Day 7, Proverbs Chapter 7

[katerinah1947]

Proverbs 7

Everyone read Chapter 7 if it is the 7th day of the month today. Come back and give us your thoughts....Tishri1

◄ Proverbs 7 ►
New International Version
Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

1My son, keep my words

and store up my commands within you.

2Keep my commands and you will live;

guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

3Bind them on your fingers;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and to insight, “You are my relative.”

5They will keep you from the adulterous woman,

from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

6At the window of my house

I looked down through the lattice.

7I saw among the simple,

I noticed among the young men,

a youth who had no sense.

8He was going down the street near her corner,

walking along in the direction of her house

9at twilight, as the day was fading,

as the dark of night set in.

10Then out came a woman to meet him,

dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

11(She is unruly and defiant,

her feet never stay at home;

12now in the street, now in the squares,

at every corner she lurks.)

13She took hold of him and kissed him

and with a brazen face she said:

14“Today I fulfilled my vows,

and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.

15So I came out to meet you;

I looked for you and have found you!

16I have covered my bed

with colored linens from Egypt.

17I have perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;

let’s enjoy ourselves with love!

19My husband is not at home;

he has gone on a long journey.

20He took his purse filled with money

and will not be home till full moon.”

21With persuasive words she led him astray;

she seduced him with her smooth talk.

22All at once he followed her

like an ox going to the slaughter,

like a deera stepping into a nooseb

23till an arrow pierces his liver,

like a bird darting into a snare,

little knowing it will cost him his life.

24Now then, my sons, listen to me;

pay attention to what I say.

25Do not let your heart turn to her ways

or stray into her paths.

26Many are the victims she has brought down;

her slain are a mighty throng.

27Her house is a highway to the grave,

leading down to the chambers of death.

Footnotes:
a 22 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew fool
b 22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.

 

[katerinah1947]

Hi,
I still love Proverbs.
This warning seems apparent. And again, I cannot separate wisdom, from Wisdom. Here, it could be either to me. It could be the characteristic, or the person, Wisdom.
Similarly treated is insight. Is she/he a spirit creature created by God, and similart to Understanding and Wisdome, to impart those characteristics, or are they as many have thought, just interesting ways of saying things.
I think I would like to know this.
LOVE,
...Mary., .... .

 

[jsimms615]

to me it talks about being careful with who we associate with and where we go. Wisdom helps us to be careful about which paths we chose.

 

[brinny]

to me it talks about being careful with who we associate with and where we go. Wisdom helps us to be careful about which paths we chose.

I agree.

 

[katerinah1947]

to me it talks about being careful with who we associate with and where we go. Wisdom helps us to be careful about which paths we chose.

Hi,

As long as it is just you and Brinny right now, this will be friendly and with Fear of The Lord, as I expect no Trolls to enter in here, and there is a passage on dealing with Trolls in Proverbs. We will get to it, and it works. At least it has always worked for me, and it passes even the rigors of Genesis 1:28, in that the science commanded of us by God to do there, says the way to handle Trolls, is in total agreement with what the Bible says, but they do not know that. It is just what they have learned works.

I do not at all see a literal interpretation of this being choosing the right paths, using wisdom or Wisdom.

As a non literal interpretaion, oh yes, it does make total sense. Why though (now thinking aloud) would this not be literal, is it the adultery of Israel and Judah? Did not God divorce them? Yes. And what are the wages of Adultery with other Gods? Is it death, meaning life after earth death, but without God? I think so.

So, it fits both your interpretations, as long as we are talking about Adulterous relationships with demons, which is what the pagan worship was all about.

Yet, why did God say, that He would take back Israel and Judah, even to the point that if arrows to kill them were in the air to do so, if they just admitted God is God, and loved Him rather than any one else, or anything else, those arrows would not harm them.

Oops. Worship is love. Love is worship. Worship means love Biblically. It means love of God. And love means 'doing the will of' (still thinking out loud, but I didn't want to lose you all in my thought processes, so these are the definitions I use Biblically)
Restating the above:

Yet, why did God say, that He would take back Israel and Judah, even to the point that if arrows to kill them were in the air to do so, if they just admitted God is God, and worshipped Him rather than any one else, or anything else, those arrows would not harm them.

In Psalms 6, it says no return. Since God says, He will un-divorce Israel and Judah, a normally impossible task, again, the lack of literalness, seems to be falling apart. Yet, David, adulterated, and did He die, Biblically. I hope not, but is there any proof Biblically that David is not dead, from his bodily death, to the time of Christ?

I still see this as possibly literal, but a lesson to all of us, is what we do, and what can happen to us, if we do not read Proverbs and then Let God speak to our soul, or however He gets His Word across to us, that we have all experienced.

LOVE,
...Mary., .... .

Proverbs is still tough. It is tougher than I thought.

LOVE,
...Mary., .... .

 

[jsimms615]

I think it could very well have been meant by the writer as a literal warning to the young men that he observed chasing after harlots. But, being that it is the Word of God, as an active and living word, God can use it in more than one way.
I have seen that several times where I will read a passage at one point in my life and I will get something out of it. Then years later I read the same passage and see something different. We have to remember that the Bible is not just some ordinary book, but the very word of God.

