With her much fair speech Which implies that her alluring words were more effectual with him than her impudent kisses, which possibly had a little alienated his mind from her; she caused him to yield By this expression Solomon signifies that no provocation to sin is a sufficient excuse for it. With the flattering of her lips she forced him
She prevailed over him; which argues that there was some reluctance in his judgment, or conscience, against yielding to her. He goeth after her straightway Without delay or consideration; as an ox goeth to the slaughter Going to it securely, as if it were going to a good pasture; or as a fool to the correction of the stocks Or, which is more agreeable to the order of the words in the Hebrew text, as one in fetters, that is, bound with fetters, to the correction of a fool, namely, to receive such correction, or punishment, as belongs to fools. Which may imply, either, 1st, That he hath no more sense of the shame and mischief which he is bringing upon himself than a fool; or, 2d, That he can no more resist the temptation, or avoid the danger, than a man fast tied with chains and fetters can free himself, although his impotency be merely of a moral nature, and therefore voluntary. Till a dart strike through his liver That is, his vital parts, whereof the liver is one. Till his life be lost, as it is explained in the next clause; as a bird hasteth to the snare Like a silly bird, which, being greedy of the food laid to entice it, never minds the snare that is laid together with it; so he, eagerly longing to partake of her feast, and the following delights, had not so much as a thought that this was a design upon his life, and would not end but in miseries in finitely greater than all his joys. Dr. Grey, making a slight alteration in the text, renders these verses thus: “He goeth straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, as a dog to the chain, and as a deer, till a dart strike through his liver: as a bird hasteth,” &c. “He considers the passage as including four similes, the ox, the dog, the deer, the bird; each of them filly resembling the case of a youth, reduced by an adulterous woman, and hastening to ruin without fear or thought. The circumstance of the dart, as applied to the deer, is beautiful and proper, which otherwise we are at a loss to dispose of. The LXX. and Syriac read, as a dog to the chains, or as a stag pierced through his liver with a dart.”