John Trapp on Ecclesiastes 7:26

Verſ. 26. And I found more bitter than death] Amantes amentes: Amor amaror, Plus aloes quam mellis habet. Knoweſt thou not that there is bitterneſſe in the end?Dulce & amarum guſtulum corpis. Heus ſcholaſtice, ſaid the Harlot to Apuleius, Heark Scholar, your ſweet bits will prove bitter in the cloſe.

Principium dulce eſt, at finis amoris amarus.

The Pomegranate with its ſweet kernels, but bitter rind, is an emblem of the bitter-ſweet pleaſure of ſin.Speed. 710. Walfingh. It is obſerved of our Edward the third, that he had alwayes fair weather at his paſſage into France, and foul upon his return, Laeta venire Venus, Solin. cap. 27 tristis abire ſolet. The Panther hides her head, till ſhe ſees her time to make prey of thoſe other beaſts, that drawn by her ſweet ſmell, follow her to their own deſtruction. The Poets fable, that pleaſure and pain complained one of another to Jupiter, and that (when he could not decide the controverſie betwixt them) he tied them together with chains of Adamant, never to be ſundred.

The Woman] The wanton Woman, that ſhame of her Sex. A Bitch Moſes calls her, Deut. 23.18. St. Paul, a living Ghoſt, a walking Sepulcher of her ſelf, 1 Tim. 5.6. Cum careat pura mente, cadaever agit. This I finde, ſaith Solomon: where I is I with a witneſſe; he had found it by woful experience, and now relates it for a warning to others. Saith he, Quid facies facies Veneris cum veneris ante? Non ſedeas, ſed eas: ne pereas, per eas.

Whoſe heart is ſuares and nets] Heb. Hunters ſnares: for ſhe hunteth for the precious life, Prov. 6.26. and the Devil by her hunts for the precious ſoul, there being not any thing that hath more enriched Hell than Harlots. All is good fiſh that comes to theſe nets;2 Tim. 2.26 but they are taken alive by the Devil at his pleaſure.

And her hands as hands] To captivate and enſlave thoſe that haunt her, as Dalilah did Sampſon, as the Harlot did the young Novice, Prov. 7.22. as Solomons Moabitiſh miſtreſſes did him, and as it is ſaid of the Perſian Kings, that they were captivarum ſuarum captivi, Plutarch. captives to their Concubines, who durſt take the crown from their heads, or do any thing to them almoſt, when others might not come near them uncalled, upon pain of death, Eſt. 4.11.

Who ſo pleaſeth God ſhall eſcape from her] As Joſeph did, and Bellerophon, though with a difference. Joſeph out of a principle of Chaſtity, Bellerophon of Continency. The continent perſon refrains either for love of praiſe, or fear of puniſhment, but not without grief, for inwardly he is ſcalded with boyling luſt, as Alexander, Scipio, and Pompey were, when tempted with the exquiſiteneſs, and variety of choyſeſt beauties, they forbare. Vellem, ſi non eſſem Imperator. But now the Chaſte man, who is good before God (one whom he approves and takes pleaſure in) is holy both in body and ſpirit, 1 Cor. 7.34. and this with delight, out of fear of God, and love of vertue. God did much for that libidinous Gentleman, who ſporting with a Curtezan in a houſe of ſin, happened to ask her name, which ſhe ſaid was Mary: Mountaignes Eſſayes. whereat he was ſtricken with ſuch a remorſe and reverence, that he inſtantly not only caſt off the Harlot, but amended his future life.

But the Sinner ſhall be taken by her] See the Note on Prov. 22.14. The Poets fable, that when Prometheus had diſcovered Truth to men, that had long lain hid from them, Jupiter (or the Devil) to croſſe that deſign, ſent Pandora (that is Pleaſure) that ſhould ſo beſot them, as that they ſhould neither mind nor make out after Truth and Honeſty.