 

[katerinah1947]

I think it could very well have been meant by the writer as a literal warning to the young men that he observed chasing after harlots. But, being that it is the Word of God, as an active and living word, God can use it in more than one way.
I have seen that several times where I will read a passage at one point in my life and I will get something out of it. Then years later I read the same passage and see something different. We have to remember that the Bible is not just some ordinary book, but the very word of God.

Hi,
Yes on sentence one.
Yes on sentence two.

Next paragraph.
Do you not see that a man chasing after a harlot, thus making a huge error by listening to her, also carries the idea you spoke of, to not listen to everyone, but use instead, if you are Christian, all that your church tells you is true?
To me, living means, God can speak to you through a passage, and keep you away from harm. He can also tell you the literal interpretation also, if you are ready for it. I am saying that although what I put there might be totally literal and what God means in the absolute, that is not as important to God as I or you might think. Rather Absolutes are for some of us, to enrichen us. Relative truths are there to guide.
Okay. I'll fess up. I know much and don't want to derail anything. I am very sure this was and is literal, but so what.
All of us who know more, were cautioned in Mark 9:38-42, to not make those who know less, upset when they get things slightly wrong.
I am only asking, if you want these kinds of things, at this level or not. I will discuss. So, in discussion only, which do you think it is, literal, with still being used by God to cause people not to sin as much, or do you think, it is merely in Parable form, to be discerned?
LOVE,
...Mary., .... .

 

[Alithis]

I think it could very well have been meant by the writer as a literal warning to the young men that he observed chasing after harlots. But, being that it is the Word of God, as an active and living word, God can use it in more than one way.
I have seen that several times where I will read a passage at one point in my life and I will get something out of it. Then years later I read the same passage and see something different. We have to remember that the Bible is not just some ordinary book, but the very word of God.

yes this is what makes the ever multifaceted inspired word of God so alive to us .for the Holy Spirit can always unveil new degrees of comprehension to us as we need it without ever contradicting that which he has already spoken.
knowledge is knowing .. wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge in the most eternally beneficial manner to all .

 

[Tishri1]

I think it could very well have been meant by the writer as a literal warning to the young men that he observed chasing after harlots. But, being that it is the Word of God, as an active and living word, God can use it in more than one way.
I have seen that several times where I will read a passage at one point in my life and I will get something out of it. Then years later I read the same passage and see something different. We have to remember that the Bible is not just some ordinary book, but the very word of God.

This is my prayer for us month by month reading Proverbs

 

[brinny]

yes this is what makes the ever multifaceted inspired word of God so alive to us .for the Holy Spirit can always unveil new degrees of comprehension to us as we need it without ever contradicting that which he has already spoken.
knowledge is knowing .. wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge in the most eternally beneficial manner to all .

Yes! That is soooooo true! Reminds me of this verse:

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." ~Jeremiah 33:3

We are "calling" on God when we delve into His Word, and He DOES show us "new" things each time.

 

[Catherineanne]

To me this chapter describes the attractiveness of sin; first we look from a distance, then we go a little closer, always thinking that we can walk away if we want to. But when we get close enough the allure becomes irresistible. Or, worse yet, perhaps we are the person tempting another to join us in some kind of wrongdoing.

The advice is clear; not only are we to avoid temptation, we are to be careful not to go too close to it either.

Notice as well that the prostitute is an apparently respectable woman. She has a husband, she fulfills her vows in the temple, she is relatively affluent and can make her bedchamber very comfortable indeed. This is not a woman who needs to sell herself for money; she does it simply because she can; for fun. Her husband is not enough for her, even though he is clearly a prosperous merchant; his purse is full of money and she has Egyptian coverings on her bed. But affluence is not enough; she wants more excitement in her life.

The whole chapter can be summarised by this line of the Lord's prayer; 'Lead us not into temptation.' But we also have to be careful not to lead ourselves there; either as the young man or as the bored wife.

 

[brinny]

To me this chapter describes the attractiveness of sin; first we look from a distance, then we go a little closer, always thinking that we can walk away if we want to. But when we get close enough the allure becomes irresistible. Or, worse yet, perhaps we are the person tempting another to join us in some kind of wrongdoing.

The advice is clear; not only are we to avoid temptation, we are to be careful not to go too close to it either.

Notice as well that the prostitute is an apparently respectable woman. She has a husband, she fulfills her vows in the temple, she is relatively affluent and can make her bedchamber very comfortable indeed. This is not a woman who needs to sell herself for money; she does it simply because she can; for fun. Her husband is not enough for her; she wants more excitement in her life.

The whole chapter can be summarised by this line of the Lord's prayer; 'Lead us not into temptation.' But we also have to be careful not to lead ourselves there; either as the young man or as the bored wife.

I didn't even notice that about the woman being "respectable", etc. That is quite an insight, that she does it for "fun", etc.

