I saw among the simple ones. I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding,
passing through the street near her corner, he went the way to her house,
in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the middle of the night and in the darkness.
Behold, there a woman met him with the attire of a prostitute, and with crafty intent.
She is loud and defiant. Her feet don’t stay in her house.
Now she is in the streets, now in the squares, and lurking at every corner.
So she caught him, and kissed him. With an impudent face she said to him:
“Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me. Today I have paid my vows.
Therefore I came out to meet you, to diligently seek your face, and I have found you.
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let’s take our fill of loving until the morning. Let’s solace ourselves with loving.
For my husband isn’t at home. He has gone on a long journey.
He has taken a bag of money with him. He will come home at the full moon.”
With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose.
Until an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hurries to the snare, and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 20, 22, 23 He showeth that there was almost none so impudent,…
He showeth that there was almost none so impudent, but they were afraid to be seen, and also their own consciences did accuse them which caused them to seek the night to cover their filthiness.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–23 Pro 7:7 And beheld among the simple ones, I…
Pro 7:7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
Ver. 7. Among the simple ones.] The word signifieth such a one as may be soon persuaded, easily drawn any way {a} by a twined thread with a wet finger; fatuellus, such as whom it is no hard matter to cozen and collude with.
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{a} Cor eius in vitium flecti.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 Whose strength and heat made him most subject to…
Whose strength and heat made him most subject to lustful impressions, and who wanted judgment and experience as well as grace to keep him from such courses.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–23 And beheld among the simple ones,.... Such as are…
And beheld among the simple ones,.... Such as are easily persuaded and drawn into sin; simple and foolish in things moral and spiritual, and not arrived to any ripeness of understanding in things natural and civil; have seen but little of the world, and know less of religion, and are easily imposed upon and carried away with the company they keep; such simple foolish creatures are the followers of antichrist; see Ti2 3:6;
I discerned among the youths; or "children" (d); at least in understanding, the children Jezebel, Rev 2:23;
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a young man void of understanding; or "wanting a heart" (e); to know and fear the Lord, and not in the way to learn and improve; but in company like himself, and so in a fair way to continue foolish and simple, and destitute of the true understanding of things, and exposed to the snares delusions of such that lie in wait to deceive.
(d) "inter filios", Pagninus, &c. (e) "carentem corde", Montanus, Mercerus, Gejerus; "destitutum corde", Schultens.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv8, 12, 14, 20, 22, 23 Passing - Idle and careless, near the corner of…
Passing - Idle and careless, near the corner of the street in which her house stood.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Verse 7. Among the simple ones] The inexperienced, inconsiderate…
Verse 7. Among the simple ones] The inexperienced, inconsiderate young men.
A young man void of understanding] חסר לב chasar leb, "destitute of a heart." He had not wisdom to discern the evil intended; nor courage to resist the flatteries of the seducer.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11, 14, 15, 21 Pro 7:11-12. She is loud, &c. — Here the…
Pro 7:11-12. She is loud, &c. — Here the wise man draws her character. המיה היא וסררת, She is clamorous and obstinate, or refractory. She is full of talk, self-willed, disobedient to her husband, rebellious against God, and incorrigible by any admonitions of ministers or friends. Her feet abide not in her house — She minds not her business, which lies in her own house, but gives herself wholly up to idleness and pleasure, which she seeks in gadding abroad, and in changing her place and company. Now she is without — Standing, or waiting nigh the door of her house; now in the streets — In places of resort; and lieth in wait at every corner — To pick up such as she can make a prey of.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7, 11, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23 Simple - In the bad sense of the word…
Simple - In the bad sense of the word (Pro 1:22 note); “open” to all impressions of evil, empty-headed and empty-hearted; lounging near the house of ill-repute, not as yet deliberately purposing to sin, but placing himself in the way of it at a time when the pure in heart would seek their home. There is a certain symbolic meaning in the picture of the gathering gloom Pro 7:9. Night is falling over the young man’s life as the shadows deepen.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 Ones. Not in age, but prudence. (Menochius)
Ones. Not in age, but prudence. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23 simple--as in Pro 1:4.
simple--as in Pro 1:4.
void of, &c.--(Compare Pro 6:32).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 7. And beheld — The Septuagint takes these verbs…
7. And beheld — The Septuagint takes these verbs in the third person singular feminine; she looked, she beheld, etc. The idea is, that the wanton looked forth in order to observe.
