Proverbs 7

http://www.carm.org/kjv/Prov/Prov_7.htm

1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

Once again, we are exhorted to "keep" the words, to "lay [them] up" so that we never forget or disregard them.  We are told that if we keep the commandmants we wil live.  And hat we should keep the law as the "apple of [our] eye."

I looked up "apple of my eye" as a figure of speech, and here is what it had to say:  Figuratively it is something, or more usually someone, cherished above others.

So, we are to cherish the law above all other things we cherish. 

I don't know if "bind them on they fingers" is a reference to tying a string around your finger to help you remember something or not.  However, it certainly seems that it is a reference to keep the laws always close at hand.  (pun intended).  And again we are asked to write the law upon the table of our hearts.  To center our being on the Law of the Lord.

4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

We are to consider wisdom our sister and understanding a kinswoman (female relative).  They are to act like a wise and nurturing female relative who will help protect us from the "strange woman" who is out to flatter and seduce us with her words.


6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

9 In the twilight, in the evening , in the black and dark night:

10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

Here he tells a little story--I looked out my window, and I saw a "simple one" (probably meaning stupid, as he was also "void of understanding."  If you are void of understanding it means there is a great big empty hole where your understanding should be).  Anyhow, he sees this simpleton go into the house of the flattering woman.  The blackness and darkness of the night is emphasized, probably to show us that it is a bad time to be out and about--and also to symbolize the lack of intelligence or wisdom--you can't see if it is dark.  Anyhow, a sneaky (subtle of heart) woman dressed in the clothing of a harlot (a prostitute) met him at the door.


11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:

12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

He says the harlot is loud and stubborn--now loud could mean in volume only--as in the opposite of quiet, but it could also mean that she was either "garish" and "ostentatious" OR "obtrustively vulgar" or even "strong or offensive in smell" according to dictionary.com.  Stubborn means either "fixed or set in purpose or opinion" or "difficult to manage or suppress."  Both could apply.  She has her mind made up--she's gonna do what she's gonna do, and NOBODY is going to change her 

When he says her feet "abide not in her house," it means she doesn't stay where she belongs--she's off galavanting all over the place.

In particular, she is roaming the streets, lying in wait for victims at every corner.

13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

Well, the first part is pretty clear.  She grabs the dude, kisses him, and "impudently" kissed him.  Now the obsolete meaning of "impudent" is "shamless or brazenly immodest."  I am betting this is the definition that applies here.

I don't know wht the significance of the presence of the peace offerings she has with her, nor of the vows she has paid.

15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

This is obvious--I've been looking for you.  Now I've found you.


16  I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

She is tempting him by telling him how she has made her bed all welcoming and inviting--all kinds of sensuous pleasures await him there.  It sounds pretty good...


18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

19 For the good man is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

To be vulgar, what she is actually saying is, "Come on to my house, Big Boy, we can screw like rabbits all night long."   Then she tells him her husband ("the good man") is not at home--that he is gone on a long journey and will be gone for a long time.


21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

She is slick and plays on his vulnerabilities, and he is taken in.  He goes right to her house--led there like a dumb ox is lead to the butcher shop.  He won't realize he is ruining his life until the arrow goes into his liver.  Because he is dumb and didn't stop to consider the consequences.


24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

Listen up, kids.  Pay attention to what I am trying to teach you.  Don't let your heart be fooled by this woman's lies and temptations.  Stay out of her way.  Don't even walk on the sidewalk where she walks!


26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

Better men than you have been taken down by this predatory harlot.  Many strong, manly men have been killed by her.

27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

The harlot's house is one of the waystations on the road to hell.  It leads to the chambers of death.

Best to stay away from there.