The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting July 7th on Proverbs 7:14-17

Got 31 days in the month?  

God's got 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs! 

What a coincidence!

For each date then, again this month, you will find commentary on a few verses from the corresponding chapter. There are 7 months in the year with 31 days, so I divided each chapter into 7 parts and spread them out so that each verse will be reviewed on the date related to its chapter by the same number name.  No, I am not deliberately trying to make this explanation complicated! (But, if you can explain my system any better than I have tried to do in the past three 31-day months, there is probably a proverb proclaiming your wisdom, and you will be recognized here for your high achievement!).

Below this introduction you will find the whole chapter representing today's date, with this month's verses highlighted in red, and my amateur comments for today low lighted in blue. Enjoy!

PROVERBS 7

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

1 My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.


6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.
8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight, as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.


10 Then 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;
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.)
13 She 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.

14) OK, so today's verses are a little bit out of my field.  Yes, a lot bit.  But I'll try.

The first part has to do with the adulteress's religious duties.  Even while she is tempting the young man in the street she appeals to his interest in religious propriety as a part of her lure.  Food, of course, is another big part.  What fools we are (we men, for the present context), to allow our most basic instincts and needs to appease our moral restraint. If we can manage to assuage our God-given sense of guilt (our consciences) and our stomachs then it's all fair game after that!

15 So I came out to meet you;

I looked for you and have found you!

15) Will wonders never cease!  A lusty adulteress has found a horny man!  I don't think she had to look very far to find the simpleton do you?

16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.

16) And she goes on to describe her bed, as if that really matters to the poor sap.

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

17) More about the bed and its list of ingredients.  Reminds me of Hansel and Gretel; maybe she is planning to cook him when all is said and done!

When will we wake up and smell the cinnamon?  So much of what we devote ourselves to is a trap that only ruins us one life after another.

18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”


21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[a] stepping into a noose[b]
23 till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.


24 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to what I say.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray into her paths.
26 Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death.



[Anyone willing to author an explanation of my system, let me know, and if it makes more sense than my attempts (how could it not?) I will use it in October.]


By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting May 7th on Proverbs 7:10-13

[If you have been here before, in May, then you might want to skip down below the green for today's post.]

"Thirty days hath September, 

April, June and November

All the rest have 31

Except February which has 28

Except during leap year when it has 29"

NO I DID NOT WRITE THIS "POEM"!  (Talk about free verse!)

Why didn't somebody just point out that the four months that do NOT have 31 days (except February, and everyone knows all about February The Exceptional) come every other month except that there is no 30 day month between July and August?  The silly poem above mixes up the order just to hide the fact that the real 30 day months come in two orderly pairs: April/June and September/November.  Can somebody please write a non-silly poem for us that will make this clear, and stick in our minds, but without gooping them up with exceptions (and please just leave February out of it!)?

And to make matters (far) worse, MILLERWRITES has created a Proverbs Pull-A-Part Plan that decimates that fine collection of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, by spreading commentary on each chapter out over 7 months (the good 31 day months)!  Oh don't ask me to explain his system.  You can try to decipher what he said about it at the top of any P31P posts from January or March if you like, or just follow along this month and figure it out.

All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied here from Biblegateway.com

REMEMBER: My ideas may be oh so mesmerizing, but you will get more benefit from simply reading the chapter itself!

So here I offer my amateur comments on verses 10-13.  Today's inspired verses are in red, and my comments are neither       (neither inspired, nor red).

PROVERBS 7

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

1 My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and to insight, “You are my relative.”
5 They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words.
6 At the window of my house
I looked down through the lattice.
7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who had no sense.
8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house
9 at twilight, as the day was fading,
as the dark of night set in.
10 Then out came a woman to meet him,
dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.

10) "Crafty intent" he calls it.  'Nuff said.

11 (She is unruly and defiant,
her feet never stay at home;

12 now in the street, now in the squares,
at every corner she lurks.) 

11,12) At what age did she become "unruly and defiant" I wonder.  I expect it was before she was 12.  But "Unruly and defiant" turns quickly to other things.  Mainly, loneliness and desperation.  I see this woman as antsy, impatient and un-peaceable.  She will never be happy.

13 She took hold of him and kissed him
and with a brazen face she said:

13) She said....whatever it might take to get this guy in her bed.  Whatever it might take to try to find some satisfaction.  Some attempt to fill that "God shaped vacuum" we all have inside, that only God can fill.

14 “Today I fulfilled my vows,
and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
15 So I came out to meet you;
I looked for you and have found you!
16 I have covered my bed
with colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
21 With persuasive words she led him astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer[a] stepping into a noose[b]
23 till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.
24 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to what I say.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray into her paths.
26 Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death.




By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting January 7th on Proverbs 7:1-5

January 7;  Proverbs 7, Verses 1-5

Christians looking for a simple way to review the Bible regularly, have long been convenienced by the fact that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, the same number as most of our months.  Each chapter includes multiple bite-sized verses (uhm, proverbs) and can be read through simply in one sitting, one appropriately numbered chapter per day through the month.  My simple mind balks at the idea of trying this pattern in any month with less than 31 days  (It just does, all right?), but there are 7 months every year that are suitable for the effort.

My idea here is to reprint about 1/7 of the verses of each day's chapter throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, and offer a few comments from The Barking Owl.  So in January, we will get through the first few verses of every chapter and then in March, the next group, so that by the time December comes around we can finally get to the last set of verses in each chapter and complete the book's reading.  If you are smarter than I am (is there any doubt?), you will read the whole chapter every day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year!  By then you are guaranteed to be wiser than The Barking Owl at least, though no one will ever match the wisdom of Solomon!

[All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied from www.Biblegateway.com]

PROVERBS 7

¹ My son, keep my words 
   and store up my commands within you. 
² Keep my commands and you will live; 
   guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. 
³ Bind them on your fingers; 
   write them on the tablet of your heart. 
⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” 
   and to insight, “You are my relative.” 
⁵ They will keep you from the adulterous woman, 
   from the wayward woman with her seductive words.


Here again Solomon pleads with his son (perhaps anyone he cares about?) to listen to his instruction.  And to remember.  I like the famous 'apple of your eye' reference in verse 2.  "Guard my teachings as the apple of your eye" means to protect the import of the lesson with the same sensitivity you shield your very pupils from hazard.  Is there ever a time in your day when you would let someone poke a stick in your eye?  Didn't think so.  Do your eyelids ever refuse to shut when the wind is blowing rain or dust into your face?  You probably have to fight the lids just to squint them open enough to take a quick peak so the rest of your body doesn't walk out into heavy traffic.


THAT is a strong picture, representing how we should guard the good instruction we receive from the wise.


Verse 5 then reintroduces the 'adulterous woman', and reminds us that her threat is the danger we need the wisdom to avoid.


The rest of the chapter describes her efforts to seduce a young man while her husband is away. I believe the danger of adultery is equal for both sexes.  Sometimes it's the man in the street who is threatening to tempt the woman because he knows her husband is away. And again; the larger meaning, I think, is that we need wisdom to help us avoid all the sneaky tricks that "the world, the flesh, and the devil" might use to lead us astray from God when we think that He is 'away'.