Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 7:13
So she caught him, and kissed him, [and] with an impudent face said unto him,
13. with an impudent face ] An excellent translation (Lit. she strengthened, or hardened her face, and said, A.V. and R.V. marg.), following the LXX. , and the Vulg. procaci vultu.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 13. 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] heezzah paneyha, “she strengthened her countenance,” assumed the most confident look she could; endeavoured to appear friendly and sincere.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
13-15. The preparations for afeast do not necessarily imply peculiar religious professions. Theofferer retained part of the victim for a feast (Le3:9, &c.). This feast she professes was prepared for him whomshe boldly addresses as one sought specially to partake of it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
So she caught him, and kissed him,…. The young man that went near her corner where she was plying, or in the way to her house, where she was sitting, or standing, waiting and watching for such an opportunity, for such a person, as a prey to fasten on; and no sooner she saw him, and come up to him, but, without any ceremony or address, she laid hold upon him, as the word l signifies, threw her arms about his neck, and embraced him in them; and, what is unusual for women to do, kissed him, in order to stir up wanton affections and impure desires in him;
[and] with an impudent face; or, “and she strengthened her face” m; rubbed her forehead, put on a brasen face, a whore’s front; see Jer 3:3. And
said unto him; accosted him in the following manner, without shame or blushing.
l “apprehendit eum”, Pagninus, Mercerus, Gejerus, Michaelis, Schultens. m “et roboravit facies suas”, Montanus; “vultumque suum obfirmavit”, Schultens, so Michaelis; “obfirmabat”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 is here, after its primary signification, connected with the dat.: osculum fixit ei . Thus also Gen 27:26 is construed, and the Dagesh in is, as there, Dag. forte conj., after the law for which the national grammarians have coined the technical name ( 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 is the consequence of the retrogression of the accent ( ), 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 following, as the original penultima-accenting of does of the which follows it, for the reading by Lwenstein is contrary to the laws of punctuation of the Textus receptus under consideration here.
(Note: Vid., Baer’s Torath Emeth, p. 29f., and Psalmen-Commentar under Psa 52:5.)
As and have received the doubling Dagesh, so on the other hand, according to Ewald, 193b, it has disappeared from (written with Raphe according to Kimchi, Michlol 145a). And as has the tone thrown back, so the proper pausal is accented on the ult., but without attracting the following by dageshing, which is the case only when the first of the two words terminates in the sound of a ( ah ). 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.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Seductive Tactics
(Pro 7:13-20)
Verses 13-20 provide a detailed account of the seductive tactics of the adulteress:
1) She caught the young man (embraced him) and kissed him, employing the physical appeal of kiss and body contact, Pro 5:3; Pro 7:13.
2) She had that day offered peace offerings and paid her religious vows. It is a day for feasting and the young man is invited to share it, Vs. 14; Lev 7:16-18.
3) She implies that she had come looking for him; that he is special, Vs. 15.
4) She had more than just a feast in mind. Her bed had been prepared with attractive coverings and perfumed with the best spices. She was inviting the young man to a night of sexual pleasure, Vs. 16-18.
5) She quiets his fear of discovery by her husband with assurance that he is away on a long journey and will not return until a distant day, Vs. 19-20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
TEXT Pro. 7:13-27
13.
So she caught him, and kissed him,
And with an impudent face she said unto him:
14.
Sacrifices of peace-offerings are 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 spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,
With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
17.
I have perfumed by 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 man is not at home;
He is gone a long journey:
20.
He hath taken a bag of money with him;
He will come home at the full moon.
21.
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield,
With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along.
22.
He goeth after her straightway,
As an ox goeth to the slaughter,
Or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool;
23.
Till an arrow strike through his liver;
As a bird hasteth to the snare,
And knoweth not that it is for his life.
24.
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,
And attend to the words of my mouth.
25.
Let not thy heart decline to her ways;
Go not astray in her paths.
26.
For she hath cast down many wounded:
Yea, all her slain are a mighty host.
27.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
Going down to the chambers of death.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 7:13-27
1.
Why is face described as impudent (Pro. 7:13)?
2.
What is Pro. 7:14s connection with the subject under consideration (Pro. 7:14)?
3.
Was she really looking for him personally (Pro. 7:15)?
4.
Why all of this (Pro. 7:16)?
5.
Would we put cinnamon in our beds (Pro. 7:17)?
6.
What young man in the Bible successfully resisted such talk (Pro. 7:18)?
7.
Was she, then, a married woman (Pro. 7:19)?
8.
Why tell him what she did in Pro. 7:20?
9.
Does the fact that he did not give in easily indicate that he knew it was wrong (Pro. 7:21)?
10.
Was this his view at the moment (Pro. 7:22)?
11.
When would this have been (Pro. 7:23)?
