The Text
Proverbs 7:6-23
(read the whole chapter but we will zoom in on the passage below)
6 For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
10 And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
11 She is loud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
Insight & Breakdown
After reading this you might be saying, “didn’t we just learn about the adulterous woman a couple weeks ago?” And you would be right! But once again, here in chapter 7, we have a lesson about the dangers of sexual sin and adultery. An apt message for our day and age as well as the time of Solomon. When the Bible doubles down on a topic, I think we should doubly make sure we give it attention, so let’s check it out!
Let’s break down a couple thoughts from this story Solomon tells. In verse 7, we see he’s talking about the simple. This isn’t necessarily a basic stupidity, but rather inexperience and gullibility. This is someone who simply needs to gain instruction. The idea is repeated as he talks about a “young man” later in the verse. Let’s make the observation that a young man has all the passion and overconfidence of youth - coupled with all the sexual tension that comes from a body being ready for sex but a mind and heart that isn’t ready for it (nor is he married of course). This is a tough combination, but frankly - it’s a combination a lot of people are dealing with, in fact, we all have dealt with this at some point in our lives. All of this coupled with the fact that we live in a society which has made promiscuity normal, and its consequences seemingly less. Sex is also thrown at us from every angle - to buy any and every thing we need we will be confronted with imagery along the way. Wow - it’s hard for young people…actually anyone, these days. Check out verse 11 and how this woman is loud, wayward, and her feet do not stay at home. These all SHOULD be clues to someone who is exercising wisdom that maybe this person is not someone of a good character.
For instance the fact that she was never home should indicate that she looks elsewhere for love and satisfaction rather than the home - which means she would probably never be a meaningful part of his life - but he was too blinded by both his passion and inexperience to see the truth. Check out verse 14, this is a person who wasn’t necessarily against religion - she just the moral code that comes with it. There are a lot of people who go to church or say they’re Christians but don’t live it - and one of the primary ways tends to be with sex. If someone says they follow God’s ways, but doesn’t actually follow God’s ways - that should be a clue to watch out! As we read through the rest of the verses, we see her methods become more explicit, talking about taking their fill of love till morning, and also we see her taking away the perception of consequences, mentioning her husband was gone.
When we look at the whole package altogether, we can see how she used her words (and words seem to be the biggest subject of warning both in this chapter and in chapter 5) to craft the perfect seduction: *a well chosen target(v7)*availability to meet (v8)*provocatively clothed (v10)*free with physical affection (v13) *giving recognition to religion*making someone feel desired(v15)*promises of love and sensual pleasure (v18)*perception of low risk (v19).
It’s tempting to read something like this passage and slough it off as something that should be obvious and something that people such as ourselves or those we know wouldn’t likely fall into. However, when you really think about it - there are some pretty crafty things going on here, that if we really pay attention to we will see in our day an age. Just like in chapter 5, although a seductive woman is used in this specific text, I believe these are things for both men and women to look out for with regard to the opposite sex. Hopefully we all are a little sharper and wiser when it comes to our radar on these things than we were before.
Questions For Reflection And Discussion
- If you could put the big idea of this passage into one sentence what would it be?
- What things in our society today make the temptation for young people, or really anyone, difficult to stand against?
- Which of the seductive woman’s ploys stuck out to you as one as the easiest one to succumb to?
- What is the best way to guard yourself and the young people you care about against something like this?