Simple ones — The inexperienced, untaught; as opposed to that culture, discipline, and self restraint which the teacher is inculcating.
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Youths — Hebrew, sons.
A young man void of understanding — Literally, a boy without a heart; that is, without, or deficient in, intelligence, not, perhaps, naturally so, but as being uninstructed, not having been trained to self-restraint. See note on Pro_1:2, word, musar. With the Hebrews the heart was the seat of intelligence as well as of the affections. The word נער, (na’har,) boy, is about equivalent to our word youth, or young man, being used much in the same way; sometimes even of those of full age. So a military officer addresses his command as boys. So the foreman of a body of workmen.
The term is often applied to servants of any age. A like usage obtains in various languages.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23 7. simple] See Pro_1:4; Pro_1:22, notes.
7. simple] See Pro_1:4; Pro_1:22, notes.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 19, 22, 23 (7) Among the simple ones.—He was not yet vicious,…
(7) Among the simple ones.—He was not yet vicious, only empty-headed.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–23 And beheld among the simple ones. Though it was…
And beheld among the simple ones. Though it was night (ver. 9), there was light enough from moon or stars or from illuminated houses to show what was passing. "The simple" are the inexperienced, who are easily led astray. (see on Pro_1:4) Looking forth into the street on the throng of young and thoughtless persons passing to and fro, among them I discerned... a young man void of understanding; a fool, who, without any deliberate intention of sinning, put himself in the way of temptation, played on the borders of transgression. The way of escape was before him, as it is in all temptations, (1Co_10:13) but he would not take it. Such a one may well be said to lack understanding, or heart, as the Hebrew expresses it. (Pro_6:32, where see note)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 16, 21, 22, 23 A young man void of understanding.
Pro_7:7
A young man void of understanding.
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A youth void of understanding
Solomon was pre-eminently a student of character. His forte lay in the direction of moral philosophy, in the sense of the philosophy of morals.
I. The special peril of great cities. Human nature remains the same in every age. The descriptions of the temptations that assailed the youth of Jerusalem and Tyre answers precisely to what we see in our own day. Therefore the counsels and warnings of the ancient sage are as valuable and fitting as ever. The vastness and multitudinousness of our modern cities provide a secrecy which is congenial to vice. In all great towns solicitations to vice abound as they do not elsewhere. Every passion has a tempter lying in wait for it. Whatever be your temperament or constitution, a snare will be skilfully laid to entrap you. Vice clothes itself here in its most pleasing attire, and not seldom appears even under the garb of virtue.
II. The evil of late hours. The devil, like the beast of prey, stalks forth when the sun goes down. Night is the time for unlawful amusements and mad convivialities and lascivious revelry. Now Jezebel spreads her net, and Delilah shears the locks of Samson. Young men, take it kindly when I bid you beware of late hours. Your health forbids it; your principles forbid it; your moral sense forbids it; your safety forbids it. Purity loves the light. Late hours have proved many young mans ruin.
III. The danger of foolish company. Simple in the Book of Proverbs means silly, frivolous, idle, abandoned. You could almost predict with certainty the future of one who selected such society. The ruin of most young men is due to bad company. It is commonly the finest natures that are first pounced upon. The good-hearted, amiable fellow, with open countenance and warm heart and generous disposition, is at once seized by the vermin of the pit, and poisoned with every kind of pollution. Take care with whom you associate. There are men who will fawn upon you, and flatter you, and call you good company, and patronise you wonderfully, and take you anywhere you wish to go; and--allow you to pay all expenses. As a rule, a companion of loose character is the most mean and selfish of creatures. Void of understanding. Understanding is more than wisdom, more than knowledge; it is both and something besides. It is a mind well-balanced by the grace of God; it is the highest form of common-sense, sanctified by a genuine piety. No mans understanding can be called thoroughly sound until it has been brought under the power of the truth as it is in Jesus. Your only security against the perils of the city, of the dark night, and of evil company, your only safety amid the lusts that attack the flesh, and the scepticisms that assail the mind, is a living faith in God, a spiritual union with Christ. (J. Thain Davidson, D. D.)
A beacon to young men
Now reason is the glory of man. It is a light within the soul by which he is exalted above the brutes that perish. And yet God often charges men with displaying less judgment than the mere animal creatures (Isa_1:3).