12.
Would the fathers words help the young man resist such (Pro. 7:24)?
13.
The act of sin is preceded by the ……………… to sin (Pro. 7:25).
14.
Was he the first to fall for her talk and to suffer the consequences (Pro. 7:26)?
15.
What does sin lead to (Pro. 7:27)?
PARAPHRASE OF 7:13-27
Pro. 7:13-20.
She put her arms around him and kissed him, and with a saucy look she said, Ive decided to forget our quarrel! I was just coming to look for you and here you are! My bed is spread with lovely, colored sheets of finest linen imported from Egypt, perfumed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come on, lets take our fill of love until morning, for my husband is away on a long trip. He has taken a wallet full of money with him, and wont return for several days.
Pro. 7:21-23.
So she seduced him with her pretty speech, her coaxing and her wheedling, until he yielded to her. He couldnt resist her flattery. He followed her as an ox going to the butcher, or as a stag that is trapped, waiting to be killed with an arrow through its heart. He was as a bird flying into a snare, not knowing the fate awaiting it there.
Pro. 7:24-27.
Listen to me, young men, and not only listen but obey. Dont let your desires get out of hand; dont let yourself think about her; dont go near her; stay away from where she walks, lest she tempt you and seduce you. For she has been the ruin of multitudesa vast host of men have been her victims. If you want to find the road to hell, look for her house.
COMMENTS ON 7:13-27
Pro. 7:13. Very reminiscent of Potiphars wife: She caught him by his garment saying, Lie with me (Gen. 39:12). On impudent face the Hebrew indicates that she strengthened her countenance, assumed the most confident look she could, endeavored to appear friendly and sincere (Clarke).
Pro. 7:14. When one had made a peace-offering to God, he (she) was allowed to take of portion of the meat home (Lev. 3:1-5). She was planning a delicious meal (a banquet for two) to which she invites the young man. The religious nature of the feast is utterly ignored or forgotten. The shameless woman uses the opportunity simply as a convenience for her sin (Pulpit Commentary).
Pro. 7:15. Here is an instance of flattery that is so characteristic of her and which is warned against several times: That flattereth with her words (Pro. 2:16); To keep thee from the evil woman, From the flattery (Pro. 6:24). Notice that flattery is always connected with the early part of each instancewith the alluring phase of her operation.
Pro. 7:16. Wicked women have employed every means involving beauty, fragrance, etc., beautifying themselves, their clothing, and their quarters to entice men. Bait for the trap!
Pro. 7:17. And here comes the fragrance!
Pro. 7:18. All of this is to get him to come. Dealing with the Hebrew, Clarke says, Let us revel in the breasts, for the first statement; for the second: Let us gratify each other with loves, with the utmost delights. And then he remarks: This does not half express the original, but I forbear…The original itself is too gross to be literally translated, but quite in character as coming from the mouth of an abandoned woman.
Pro. 7:19. She takes care of any fear that he might have of her husband. The young man would realize that Jealousy is the rage of a man; And he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; Neither will he rest content though thou givest many gifts (Pro. 6:34-35). But she begins assuring him that her husband will know nothing about the matter: he is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.
Pro. 7:20. The assurances continue: he has plenty of money with him for his long trip (probably a merchandising trip); he will not be home again until the full moon. Sinners always have everything taken care of, they think, but have you not noticed that they still get caught every so often? The trouble is, they think no further than not getting caught by people. But all the while God is watching and on judgment will open the book of each persons life and judge him (or her) out of those books according to ones works (Rev. 20:12).
Pro. 7:21. What about her flattery of him? What about her tapestried couch? What about her perfumed bed? What about her assurances that it was safe? All this caused him to yield. The lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil (Pro. 5:3). The young man evidently didnt give in easily, knowing it would be wrong. But how many times temptation wins over knowledge! Clarke observes, With her blandishments and lascivious talk, she overcame all his scruples and constrained him to yield. This would appear to be the first time he had yielded to this temptationbut it would it be the last time? But he isnt the only one: She hath cast down many wounded (Pro. 7:26).
Pro. 7:22. Once a person has given in inwardly, there is nothing to keep him from proceeding to the evil act itself: He goeth after her straightway. But how does he go? He sees himself as one on the verge of satisfying his curiosity concerning what happens in sex, of one who is about to experience lifes greatest thrill in an exciting setting. The pleasure, not the punishment, of sin is uppermost in his mind at the moment. But in reality he is going as an ox goeth to the slaughter (Her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead (Pro. 2:18); Her mouth is smoother than oil: But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol (Pro. 5:3-5); He knoweth not that the dead are there; That her guests are in the depths of Sheol (Pro. 9:18). Our verse also indicates that he is in for a beating, for he goes after her as one in fetters to the correction of the fool.
