Proverbs 6:20-35

Discourse 7. Addressed To ‘My Son'. He Is Urged To Observe The Commandment And The Torah, Avoiding The Enticement Of The Adulterous Woman, And Being Aware Of The Wrath Of The Deceived Husband (Proverbs 6:20).

Having illustrated in Proverbs 6:1 the different types of people to whom wisdom speaks, the naive, the fool and the scorner, Solomon now returns to pleading with his ‘son' to listen to wisdom, and to avoid the enticing woman who is the very opposite of woman wisdom, and is in this case his neighbour's wife. Nevertheless she is still seen as ‘a stranger' (Proverbs 6:24), partly because he would not normally come across her in daily life, and partly because she is operating outside the covenant.

It must be remembered that to Solomon his ‘son' would have little to do with women whom, apart from his own relatives, he would not meet in daily life, for women in Jerusalem lived sheltered lives. Outside their family they kept themselves to themselves. His experience of life would mainly be of interaction with men. The only exception, of course, was women like the one described here, who thrust themselves on men's attention. This is one reason why, when giving instruction concerning women, Solomon only refers to immoral women. It was not because he was anti-women. Indeed he made wisdom a woman. It was because they were not, on the whole, involved in community life.

The passage divides up into three sections (determined by the chiasms) as follows:

1) An appeal to ‘my son' to keep his commandment and not forsake the torah (Proverbs 6:20).

2) A warning that giving way to the flattery and lust of a strange woman will have unpleasant consequences (Proverbs 6:24).

3) A warning that to commit adultery will bring on him the wrath of the offended husband (Proverbs 6:30).