1 Follow my advice, my son; always keep it in mind and stick to it.
2 Obey me and
live! Guard my words as your most precious possession.
3 Write them
down and also keep them deep within your heart.
4 Love wisdom
like a sweetheart; make her a beloved member of your family.
5 Let her
hold you back from visiting a prostitute, from listening to her flattery.
6 I was
looking out the window of my house one day,
7 and saw a
simple minded lad, a young man lacking common sense.
8,9 walking
at twilight down the street to the house of this wayward girl, a prostitute.
10 She
approached him, saucy and pert and dressed seductively.
11,12 She
was the brash, coarse type, seen often
in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner for men to be her
lovers.
13 She put
her arms around him and kissed him and with a saucy look she said,
14 “I’ve
decided to forget our quarrel!
15 I was just
coming to look for you and here you are!
16,17 My bed
is spread with lovely, colored sheets of finest linen imported from Egypt,
perfumed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
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18 Come on,
let’s take our fill of love until morning,
19 for my
husband is away on a long trip.
20 He has
taken a wallet full of money with him and won’t return for several days.”
21 So, she
seduced him with her pretty speech, her coaxing and her wheedling, until he
yielded to her. He couldn’t resist her flattery.
22 He
followed her as an ox going to the butcher, or as a stag that is trapped,
23 waiting to
be killed with an arrow through his heart. He was as a bird flying into a
snare, not knowing the fate awaiting it there.
24 Listen to
me, young men, and not only listen but obey.
25 don’t let
your desires get out of hand; don’t let yourself think about her. Don’t go near
her; stay away from where she walks, lest she tempt you and seduce you.
26 For she
has been the ruin of multitudes – a vast host of men have been her victims.
27 If you
want to find the road to hell, look for her house.
Text: Children's Living Bible, Tyndale House Publishers 1972
Photo Credits: A Joyful 'toon, Mike Waters www.joyfultoons.com and Google Images
I like your analysis of Proverbs' 'strange woman' or 'foreign woman' or 'estranged woman' (possibly from husband). The RSV calls her 'an adventuress'. I have done a lot of research on her for months. I have files concerning her, with info from Hebrew, Greek, Vulgate/Douay, KJV, other relevant Bibles.
ReplyDeleteI can see her as being nothing but one or both of these two things:
1) a serial adulteress
2) a serial adulterous prostitute (an option you seem to pick; a married prostitute; a prostitute who is a serial adulteress)