I. The evidences of this state. How can we know with certainty the young who are void of understanding?
1. Those who throw off the restraints and counsels of their parents and friends. When counsel and supervision are most needed they are rejected, and who so fit to guide and counsel as the parent?
2. Those who become the companion of the foolish and wicked. No other influence will be so disastrous on our highest interests as that of evil companionship. It will insidiously undermine every good principle.
3. Those who disregard the opinions of the wise and good around them.
4. Those who neglect the institutions of religion. The atmosphere of religious ordinances is that of health and life to every virtue and grace of the soul. By neglecting Divine ordinances and services, the heart and mind run fallow.
5. Those who yield themselves up to sensual gratifications. The text refers to the ensnaring woman. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, etc. How fearful the result! Money, reputation, health, mind, morals, life, and the soul, all sacrificed!
II. Its evil results.
1. The morally evil condition of the youths themselves. Here are powers perverted--talents prostituted--sin and misery increased.
2. The pernicious influence they exert on others. Every such youth has his young friends and relations, all of whom may be corrupted by his conduct.
3. The eternal misery to which they are hastening.
III. The only remedy.
1. Immediate and genuine repentance. Prompt consideration.
2. There must be the yielding of the heart to Christ. Christ alone can open the blind eyes, expel the foul spirit, renew the heart.
3. By the regulation of the life by the Word of God.
4. Union to, and fellowship with, Gods people. (J. Burns, D. D.)
The ignorance and folly of the man of pleasure
It is a mortifying truth that that age, which of all others stands most in need of advice, thinks itself the least in want of it. Youth is warm even in its desires, hasty in its conceptions, and confident in its hopes. Talk to it when its passions are high, or when pleasure is glittering around it, it will in all likelihood look upon you as come to torment it before its time, and will none of your reproof. The particular error of youth is its pursuit of licentious pleasures. This writer gives us an interesting picture of a young man, confident in his own wisdom, and relying on his own strength, met by a character whom the world has denominated Pleasure. He paints to us the charms which she displays for his seduction, describes the flattery of her tongue, the crafty wiliness of her allurements, and shows us his simple heart won by her deceptions, and following her guilty call.
I. The man of pleasure betrays an utter want of acquaintance with his own being. It is among the foremost arguments in support of this kind of life that it is only in conformity with that nature which God has given us. But your nature, as long as it is without the renovation of the Eternal Spirit, cannot possibly be made your guide. In reality full of diseases, the man imagines himself in perfect health. Bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is happy and at liberty. In following his carnal desires a man is surely void of understanding.
II. The man of Pleasure shows his ignorance and folly in his want of acquaintance with his duties in this world. The sins of impurity are doubly sinful, inasmuch as they incapacitate the follower of them from those exertions to which he is bound in whatever state of life it hath pleased God to call him. The libertine imagines that his duties are easily reconcilable with his pursuits of pleasure; and in few cases does he show himself more void of understanding. It is their direct tendency to enervate the spirit; to absorb the native vigour of the mind; to extinguish generous ambition, that incitement to worthy deeds; and to drown all in dissipation, indolence, and trifling. The pagans made the temple of honour lie through the temple of virtue.
III. The libertine shows his want of understanding in his ignorance or defiance of Omnipotence. Of all the instances of want of wisdom, a disregard of the injunctions of Almighty God is surely the most absurd, as well as the most wicked. And it never can be confined to yourself, but involves often the misery, and always the guilt, of others. The man bent on pleasure seldom considers whom he offends, whom he injures, whose confidence he abuses, whose innocence he betrays, what friendship he violates, or what enmities he creates. Your first vice might arise from the seduction of bad companions, but a continuance of it becomes your own sin.
IV. The libertine acts in opposition to his own conviction. There is always an inward monitor whispering against him. Rouse, then. Break from the infatuating circle. No longer miscall the things of this world. (G. Matthew, M. A.)
The young man void of understanding
Understanding or reason is the glory of human nature. It is the candle of the Lord, to light us on our destiny. Where this is not, you have a traveller on a devious path without light, a vessel on a treacherous sea without rudder or compass. Who is the young man void of understanding?
1. One who pays more attention to his outward appearance than to his inner character. He sacrifices the jewel for the casket.
