Deliverance From The Temptations Of Women (Proverbs 2:16-20).
Solomon was very conscious of the fact that one of a man's greatest dangers in walking in the way of wisdom was the allurement and attraction of women. It is a subject that he brings up a number of times in the prologue in some detail (see also Proverbs 5:1-23; Proverbs 6:24-35; Proverbs 7:6-27; Proverbs 9:13-18). And it was an attraction that would bring about his own downfall (1 Kings 11:1-8). Indeed he was clearly aware of his own weakness. In a day when women were more closely guarded, and allowed little freedom in meeting with men, the great dangers for a young man lay in prostitutes and loose women who sought openly to attract men, or lonely and sexually experienced wives who would seek to take advantage of young men whom they fancied. Solomon deals with both.
For the young man in the Western world today the dangers are far greater, for he lives in a world where there is more freedom in sexual matters, where women dress themselves in a manner that will cause men the maximum temptation, and where incitements to succumb abound, both in real life and on the internet. For modern man Solomon's words must be seen in that light. (It is, of course, equally true that in the same way men can allure women, and cause them to fall in a similar way. But that is not a matter that Solomon deals with, for in his day women were not allowed the same freedom as men, and were more protected from their wiles).
On the other hand we must not overlook the contrast between the godly woman Wisdom who calls to men with the truth (Proverbs 1:22-33), and the ‘strange (and therefore foreign) woman who comes with her own deceptive appeal, bringing flattering words. It may well be a warning against ‘foreign wisdom' of the wrong kind. Indeed this deliberate contrast is brought out in chapter 9 where woman Wisdom is contrasted with woman Folly.
Note how these verses parallel Proverbs 2:12-15, which were spoken of being delivered from those who encouraged evil:
‘To deliver you from the way of evil (Proverbs 2:12) ---- to deliver you from the foreign woman (Proverbs 2:16).' ‘From the man who speaks perverse things (Proverbs 2:12) -- from the stranger who flatters with her word (Proverbs 2:16).' ‘Who forsake the paths of uprightness (Proverbs 2:13) --- who forsakes the friend of her youth (Proverbs 2:17).' ‘To walk in the ways of darkness, --- who are crooked in their ways, and perverse in their paths (Proverbs 2:13; Proverbs 2:15) --- ‘her paths (incline) unto the dead, -- nor do they attain to the paths of life, that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous (Proverbs 2:19-20).'
There is thus a deliberate repeated pattern. As we have observed, the young man is faced with conflicting voices. First we had the voice of his mentor urging him in the upright path. Then the voice of the one who speaks perverse things. Now we have the voice of the foreign woman who flatters with her word. And he is faced with conflicting choices. On the one hand ‘the way of evil -- the ways of darkness --crooked ways -- perverse paths -- paths to the dead' and on the other ‘the paths of uprightness -- the paths of life -- the way of good men -- the paths of the righteous.' In a clamorous world it is important which voice we heed, and which way we choose. The importance of our choices comes out in the warnings given.
Once again the passage may be seen chiastically:
A To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words, who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God' (Proverbs 2:16-17).
B For as for her house it sinks down into death, and her paths to the dead (Proverbs 2:18).
B None who go to her return again, nor do they attain to the paths of life (Proverbs 2:19).
A That you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous (Proverbs 2:20).
In A he is to be delivered from the ‘strange woman' who forgets the covenant of her God, and in the parallel he is rather to walk in the way of the good man, and keep the paths of the righteous (those who observe the covenant). In B her house sinks to death, and her paths to the dead, in the parallel none who go to her return again, nor attain to the paths of life. The ‘strange woman' is the one who is outside his normal sphere of life. She opens up a new world, and a very dangerous one. She is the opposite of woman Wisdom.
‘To deliver you from the strange woman,
Even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,'
Who forsakes the friend of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.'
Another purpose of God's wisdom is to deliver the one who is conversant with God's wisdom, and who walks in the fear of God, from the openly expressed attractions of seductive women. Such a man will not dally with those who seek to sexually allure. He will heed the warnings of God. In the modern day that will involve keeping away from places where such allurements may be offered, and learning to flee from whatever arouses youthful desires (2 Timothy 2:22). Avoidance is better than cure.
