in apposition: "There mot him o woman, incessu, nutantibus ocnlis, et ludentihus o harlot's dress" (ehith, Pd. lxxiii. G); her jBculans p"lpebris retie., quibns pretio,0.1 attiro catches the eye at once, and iden- e.nirnas juve11um eapit." tifies her (comp. Gen. xxxviii. 14). In Ver. 14.-I have peace o:fferinge with me. Rev. xvii. 4 the harlot is "arrayed in Bhelamim, "peace or the.nk offerings," were purple ond sce.rlet, e.nd decked with gold divided between Jehovah, the priests, and 11nd precious stones and pearls;" and in the offerer. Part of tl,e appointed victim the pl'esent case the female is dressed in was consumed by fire; the breast and right some conspicuous ge.rments, very different shoulder were allotted to the priests ; and from the sober clothing of the pure and the rest of the animal belonged to the modest. Subtil of heart (:i~. nJ~J); litere.lly, person who made the offerin"', who was to of concealed heart; i.e. she hides her real eat it with his household on the same <lay feelings, feigning, perhaps, e.tl'ection for a as a solemn ceremonial feast (Lev. iii.; vii.). husband, 01· love for her pamrnour, while she The adulteress says that certain offerings seeks only to se.tisfy her evil passions. The were due from her, and she had duly made versions he.ve usecl e. different readin.,., them. This day he.va I pe.yed my vows. Thus the Septuagint : " Who me.kes the And now (the day being reckoned from one hearts of young m~n flutter Ut[,,..,.atr8a,);" night to the next) the feast was ready, and Vulge.te, prmparata ad capiendas animas, she invites her paramour to share it. The " ready to catch souls." religious nature of the feast is utterly ignored or forgotten. The shameless woman Vere. 11 ond 12 describe the chare.cter uses the opportunity simply as II convenience e.nd ha.bits of this wome.n, not e.s she ap- for her sin. If, e.a is probe.hie, the "strange peared on this occasion, but as she is known woman" is e. foreigner, she is one who only outwardly conforms to the Mosaic Law, but to the writer. in her heart cleaves to the impnra worship Ver. 11.-She is loud; boisterous, clamor- of her bee.then home. And doubtless. in ous, e.s eh. ix. 13. The description e.pplies lax times, these religious festivals, even in to e. brute beast at certain periods. Stub- the case of worshippers who were not in- bom; ungovernable, like e.n animal that fluenced by idolatrous proclivities, de.,.ene- 0
will not bear the yoke (Hos. iv. 16). Vul- roted into self-indulgence e.nd excess. The ga.te, garrula et vaga, "te.lkati ve and un- ee.rly Christian o.ge.pm were thus misused seltled;" Septuagint, a.ve'lr'Tepo,µ.e1111 rcal (1 Cor. xi 20, etc.); and in modern times 6.uo,Tos, "flighty and debauched." Her feet religious a.nni-rcree.ries have too often become a~ide not in her house. She is the oppo- occasions of licence and debauchery, their site of the c11reful, modest housewife, who solemn origin and pious uses being entirely stays at home and manages her family thrust aside. affairs (Titus ii. 5). The Vulga.te inserts Ver. 15.-Therefore oame I forth to meet another trait: quietia impatie11a, "al we.ys thee. As though she would invite the youth restless." to a pious rite, she speaks; she uses religion Ver. 12.-lll'ow is she without, now in the as a pretext for her proceedings, trying to streets. At one moment outside her own blind his conscience and to gratify his door, at another in the open street. Septuu- vanity. Diligently to seek thy faae, and I gin t: "At one time she roams without have found thee (see on eh. i. 28). She tries (({o, ~lµ.{dna1)." The womnn is represented to persuade her dupe the.t he is the very not as a common prostitute, but as a licen- lover for whom she was looking, wheree.s tious wife, who, in her unbridled luBtful- she was ready to lnke the first that offered. ness, acts the part of " bar Jot. Lieth in Spiritual writers see in this adulteress a type wait e.t every oomer; seeking to entice of the mystery of iniquity, or fo.lse doctrine, some victiw. Then the na.rrati ve proceeds ; or the harlot described in Revelation (ii. 20, tlie writer returns to what he beheld on the etc.: xvii. 1, etc.; xviii. 9, etc.). occe.sion to which he refers. Ver. 16.-She describes the prepa.re.tion Ver. 13.-So she caught him, e.nd kissed she has me.de for his entertainment. Cover- him; being utterly Jo~t to shame, like Poti- ings of tapestry; marbaddim, "cushions," phnr's wife (Gen. xxxix. 12). With e.n "pillows." The expression occurs again iu impudent face said; literally, strengthened eh. xni. 22. It is derived from ,~:,. "to her face and said; put on a bold and brazen spread,'' ond mP.nns cushions spree.d out look to suit the licentious words which ~he ready for use. The Septuagint bas ,ce,pla,s; ~poke. Wordsworth quotes the delineation Vulgnte, funibus, "cords." 'l'hese versions of the "strange woman" drawn by St. soem to rege.rd the word us denoting II kind Ambrose(' De Co.in. et Abel.,' i. 4): "Domi of delicate s11cking on which the coverlets inquiete., in plateis vnga, osculis pl'Odiga, wern laid. Ce.rved works, with fine linen of pndore_ Yilis, amictu dives, genii• picta; Egypt; literally, ,trip,!d, or i-ariegaled, c011e1~ merot.r1cio proce.x motu, infmclo per dclioias ings, Egyptia11 li1111n. '!'he words arc in. 156 TH:ll: PROVERBS, [ctt, VIT, 1-27,