Thank you for sharing that.

 

[Catherineanne]

I didn't even notice that about the woman being "respectable", etc. That is quite an insight, that she does it for "fun", etc.

Thank you for sharing that.

YW. This could relate to comments by various prophets of Israel behaving like a harlot. We could compare the imagery with this one; also a very prosperous woman.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/revelation/17.html

And this in Isaiah; Jerusalem the harlot:

http://biblehub.com/isaiah/1-21.htm

In this context all of these might combine into a message from God to his people to say; 'You belong to me; don't try to sell yourself to other nations. You are mine; I have given you great riches; why do you need to prostitute yourself with other people?'

 

[brinny]

^ That is deeeep. It's amaaaazing how the Bible weaves together and intertwinwes with other verses to form as it were, a great tapestry......it

Thank you for that insifght....i'm meditating on it now.
And this in Isaiah; Jerusalem the harlot:

http://biblehub.com/isaiah/1-21.htm

In this context all of these might combine into a message from God to his people to say; 'You belong to me; don't try to sell yourself to other nations. You are mine; I have given you great riches; why do you need to prostitute yourself with other people?'[/QUOTE]

 

[Catherineanne]

^ That is deeeep. It's amaaaazing how the Bible weaves together and intertwinwes with other verses to form as it were, a great tapestry......it

Thank you for that insifght....i'm meditating on it now.

And this in Isaiah; Jerusalem the harlot:

http://biblehub.com/isaiah/1-21.htm

In this context all of these might combine into a message from God to his people to say; 'You belong to me; don't try to sell yourself to other nations. You are mine; I have given you great riches; why do you need to prostitute yourself with other people?'

This quotation in Jeremiah explains further:

http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-20.htm

The prostitute lies down on every high hill and under every spreading tree, in other words at pagan religious sacrificial sites. The reference is to Israelites worshipping false gods.

God has given Israel everything she needs, but she has gone running after false gods to prostitute herself with them.

 

[brinny]

This quotation in Jeremiah explains further:

http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-20.htm

The prostitute lies down on every high hill and under every spreading tree, in other words at pagan religious sacrificial sites. The reference is to Israelites worshipping false gods.

God has given Israel everything she needs, but she has gone running after false gods to prostitute herself with them.

Yes, it must've been/is heartreaking for God.

 

[Catherineanne]

Yes, it must've been/is heartreaking for God.

I thought of another connection as well. Time after time God calls Israel to return to him, even after behaving like a harlot. A married woman who behaves like this commits adultery. And what does the Lord do when faced with a woman caught in adultery? He tells her to go and sin no more; just the same as God tells Israel over and over again through the prophets.

http://biblehub.com/john/8-11.htm

 

[katerinah1947]

I thought of another connection as well. Time after time God calls Israel to return to him, even after behaving like a harlot. A married woman who behaves like this commits adultery. And what does the Lord do when faced with a woman caught in adultery? He tells her to go and sin no more; just the same as God tells Israel over and over again through the prophets.

http://biblehub.com/john/8-11.htm

Hi,

Nice, yes I also never saw that the woman was prosperous. One day, with something, I was trying to figure out how God could violate, his own Laws, of never taking back a divorced wife. Somewhere in Jeremiah, I think he said that He indeed Divorced Israel, and indeed might of, or did divorce Judah.

Here in Jeremiah, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+3&version=NIV is a call back by God, just like you mentioned in http://biblehub.com/john/8-11.htm

What occurred to me, is none of us can really marry with other gods in actuality, rather it is done in our minds. So, since we who are divorced by God, cannot remarry another God, it is always possible for God to take us back.

Since there are no other gods, then with God remarrige in fact, cannot occur, so there is no violation in God's own Laws of Old, for Him to take us back.

It was in reading Jeremiah, and the book before that or the one after that, one day, when I realized, it is technically impossible to commit adultery with God, even though I might harlot after other so-called gods, since no other God, exists.

Marriage with God is forever. Divorce by God, is a response to us going after other gods.

LOVE,
...Mary., .... .

 

[brinny]

I thought of another connection as well. Time after time God calls Israel to return to him, even after behaving like a harlot. A married woman who behaves like this commits adultery. And what does the Lord do when faced with a woman caught in adultery? He tells her to go and sin no more; just the same as God tells Israel over and over again through the prophets.

http://biblehub.com/john/8-11.htm

THAT is amaaaaaaazing...as i was studying the Old Testament, yes, over annd over again God forgave and forgave and forgave.....and yes, what a parallel with Jesus and the woman caught in adultery....this is EYE OPENING! How PRECIOUS is THAT????

 

[Catherineanne]

THAT is amaaaaaaazing...as i was studying the Old Testament, yes, over annd over again God forgave and forgave and forgave.....and yes, what a parallel with Jesus and the woman caught in adultery....this is EYE OPENING! How PRECIOUS is THAT????

: )

It certainly explains why he does not condone stoning; he realises that those around him are in fact the woman caught in adultery; they are part of Israel. He shows mercy to her, and through her to all of us.