will with him, for hee is wholly at her devotion.

Verſ. 22. Hee goeth after her ſtraightway] Without any conſideration of the ſad conſequents. Luſt had blinded and beſotted him, and even transformed him into a brute. Nos animas etiam incarnavimus, ſaith one. Many men have made their very ſpirit a lump of fleſh, and are hurried on to Hell with greateſt violence. Chide them, you do but give phyſick in a fit; counſel them, you do but give advice to a man that is running a race; bee your counſel never ſo good, hee cannot ſtay to hear you, but will bee ready to anſwer, as Antipater did when one preſented him with a book treating of happineſs, he rejected it, and ſaid [non-Latin text not transcribed], I have no leaſure to read ſuch diſcourſes.

As an Oxe goeth to the ſlaughter] When hee thinks hee goeth to the paſture; or as thoſe Oxen brought forth by Jupiters Prieſt, with garlands unto the gates, but it was for a ſlain-ſacrifice, Acts 14.13. Fatted ware are but fitted for the ſhambles.

Numella. Beza in loc. Or as a fool to the correction of the Stocks] Such ſtocks as Paul and Silas (yet no fools) were thruſt into, feet and neck alſo, as the word there ſignifieth, Acts 14.24. This the fool fears not till hee feels; till his head bee cooled, and his heels too, till hee hath ſlept out his drunkenneſs, and then hee findes where hee is, and muſt ſtick by it. See this exemplified, Prov. 5.11. How many ſuch fools have wee now adaies (Mori morantur quocunque ſub axe morantur) that rejoyce in their ſpiritual bondage, and dance to Hell in their bolts (as one ſaith) nay, are weary of deliverance? They ſit in the ſtocks when they are at prayers, and come out of the Church when the tedious Sermon runs ſomewhat beyond the hour, like priſoners out of a Gaol. The Devil is at I[illegible: 1 letter]ne with ſuch (ſaith Maſter Bradford) and the Devil will keep holy-day, as it were in Hell, in reſpect of ſuch, ſaith another.

Verſ. 23. Till a dart ſtrike thorow his liver] i. e. Filthy luſt, that fiery dart of the Devil, Plato in hepate [non-Latin text not transcribed] ponit. Horat Ode 1. lib. 4. & Ode 25. lib. 5. Ovid. Triſt. pointed and poiſoned (as the Sythian darts are ſaid to bee) with the gall of Aſps and Vipers. Philoſophers place luſt in the liver. Mathematicians ſubject the liver to Venus, the Poets complain of Cupids wounding them in that part.

Cor ſapit, & pulmo loquitur, fel commovit iras: Splen ridere facit, cogit amare jecor.

Or (as ſome ſenſe it) till the Adulterer bee, by the Whores husband or friends, or by the hand of juſtice, deprived of life, perhaps in the very act, as Zimri and Cozbi were by Phineas in the very flagrancy of their luſt.

Verſ. 24. Hearken now therefore] Call up the ears of thy minde, to the ears of thy body, that one ſound may pierce both. Solomon knew well how hard it was to get ground of a raging luſt, even as hard as to get ground of the Sea. Hence hee ſo ſets on his exhortation.

Verſ. 25. Let not thine heart] Think not of her, luſt not after her. Thoughts and affections are ſibi mutuo cauſae. Whileſt I muſed the fire burned,Pſal. 39. ſo that thoughts kindle affections, and theſe cauſe thoughts to boyl. (See Job 31.1.) See therefore that evil thoughts, though they ruſh into the heart, yet they reſt not in it.

Verſ. 26. For ſhee hath caſt down many] That have let in death at thoſe windows of wickedneſs, thoſe loop-holes of luſt, that have dyed of the wound in the eye. Aliorum perditio tua ſit cautio. Seeſt thou another man ſhipwrackt, look well to thy tacklings.

Yea, many ſtrong men have been ſlain by her] The valour of man hath oft been ſlaved by the wyſes of a woman. Witneſs many of your greateſt Martialiſts, who conquered Countries, and were vanquiſhed of vices, being captivarum ſuarum captivi. The Perſian Kings commanded the whole world, and were commanded by their concubines. So was Alexander, Sampſon, Hercules, whom ſome make to bee the ſame with Sampſon.

Lenam non potuit, potuit ſuperare leaenam: Quem fera non potuit vincere, vicit hera.

Verſ. 27. Her houſe is the way to hell] The ſhorteſt cut to utter deſtruction. This, if well beleeved, would make the young man ſtop or ſtep back, as if hee had trod upon a ſerpent.

Sed vivunt homines tanquam mors nulla ſequatur: Aut velut infernus fabula vana foret.

Going down to the Chambers of death] Both temporal and eternal. Lo thoſe Hoaſts that welcome men into their Inne with ſmiling countenance, will cut their throats in their beds. The Syrens are ſaid to live in green meadows,Natal. Comes. and to have by them ever an heap of dead mens bones.