Pro. 7:23. Other figures of suffering and death continue: an arrow through the liver, a bird caught in a trap. With all the promises that sin makes and with what actually follows, no wonder Heb. 3:13 speaks of the deceitfulness of sin, and the devil (who is behind every temptation) is proven to be the liar that Jesus said he was (Joh. 8:44). The mess he is getting his life into, the shame that he will bear in honorable society, the trouble he will involve himself in with sinned-against husbands throughout the years, the danger he will bring to the stability of his own house, the disease he will encounter in his own body, the early death he will bring upon himself, and the eternal Hell in which he will suffer forever and ever are the real outcomes of such sin.
Pro. 7:24. Here Solomon speaks to all of his sons. He wants all of them to listen to the urgent appeal he is about to make in the succeeding verses.
Pro. 7:25. Keep this type of thinking out of your heart, and then you will not go after her. If you let your heart, it will decline to her ways and go in her paths. Only the strong teaching of parents can save young men from getting involved with such a woman sometime in life. Note the words decline (down) and astray (lost); to go that way is to go down and to lose ones way in life.
Pro. 7:26. One woman, but she has ruined many men; her slain are a mighty host; The harlot…as a ruthless conqueror leaves a field of battle strewn with corpses (Pulpit Commentary). If you do not realize the power that women can have over men, think of how this very thing overcame the strong man Samson (Jdg. 16:1), how it was a pitfall for the great David on one occasion (2Sa. 11:2-4), and what Neh. 13:26 says about Solomon: Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin. The author took nothing for granted as he warned his sons, and today let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (1Co. 10:12). So keep your eyes where they belong; keep your hands to yourself; dont flirt; dont think upon women; dont read about romance; dont be entertained by it.
Pro. 7:27. In deep-shaft coal mines there is a house built over the elevator. When one enters that house and gets on the elevator, it goes only one directiondown. And thats the way it is when one goes to the harlots house. Other passages on this fact: Pro. 2:18; Pro. 5:5; Pro. 9:18.
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 7:13-27
1.
What shows the unfeminine forwardness of this woman (Pro. 7:13)?
2.
Was her religion helping her conduct (Pro. 7:14)?
3.
In this instance what won out over knowledge (Pro. 7:14)?
4.
Pro. 7:15 is an instance of …………… warned against several times.
5.
What bait does she throw at out in Pro. 7:16?
6.
What bait in Pro. 7:17?
7.
What does Clarke say about the Hebrew wording of Pro. 7:18?
8.
What fear of his does she seek to allay in Pro. 7:19?
9.
What additional assurance does she give in Pro. 7:20?
10.
Did the young man survive her talk (Pro. 7:21)?
11.
Was this probably his first time to be led into this sin (Pro. 7:21)?
12.
Would it probably be his last (Pro. 7:21)?
13.
Before he gave in outwardly, where did he give in (Pro. 7:22 )?
14.
What was uppermost in his mind at his moment of yielding (Pro. 7:22)?
15.
His going after her is likened to what in Pro. 7:22?
16.
To what in Pro. 7:23?
17.
What word shows up in the plural in Pro. 7:24?
18.
Comment on the words decline and astray in Pro. 7:25.
19.
One woman, but …………… victims (Pro. 7:26).
20.
Who were some men who fell before this sin (Pro. 7:26)?
21.
Her house is the way to ……………… (Pro. 7:27).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
13. Impudent face Literally, made strong her face; put on a bold, familiar air.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 7:13 So she caught him, and kissed him, [and] with an impudent face said unto him,
Ver. 13. So she caught him, and kissed him. ] Strange impudence in this “strange woman,” who hath not her name for nought. Potiphar’s wife was such a beast; so was Messalina the empress, wife to Claudius, Joan, queen of Naples, and other prodigious strumpets, of the kind of those whom they call Borboritae. We have heard, saith a grave divine, a of virgins, which at first seemed modest, blushing at the motions of an honest love; who being once corrupted and debauched, have grown flexible to easy entreaties to unchastity; and from thence boldly lascivious so as to solicit others, so as to prostitute themselves to all comers; yea, as our casuists b complain of some Spanish stews, to an unnatural filthiness.
a Dr Hall.
b Martin. Vivald., in Candelabro. cap. de Confes.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
impudent. Hebrew hardened. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for boldness.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
she: Gen 39:7, Gen 39:12, Num 25:1, Num 25:6-8, Num 31:16, Eze 16:33, Rev 2:20
with an impudent face said: Heb. she strengthened her face and said, Isa 50:7, Eze 2:4, Eze 2:6, Eze 3:7-9
Reciprocal: Gen 39:10 – as she spake Deu 28:50 – of fierce countenance Pro 6:35 – regard Pro 9:15 – General Pro 30:20 – General