The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 145

ra, ,·i,·i mali (eh. xxviii. 5). The Vulgate, .and xxxiv. 24, "Neither shall nnr mnn IH.wc,·cr, gives an adjectival force to t"-, desi,·e thy hmd" (cf. Micah Ii. 2 a'nd eh. rcn,leriug, ii muliere mala. Tbe LXX. d,r~ .xii. 12). In PH; lxviii. 19; Isii. i. 29; liii. 2, ;•vva11<0• {nrd.v1ipov, i.e, "from the married it has tho sense of talcing delight in any- woman," arises from reading 1·cii, "a com- thing. It mRy be questioned whether it pttnion," for ra. "evil." From the flattery over bas the strong meaning given in the of the tongue of a strange woman ; i.e. from Vulgnte (non concupiscat) and ndopted in her enticements; Hebrew, me/ihitl'kiith U- the Authorized Version, "to lust nlter" ~hon 'Tlok'riyyah; literally," from the smooth- (Holden). Aquila, Theodotion, and Sym- ll PSS of a strange tongue," as in the margin. maohus render !''Ii l1r16vwf11T'f1s, The use of 7.ocklcr, however, proposes an emendation of kluiiniid here reveals the warning of the the lllasoretic text, and snbstitut.es the cou- Decalogue. In tliine heart; Hebrew, bll'va- htruct cRSC, l'shon, for 1he absolute, lashon, -vl!l,a, corresponding to the Iv 'T?I Kaplil<f avTou rendering as in the Authorized Version, of l\Iatt. v. 28. The admonition is a warn- on the ground that the emphnsis lies, not on ing to repress the very first inclillatione to tile "tongue," which would be the case if unchaste desires. They mo.y be unobserved we render "of a strange tongue," but on and undetected by others, but they are "the strange woman," who is the subject of known to ourselves, and the first dutv. of the disconrse, as in eh. ii. 16 Rnd v. 20. But repressing them calls for an act of deter- 'Tlok'Ti!fl.Jah is feminine of the adjective noh'ri, minRtion and will on our part. Our Lord and in agreement with lashon, which, though teaches (Matt. v. 28, cited above), "That common, is more frequently fominine (Gese- whosoever looketh 011 CL woman to lust after nins), and hence the two words may stand her bath . committed adultery with her in agreement. The marginal reading is to already in his heart." The LXX. reading be preferred (Wordswmth). .Again, 'Tlte- is Ml, <T< 1111efi"11 Kd.11.>..ovs ~ir,ev,.la, "Let not k/11!1'kiith, the construct case of J,hel'kah, lite- the desire of beauty conquer thee." Neither rally," smoothness," and metaphorically flat- let her take thu with her eyelids ; i.e. do tery, with the prefix: me, forms one member not let her captivate thee with her amorous of the phrase. while the compound expres- glances. Ta/ce. 'l'he Hebrew verb, lahii/di, sion, lashon rwk'riyyah, forms the second. is "to: captivate" with blandishments, "to Ewald and Berthee.n render, "from the allure, beguile" (cf. eh. xt 30); LXX., smooth-tongued, the strange woman," thus µ11li• d7pev6r,•• With .her eyeUds (Hebrew, connecting 'Tl-.£1ihitl'kiith lash.on, and r,;garding b'iiph'iippl!yah); or perhaps more literally, n6Jtriyya1L as a sepamte and· distinct idea. with her eyel,ashes (Zockler); The eyelids; They agree with Symmachus and Theodotion, Hebrew, iiph'.iippiiyim, dual of aph'aph, so cmo 11.«a-yll.wcrcrav (lV11s, i.e." from the smooth- called from their rapid, vol.atile motion, are tongued or flattering stranger." So the Vul- here compared with nets, a.s by Ph ilostratus ge.te, a liland,i lingua extranea:;, i.e. from the ('Epistles:' rvva11d), who speaks of "the smooth tongue of the strange woman. The llets of the eye·s ('Ta Twv oµ,µ,c/..,..,v 1il1tT11a)." LXX. again favours the marginal reading, The eyelids are the instruments by which a,ro oinf3aJ\ 71 s 711.wcrcr11• clJv..a.,.pta., "from the the amorous woman beguiles or catches her slander of a strange tongue." So the Chal- victims. Sjie allures him by her· glanctlS. dce Paraphrase. The Syriac reads, "from So St. Jerome says, "The eye of an ho.riot the accu11ation of a woman of a strange is the snare of her lover." 