The Book of Proverbs, chapter seven, with BAC (Brit-Am Commentary).
Proverbs 7 The Evil Impulse is a Harlot!
[Proverbs 7:1] My son, keep my words,
And treasure my commands within you.
[Proverbs 7:2] Keep my commands and live,
And my law as the apple of your eye.
If in your field of work you have to handle explosives, or poisons, or valuable delicate jewels or anything else that needs great sensitivity and care then you will follow the safety instructions. You will probably be even more careful than you have to be.
There are certain moral injunctions that are even more important.
We should all try and be more responsible in how we deal with others.
This is for our own good.
[Proverbs 7:3] Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Commandments include general precepts and also duties.
We all have duties.
Each person is unique.
"Do what you have to do".
Remember however that God is your master and employer and you will have to answer to HIM.
cf.
[The Preacher -Ecclesiastes12:13] LET US HEAR THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER: FEAR GOD, AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS: FOR THIS IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN.
[The Preacher 12:14] FOR GOD SHALL BRING EVERY WORK INTO JUDGMENT, WITH EVERY SECRET THING, WHETHER IT BE GOOD, OR WHETHER IT BE EVIL.
[Proverbs 7:4] Say to wisdom, 'You are my sister,'
And call understanding your nearest kin,
This is advice to be familiar with common sense.
Just as one would usually let his sister tell him what's what and even pay attention to her criticism so too should we let wise counsels be acceptable to us and even position ourselves so that such advice will come to us.
Members of our family are allowed things others that are not.
They can tell us what's what with less inhibition. We even listen to them, more or less.
So we should open up our mind to wisdom and understanding. They should be like a sister to us. Let us consider things, be prepared to correct ourselves, improve matters.
[Proverbs 7:5] That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words.
This is good advice at all times and should be taken literally.
In addition to its important literal sense it is also an allegory not to let our pride or "foreign" considerations divert us from the truth.
[Proverbs 7:6] For at the window of my house
I looked through my lattice,
[Proverbs 7:7] And saw among the simple,
I perceived among the youths,
A young man devoid of understanding,
[Proverbs 7:8] Passing along the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house
[Proverbs 7:9] In the twilight, in the evening,
In the black and dark night.
[Proverbs 7:10] And there a woman met him,
With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.
a crafty heart. In Hebrew "natsuret lev". Lev in Hebrew is heart. This gives us the Hebrew verb "levav" meaning to like and the English word "love".
"natsuret lev" should more correctly be understood as a closed up heart, a cold heart.
She does not care, not for her husband, neither for her would-be lover, and even possibly nor for herself!
This a walking trap.
[Proverbs 7:11] She was loud and rebellious,
Her feet would not stay at home.
[Proverbs 7:12] At times she was outside, at times in the open square,
Lurking at every corner.
[Proverbs 7:13] So she caught him and kissed him;
With an impudent face she said to him:
[Proverbs 7:14] ' I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.
She has finished a debt and feels the need to let herself go.
She is liable to give her prey the feeling that he can get away with it; that he may do what he like and nothing will happen.
I once heard someone in the street say to his companion:
# Whatever we do, we do to ourselves. #
There is something in this.
Do good and good will come to you.
Do bad and the opposite.
In colloquial Hebrew there is an expression, "Ayn Efes", literally "There is no Zero". Everything has a consequence.
[Proverbs 7:15] So I came out to meet you,
Diligently to seek your face,
And I have found you.
The young man does not realize the trap he is in.
If he think she has eyes only for him he should know that if not he then it will be somebody else.
If on the other hand he thinks that it may as well be him as anybody else since it is bound to be someone he should realize that he is liable to be punished as if it was only he, as if he was entirely responsible.
He is being hunted down, quarried, and led to the kill.
His masculinity may lead him to believe that he is the one doing the staking and maybe he is.
In certain border-line situations it may be difficult to apportion the blame after the event. If however the youth had have listened to wise advice as he would have listened to an elder sister or a kindly aunt then there would be no need for recriminations.
[Proverbs 7:16] I have spread my bed with tapestry,
Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.
[Proverbs 7:17] I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
[Proverbs 7:18] Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with love.
[Proverbs 7:19] For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey;
[Proverbs 7:20] He has taken a bag of money with him,
And will come home on the appointed day.?
[Proverbs 7:21] With her enticing speech she caused him to yield,
With her flattering lips she seduced him.
[Proverbs 7:22] Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,
[Proverbs 7:23] Till an arrow struck his liver.
As a bird hastens to the snare,
He did not know it would cost his life.
[Proverbs 7:24] Now therefore, listen to me, my children;
Pay attention to the words of my mouth:
[Proverbs 7:25] Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths;
[Proverbs 7:26] For she has cast down many wounded,
And all who were slain by her were strong men.
[Proverbs 7:26] Her house is the way to hell,
Descending to the chambers of death.
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