2. One who seeks happiness without rather than within. But the well of true joy must be found in the heart, or nowhere.
3. One who identifies greatness with circumstances rather than with character. But true greatness is in the soul, and nowhere else.
4. One who is guided more by the dictates of his own nature than by the counsels of experience. He acts from the suggestions of his own immature judgment. He is his own master, and will be taught by no one.
5. One who lives in show and ignores realities. He who lives in these pursuits and pleasures which are in vogue for the hour, and neglects the great realities of the soul and eternity, is void of understanding. (Homilist.)
A simple youth, void of understanding
The young man Solomon had in mind perhaps thought himself wise, but in the opinion of the sober and virtuous part of mankind, he was one of the most infatuated of men. When may a young man be spoken of as void of understanding?
1. When he suffers his mind to remain unacquainted with the great principles of religion.
2. When he follows the dictates of his own corrupt heart. How shall we account for all that wickedness which abounds in the world if there is no bad principle from which it breeds? Take corruption out of the heart, and this world would become a paradise. Simple souls, instead of checking the evil principle within them, rather give it the greatest indulgence.
3. When he throws himself in the way of temptation. Snares abound. There is hardly a step in our way in which we do not run some hazard of stumbling. Have we not often complied when we ought to have resisted? Sin is sometimes so artfully disguised that it loses its deformity, and we are insensibly drawn into the commission of it. Is it not, then, wise and prudent to keep at a distance and not to tamper with temptation? The old serpent is too cunning and subtle for us, and if we throw ourselves in his way we must fall.
4. When he has not resolution to withstand the allurements with which he may be surrounded. We can hardly hope to escape allurement altogether. All depends on our yielding to or resisting first enticements. And what avails the most enlightened understanding if we have not firmness to follow its dictates?
5. When he does not hearken to the admonitions of those who are older and more experienced than himself. Vanity and self-conceit are too natural to young minds, and numbers have been led away by them. Positive and headstrong, they refuse to be admonished, and scorn to be controlled. Hence they run headlong into vice, and involve themselves in misery.
6. When he flatters himself with seeing long life and many years. This is very natural to youth. But there is nothing more vain and uncertain. Can there be a greater defect of understanding than to flatter ones self with what we may never enjoy? (D. Johnston, D. D.)
A young man void of understanding
1. One who makes light of parental restraints and counsels. No young man is walking in safe paths who is engaged in pursuits or pleasures which a wise father or a tender mother would be mortified and grieved to see him mixed up with.
2. One who neglects the cultivation of his mind. If knowledge is power, ignorance is weakness. The mind must be carefully trained in order that the soul may fulfil her destiny upon earth, and be prepared for a more glorious existence hereafter. 3 One who is content to live an idle and aimless life. To spend the golden hours of existence in irresolution and idleness, with no definite purpose, betrays, as much as anything could do, the lack of good sense.
4. One who chooses his bosom companions from the ranks of the thoughtless and the profane. We are naturally social beings, and seek for pleasure in the company of others.
5. One who yields to the enticements of folly and wickedness. As soon as he reaches the point when he is indifferent to the opinion of the wise and the good, his case may well be set down as desperate. The young are always surrounded by temptations, and every evil thought which is allowed a resting-place in the mind vitiates and corrodes the fibres of the soul, and every sinful deed unnerves the arm and paralyses the essential power of manhood.
6. One who makes light of religion. Religion never encouraged anybody to be indolent and improvident; never led him into the haunts of vice; never wasted his substance in riotous living; never dragged a single victim to the prison or the gallows. All its offices in the world have been elevating and beneficent. Unbelief is not a misfortune, but it is the sin, the damning sin, of the world. Men first do wrong and then believe wrong in order to escape from its consequences. True religion will make you abhor sin, and draw you to Christ, the Redeemer; it will strengthen you for duty, and nerve you for endurance. It will give songs in the night, and through the grave and gate of death it will brighten your pathway to eternal glory. (John N. Norton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22 her corner
her corner
Here "her" refers to any female stranger, as referred to in Proverbs 07:05. She was standing at a certain corner, waiting for a suitable man to pass by. AT: "the corner where a female stranger was standing"
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corner
This refers to where two roads meet.
twilight
the time of day when it is getting darker and about to become night
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21 7:9 Foolish actions are often associated with darkness (see…
7:9 Foolish actions are often associated with darkness (see 4:18-19; Eccl 2:13-14).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.