'l'he wanton 1nn•,uc," i.e. who uses a foreign lan~uage. glance is expressed in the Vulgate by nutibus If, however, the Authorized Ver:iion be re- illius; cf. "'fhe whoredom of a woman may tained. the Hebrew nollriyyah will, as in be known in her hnughty looks and eye• other passages, mean "an aclulteress"(Gese- lids" (Ecclus. xxvi. 9). Milton (' Parndiee nius); eh. v. 20; vii. 5; xxiii. 27. Under Lost,' xi. 620) speaks of the daugnters of any circumstances, we have here attributed men "rolling the eye,'' amongst othe1· to the tongue what, in fact, belongs to the things, in orJer to captivate the F.ODB of God, woman. It is against the enticements and Piscator and Mercerus understand the eye- blandbhmentl! of a woman of depraved lids as standing metonymically for the moral character that the " commandment" beauty of the eye ; and Bayne, for the and ''law" form a safeguard to youth. general adornmeut of the head in order to Ver. 25.-Lust not after her beauty in attrnct attention. Allusion may possibly be thine heart. 'fhe admonition of this ve1·se made to the custom of Eastern women embraces the two sides of the subject-the painting the eyelids to give brilliancy nnd external allurement and tue internal predis- expression; cf. 2 Kings ix. 30 (Worcl~- position to vice. Lust wt after (Hebrew, worth ). A striking pnrallel to tho verso iil-tiil<h'wid); strictly, desire 1iot, since the before us occurs iu Propertius, lib. i.' Eleg.' verb kluimiid is propnly " to desirP, or covet." i., "Cynthia prima suis misermn me cepit The same verb is used in Exod. xx. 17, ocellis." ~• Thou shalt not covet thy udghbour•~ wife," Ver. 26.-For b;y mel\DS of a whorl,- OH. VI. 1-35.] THE PROVERBS. 135 --------------------------- ------ woman 11, mo.n is brought to a piece of bread. Vulgate capere. The verb in its meta.- From this verse on wards to the eud of the phorical nse also occurs in Lam. iii. 52 ; chapter the discourse consists of e. series of Micah vii. 2 ; Pa. ex!. 12, and refers to those urgumeuts, each calcmle.ted to deter youth beguilements resorted to by the adulteress to from the sins of fornication e.nd e.clultery, by seduce youth. In Ezek. xiii. 18 it carries exhibiting the evil consequences of such with it the idea of death, and if understood indulgence. The first is the poverty e.nd in this seme here it may have reference to extreme begge.ryto which e. mnn is brou~ht. the death-penalty inflictecl on adulterer and For by means of; Hebrew, kl 1lacl. Lee adulteress by the Mosaic Law (Lev. xx. 10), gives the preposition vaad the force of and introduces what is said more fully in "after," i.e. after associating with. The vers. 32, 34, 35. The precious life; Hebrew, radical idea of the preposition is that of nephesh y'karah. The epithet y'krirah is nearness, by, near, and easily passes to that appropriately adcled to nephl!sh, as indicating of "because" (Gesenius) or" by means of," the high value of the life. All is implied 6S in the Authorized Version. It is here in the mphl!sh, "the life," moral dignity of used for per, "through," as in Josh. ii. 15; character, the soul of man. It is the ever- 2 Sam. x.x. 23, and so indice.tes the transit existing part of the man, and therefore is thl'Ough the way of fornice.tion to extreme precious-nothing can exceecl it in value. beggary (Gejerus). .A whorish woman; Our Lord says (Matt. xvi. 26), "What shall Hebrew, ishshah zonah; Vulgo.te, swrtum; a. man give in exchange for his soul?" and LXX., 1rdp1111; "a harlot," here correspond- the psalmist (Pa. xlix. 8), •• For the redemp- ing to "the adulteress" (esMth ish), since tion of their life is precions." But it is for the root zanah, "to commit fornication," is this life, or soul, that the adulteress hunts, attributed both to married and unmarried and which she destroys. Lives of fornication women (Gen. xxxviii. 