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PROVERBS • CHAPTER 7
Proverbs 7
Practical wisdom, speech, work, money, sexuality, family, justice, self-control, leadership, and fear of Yahweh.
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Proverbs 7
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1
My son, keep my words.
Lay up my commandments within you.
Lay up my commandments within you.
2
Keep my commandments and live!
Guard my teaching as the apple of your eye.
Guard my teaching as the apple of your eye.
3
Bind them on your fingers.
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4
Tell wisdom, “You are my sister.”
Call understanding your relative,
Call understanding your relative,
5
that they may keep you from the strange woman,
from the foreigner who flatters with her words.
from the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6
For at the window of my house,
I looked out through my lattice.
I looked out through my lattice.
7
I saw among the simple ones.
I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding,
I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding,
8
passing through the street near her corner,
he went the way to her house,
he went the way to her house,
9
in the twilight, in the evening of the day,
in the middle of the night and in the darkness.
in the middle of the night and in the darkness.
10
Behold, there a woman met him with the attire of a prostitute,
and with crafty intent.
and with crafty intent.
11
She is loud and defiant.
Her feet don’t stay in her house.
Her feet don’t stay in her house.
12
Now she is in the streets, now in the squares,
and lurking at every corner.
and lurking at every corner.
13
So she caught him, and kissed him.
With an impudent face she said to him:
With an impudent face she said to him:
14
“Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me.
Today I have paid my vows.
Today I have paid my vows.
15
Therefore I came out to meet you,
to diligently seek your face,
and I have found you.
to diligently seek your face,
and I have found you.
16
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,
with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
17
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18
Come, let’s take our fill of loving until the morning.
Let’s solace ourselves with loving.
Let’s solace ourselves with loving.
19
For my husband isn’t at home.
He has gone on a long journey.
He has gone on a long journey.
20
He has taken a bag of money with him.
He will come home at the full moon.”
He will come home at the full moon.”
21
With persuasive words, she led him astray.
With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
22
He followed her immediately,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
as a fool stepping into a noose.
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
as a fool stepping into a noose.
23
Until an arrow strikes through his liver,
as a bird hurries to the snare,
and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.
as a bird hurries to the snare,
and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.
24
Now therefore, sons, listen to me.
Pay attention to the words of my mouth.
Pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25
Don’t let your heart turn to her ways.
Don’t go astray in her paths,
Don’t go astray in her paths,
26
for she has thrown down many wounded.
Yes, all her slain are a mighty army.
Yes, all her slain are a mighty army.
27
Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the rooms of death.
going down to the rooms of death.
WISDOM
Where this chapter fits
Proverbs belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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