A Detailed Description Of The Seduction Of The Naive Young Man By The ‘Strange Woman' (Proverbs 7:6-23).
This account divides up into three, what the father observes of the naive young man's actions (Proverbs 7:6-13), what the strange woman says to the naive young man (Proverbs 7:14-20), and the resulting response of the young man (Proverbs 7:21-23). It is presented chiastically:
A For at the window of my house, I looked forth through my lattice, and I beheld among the naive ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner, and he went the way to her house, in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the pupil of the night and in the darkness (Proverbs 7:6-9).
B And, see, there met him a woman, with the attire of a prostitute, and wily of heart, (She is clamorous and wilful, her feet do not remain in her house, now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, and lies in wait at every corner) (Proverbs 7:10-12).
C So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face she said to him, “Sacrifices of peace-offerings are with me, this day have I paid my vows, therefore I have come forth to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you (Proverbs 7:13-15).
D I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, with striped cloths (embroidered stuff) of the yarn of Egypt (Proverbs 7:16).
D I have perfumed my bed, with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon (Proverbs 7:17).
C Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning, let us solace ourselves with loves, for the man is not at home, he is gone a long journey, he has taken a bag of money with him, he will come home at the full moon (Proverbs 7:18-20).
B With her much fair speech she causes him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she drives him along (Proverbs 7:21).
A He goes after her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool, until an arrow strikes through his liver, like a bird hurries to the snare, and does not knows that it is for his life (Proverbs 7:22-24).
Note that in A the young man is drawn to her house, and in the parallel he follows her there. In B she is ready with her wiles, and in the parallel she drives him along with her wiles. In C she flirts with him and says that she has been looking for him, and in the parallel she calls him to go with her for love-making. Centrally in D she has laid her seductive and foreign trap.
‘For at the window of my house,
I looked forth through my lattice,
And I beheld among the naive ones,
I discerned among the youths,
A young man void of understanding.
Passing through the street near her corner,
And he took strides towards the way to her house,
In the twilight, in the evening of the day,
In the middle (pupil) of the night and in the darkness.'
In very descriptive words Solomon pictures himself as looking through a window (an open space in the wall, probably covered with lattice work) on the second floor of his house (the ground floor would have no windows) and watching a group of youths who were standing aimlessly around and had little to do (naive ones). As he watched he saw a naive young man, ‘void of understanding' (i.e. lacking in wisdom), detach himself from them and wend his way towards the prostitute's house on the corner of the street. The young man has waited for darkness to descend. To that extent he is aware of his folly. The verb ‘took strides' seems to suggest the activity of someone showing off to his fellows (walked pompously). But it should be noted that he stops short of actually entering her house. The picture is psychologically true to life, portraying the cockiness of a young man wanting to show off to his friends, whilst not being quite so sure when he actually approaches his goal. It requires the wiles of the prostitute to achieve this.
It was twilight. The sun had gone down and darkness was advancing. The repetition brings home the slowly gathering darkness. The ‘pupil' of the night may signify blackness, or the time when the eye has to acclimatise because it is growing dark. There may here be the hint that he was walking into darkness.
‘And, see, there met him a woman,
With the attire of a prostitute, and watchful of heart,
(She is unruly and wilful,
Her feet do not remain in her house,
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places,
And lies in wait at every corner).'
In contrast is the woman. She has been scouring the town looking for just such a person. She has walked the streets and visited the open square in front of the city gate and waited at corners. She is dressed as a prostitute (possibly in order to disguise her true identity) and watchful of heart. She is unruly (clamorous) and wilful. She is not prepared to stay quietly at home in the dark hours sewing like other women. She is a rebel at heart, and is taking the opportunity of her husband's absence to enjoy some illicit sex. But she does not want everyone to know it.
On the other hand ‘in the streets -- in the broad places -- at every corner' may indicate that she is a fictitious person who represents a number of prostitutes. He may be saying that they were to be found everywhere.
‘So she caught him, and kissed him,
And with an impudent face she said to him,
Sacrifices of peace-offerings are with (upon) me,
This day have I paid my vows.
Therefore I came forth to meet you,
Diligently to seek your face, and I found you.'