In those days the greatest danger came from those women who made themselves available to men, and were skilled in the art of allurement. They were ‘strange' in that they were outside the young man's normal sphere of life. They were often foreign women (see Ruth 2:10) who, being separated from their husbands, were either lonely, or had to seek to live somehow. That the problem was widespread in many countries over many centuries comes out in the Egyptian Instruction of Ani, who declares, ‘Be on your guard against a woman from abroad, -- a deep water whose windings you know not, a woman who is far away from her husband' (ANET Pritchard p.420). The Torah forbade an Israelite woman to be a prostitute (Deuteronomy 23:17), but unquestionably some were. There is no specific sanction against such, except for the laws on adultery, whilst other older women who were lonely might well have sought sexual consolation.
‘The foreigner who flatters with her words (who causes her words to be smooth).' In the words of Proverbs 5:3, ‘her mouth is smoother than oil'. Compare Psalms 5:9 d; Proverbs 5:21. She knows how to be persuasive and make sin seem delectable.
‘She forsakes the friend of her youth', that is, her natural husband. And she ‘forgets the covenant of her God'. Thus she betrays both man and God, as is so often the case when men break God's covenant, for God is concerned about man's behaviour towards man, as well as towards Himself. This last phrase is especially significant in that it establishes God's wisdom firmly in the covenant. The idea in mind may be the marriage covenant (Malachi 2:14). But there is no suggestion that she is married. It is therefore more likely, in view of the personal nature of it (‘her God'), that it has in mind the covenant to which Israel subscribed, and included therefore the command not to commit adultery (Exodus 20:14). It is that which is an essential part of God's covenant. Thus the writer's assumption is that those who follow wisdom will observe God's covenant. Whilst the covenant is rarely specifically mentioned in Proverbs, it clearly lies at the back of much of the teaching concerning wisdom in Israel, and is almost certainly in mind in Proverbs 6:23, ‘the commandment is a lamp and the Torah is a light', where both commandment and torah are words regularly used of covenant requirements, e.g. Exodus 24:12; Deuteronomy 30:10 '; Jos 22:5; 1 Kings 2:3; etc.
‘For as for her house it sinks down into death,
And her paths to the dead,
None who go to her return again,
Nor do they attain to the paths of life,
That you may walk in the way of good men,
And keep the paths of the righteous.'
The one who follows the way of adultery, and succumbs to the temptations offered by women, will find that it quickly leads to the grave. Such a woman's house sinks men into death, and her paths lead them on the way to the place of the dead, filled with corpses (rephaim). Once having succumbed it is unlikely that he will return to the good way, or begin to walk the paths of life. Thus the clear message is that sin leads to death, whilst the way of the good man (the man whose heart is set on God) leads to life. In mind is not only physical death but the death of the spirit within. There may also be in mind here sexually transmitted diseases which actually caused death. To associate with such women was to court disease. But the overall idea is that such behaviour takes a man away from the Lord of life. Such people are dead while they live.
And what they lose are the paths of life. They no longer walk in the way of life. They will no longer enjoy wholesome life. They will know nothing of the joy of the Lord, or of the rejoicing of a truly good life (compare John 10:10). Whilst they may appear to be gaining for a time in lustful pleasure, in the end they will lose all that is good. Their consciences will become atrophied. In contrast are those who walk in the way of good men, and observe the paths of the righteous, that is, those who walk in the covenant.
‘That you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.' ‘That' refers back to ‘to deliver you'. He will be delivered ‘with the consequence that' he will walk in the way of good and righteous men.
Note the two contrasting groups of ideas, such people ‘sink down into death', are ‘led into the land of the dead', and ‘do not return again'. In other words they take the way of hopelessness. And what they miss by this is ‘attaining the paths of life', ‘walking in the way of good men', and ‘keeping the paths of the righteous', all ways which lead to God and to a wholesome and God-fearing life. Note especially that this is strictly linked to moral living. It is not just a wholesome life, it is a righteous life. In this it goes beyond much wisdom teaching. This idea of the two paths is expanded on in Proverbs 4:10-27, and a parallel thought is found in Proverbs 5:5-6 where ‘her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on Sheol (the world of the dead), so that she does not find the level path of life'.