24 ; Lev. xix. 29; and adultery, therefore, ca:rry with them the Hos. iii. 3). The word z6nah is sometimes severest penalties, the loss of temporal written alone, as in Gen., xxxviii. 15 and possessions, for the enjoyment of a. transient Deut. xxiii. 19. The fuller expression, e.s passion, and far beyond this the loss of life here, occurs iu Lev. xxi. 7; Josh. ii. 1; Judg. both temporal e.nd eternal. We cannot xi. 1. To a piece of bread; Hebrew, ad- imagine a more deterrent we.rning. kikkar lakMm. It will be noticed that there Ver. 27.-In this and tht> two following is e.u ellipsis in the Hebrew, which, how- verses (28 and 29) the discourse proceeds ever, may be easily supplied, as in the from statemen\ to illustration, and by Authorized Version. Delitzsch supplies examples of cause e.nd effect the teacher " one cometh down to; " so Ziickler. "A shows "the moral necessity of the evil con- piece of breRd " is properly " a circle of sequences of the sin of adultery " (Delitzsch ). bread, e. small round piece of bread, such as The meaning of the verses is plain enough, is still baked in Ito.I y (pagnotta) and in the viz. that as it is in vain to suppose that a East (Are.hie kurs). here an expression for person's garment will not be burnt or his the smallest piece" (Fleischer). The term feet not ho scorched if fire is brought near occurs in Exod. xxix. 23 ; 1 Se.m. ii. 36, in them, so it is equally inconceivable that B the latter of which passages it expresses the person indulging in adultery can escape its extreme destitution to which the members oonseq uenoes or the retribution that follows. of the house of Eli were to be reduced. As The two questions in vers. 27 o.nd 28 imply illustrating the term, see also eh. xxxviii. a strong negative, o.nd so prepare for the 21 and Ezek. xiii. 19. The LXX. nod conclusion in ver. 30. Take fire. The Vulgnte singularly render, "For the price Hebrew verb lchathah signifies "lo take ot' a he.riot is scarcely that of a bit of bree.cl," buruiug or livo coals from the heartll" which mny mean, as Cnste.lio, that she is of (Pisco.tor); and hence is usecl here in B so little vo.lue; but the context is opposed pregmmt sense " to take from the hearth to this rendering, where the point brought and place in" (cf. eh. x.xv. :!2, "For thou out is not the vile character of the harlot as \wilt take coals [' and heap them : ' Hebrew, the ruin she inflicts or is the cause of. Be- gl!khalim kliothe/i] on his hea<l "). Tim fuller sides, the Hebrew ad does 11ot mean ever expression is met with iu Isa. xxx. H, '' So "scarcely," or" hardly," which the Vulgate that there shall not be found in the bw:sting fliz gives to it. And the adulteress will of it a sherd to take fire from the heurth hunt for the preoious life. The adulteress (lakh'toth esh miyyalcud)." The Vnlgate is isMth ish, literally, "the woman of a renders by abscondere, •· to hicle : " Numquid man," 01· "a man's wife," as in the me.rgin- potest homo ab8condere ionem; e.nd the LXX. o.s, therefore, strictly nn adulteress here (cf. by ,broo,iv, equivnlent to the Latin alliga·re, Lov. xx. 10). Will hunt; Hebrew, thatsud; " to tie or bind fast." Wor<lsworth explo.i.ns LXX., cl-yp,vet; Vulg11te, capit. Tho Hebrew •• to take and heup up, as iu e. fhep,m or verb tsud, "to lie in wait for," "to hunt," censer." In hiB bosom; Hebrew, b'kheyk6; also signifies " to tuke, or capture," like the LXX., iv 1<01\..-<p; Vulgute, -in sinu suo. '!'he 136 THE PROVERBS. [oa. vr. 1--35.