Note how she tries to indicate her personal interest in him. He is the one that she has been looking for! So she seizes him, kisses him, and invites him to a private feast. The impudent face may indicate that at this point she unveils for him. The mention of ‘sacrifices of peace offerings' indicate a coming feast. The flesh of a peace offering was eaten by the offerer and his/her family. The plural may have in mind that she will have received a number of portions of meat from it. And it is because she has this feast, with no one to share it, that she has come looking for him. She is even trying to give the impression that his going with her will be a kind of religious celebration connected with making an offering to YHWH and making vows to Him. To the naive young man it even begins to seem respectable.
‘I have spread my couch with coverlets of tapestry,
With striped cloths (or ‘embroidered stuff') of the yarn (linen) of Egypt,
I have perfumed my bed,
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.'
But as she reels in her catch she offers even greater delights. Her couch has been prepared ready to receive him. She has spread coverlets over it, made of embroidered linen material from Egypt, (probably red in colour, indicating her status), so that they can feast together as they lie on them in comfort. It is intended to sound mysterious and romantic. But to the godly Israelite the mention of Egypt would bring to mind the insidious lure of Egypt (Exodus 16:3; Numbers 11:5). Solomon no doubt hoped that the ‘young man' whom he was addressing would hopefully take warning.
And not only was there a couch with Egyptian coverlets, there was also a bed perfumed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon (compare Song of Solomon 4:14). Such a bed would only be owned by the wealthy. And once they had feasted he would share her bed. He was to enjoy every luxury.
Myrrh was a fragrant gum-resin obtained by tapping Arabian or African balsam trees. It was mentioned at Ugarit. Aloes were obtained from the eaglewood tree in south-east Asia and North India. Cinnamon was obtained from the bark of the cinnamon tree. They were all very valuable and spoke of great luxury, although, of course, she may have been exaggerating the delights in store. But the naive young man would be mesmerised..
‘Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning,
Let us solace ourselves (or ‘make each other delighted') with loves,
For the man is not at home,
He is gone a long journey,
He has taken a bag of money with him,
He will come home at the full moon.'
She calls him to a feast of love. They can make love (sexual love) all night, without any likelihood of interference. It will be a feast of love. And they can delight each other, with each other's love (loves, the same word as used by Wisdom in chapter 8) hour by hour until the morning.
And it will be quite safe, for ‘the man' is at present not at home. He is away for some time. He has gone on a long trip, with a bag full of silver, and is not due back until the full moon. So the young man can be sure that he will not arrive unexpectedly and catch them at it. Note the cold description of her husband as ‘the man' and not as ‘my husband'. The naive young man is not to think that he is interfering in a love match. It may also indicate her own cold-heartedness.
‘With her much fair speech she causes him to yield,
With the flattering of her lips she coerces him along.
He goes after her immediately,
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool,
Until an arrow strike through his liver,
As a bird hurries to the snare,
And knows not that it is for his life.'
With her fair speech she breaks down his resistance, and with her smooth lips she coerces or ‘forces' him to accompany her. But as we know he was already on the way to her house, so she has a willing victim. That is why he accompanies her immediately. So there is a clever paralleling of the enticements of the woman, and the folly of the young man. But what Solomon's ‘son' is to recognise is that really the naive young man is as an ox that is going unaware to the slaughterhouse. He may see himself as a powerful and virulent ox, but really he is heading to his death. He is like a man in fetters (the fetters of sin and lust) being dragged helplessly to what Solomon sees as the physical punishment arising from his foolish behaviour, unaware that shortly an arrow will be shot through his liver as he is executed. He is unaware that he is going to his execution. (A particular instance of such an event may be in Solomon's mind). He is like a bird hurrying into the snare, not realising that it will lead to the loss of its life, just as the young man is hurrying into the honeytrap, not realising that it is to his death (compare Proverbs 5:3-5). These pictures and their consequences may well indicate that he can only expect the death penalty for his behaviour, as required by the Torah. Notice the downward movement. The strong and virulent ox, the prisoner restricted by fetters, the foolish flapping bird. He may think of himself as a young ox, but really he is a man in fetters, yes, and even a foolish helpless bird. And in all cases only death awaits.