The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 162

and liable to be injured unless guarded passed in the street withot1t being himself with scrupulous onre (comp. Ps. X\'ii. 8; visible from without (Cant. ii. 9). The Zerh. ii. 8). Similarly the Greeks called Septuagint reads the senteuoe ns spoken of this organ r,:&p 77 , "damsel" or "puppet," the woman : "For from the window glnno- and the Latins pupilln. ing out of her house into the streets, at one Ver. 3.-Bind them upon thy fingers. whom she might see of the senseless chil- Wear my precepts like a ring on thy finger, dren, e. young mnn void of understanding'." so the.t they me.y go with thee, whatever Ver. 7.-And beheld among the simple thou takest in hand. Others think that the ones. Though it was night (ver. 9), there so-en.lied tepliillin, or phylacteries, are meant. was light enough from moon or stars or from These were worn both on the hand and the illuminated houses to show what was pass- forehra<l, and consisted of a leather box ing. "The simple" nre the inexperienced, containing strips of parchment, on which who are easily led astray (see on oh. i. 4). were written four texts, \'iZ. Exod. xiii. Looking forth into the street on the throng 1-10; ll-16; Deut. vi. 4-9; :xi. 13- of young an<l thoughtless persons pas&ing 21. The box was attached to a leather to nn<l fro, among them I discerned . . . strap wound seven times round the arm, a young man void of understanding ; . e. three times round the middle finger, and fool, who, without any deliberate intention the remainder passed round the he.nd (see of sinning, put himself in the way of temp- (Exod. xiii. 9, 16; J'er. x:xii. 24). Write tation, played on the borders of trans- them upon the ta.hle of thine heart (see on gression. The way of escape was before eh. iii. 3 and n. 21 ; and comp. Deut. vi. 9). him, as it is in all temptations (1 Cor. x. 13), but he would not toke it. Such a <iile Vers. 4 and 5 contain earnest admonitions me.y well be said to lack understanding, or to the pursuit of Wisdom, which is worthy heart, as the Hebrew expresses it (eh. vi. of the purest love. 32, where see note). • Ver. 8.-Near .her corner. He kept .near Ver. 4.-Bay unto Wisdom, Thou a.rt my the corner of the house of the ,woman for sister. Wisdom is personified, and the con- ,vhom he waitlid, Another re~ding gives, nection with her indicated by the relation- "near a corner;" juzta angulum, Vulgate; ship which best expreBBeB love, purity, 1ra.pc1. 'Y"'vCa.v, Septuagint; i.e. he did not take confidence. In the Book of Wisdom viii. to the broad, open street, but sneaked ·about she is represented as wife. Christ calls at corners, whence he could watch the those who do God's will his brother, and woman's house without being observed by sister, and mother (Matt. xii. 50). Call others. Re went the way to her house. Understanding thy kinswoman; moda, "fa- He sauntered slowly along, as the verb miliar friend." Let prudence and .sound signifies. Septuagint," Passing by e. corner sense be as dear to thee as a cloRe friend. in the passages of her house ( ,v li1&1io1s ot,c"'v Ver. 5.-That they may keep thee from 'ZVT1Js)." the strange woman (see on eh. ii. 16 and _Ve1·. 9.-In the twilight, in the evening vi. 24). When the heart is filled with the of the day. So termed to distinguish it from love of what is good, it is armed against the morning twilight. 'fhe moralist sees the seductions of evil pleasure or whatever the youth pacing to and fro in the early may entice the sonl from God and duty. evening hours, and still watching and wait- Septuagint, "That she (Wisdom) may keep ing when the darkness was deepest (comp. thee from the strange and e\'il woman, if Job x.xiv. 15). In the black and dark fhe should assail thee witl.i gracions words." night; literally, in the pupil of the eye of Vere. 6-23.-To show the greatneSB of night and in darkness. We he.ve the so.me expression in eh. xx. 20 (where see note) the danger presented by the seductions of to denote midnight. Its appropriateness the temptress, the writer introduces no is derived from the fact that the pupil mere abstraction, no mere personification of the eye is the dark centre in the iris. of a quality, but an actual example of what Septuagint: the youth "speaking in the had pa.seed before his own eyei;, darkness of evening, when there is the stillneBB of night and gloom." Ver. 6.-For. The particle intro<luces Ver. 10.-And, behold, there mat him a the example. At the window o! my house. woman. His long watch is rewarded ; the He gives e. graphic delineation of e. scene woman comes forth from her house into the witnessed outside his house. I looked street-a proceeding which would at once through my casement; esltn,11,," the lattice," show whe.t she was, especially in the East, which serve<l the purpose of our Venetian where females nre kept secluded, nnd never blinds, excludiog the sun, but Jetting the appear at night or unattended. With the cool air po.as into the room (comp. Judg. v. attire of e.n harlot. There is no" with" in 2ii). A person withiu could 11eo all the.t the original. "wome.n" and "attire." l1eiug on:. vtr. 1-27.] Tl1E PRO-VER-ns. 156