7:1 My child, keep my words and treasure up my commands in your own keeping.
Solomon addressed his children in the singular once again. He asked them to keep the words and command that he was about to give them.
7:2 Keep my commands so that you may live, and obey my instruction as your most prized possession.
Solomon asked his sons to keep the commands that he was about to give them. They were a matter of life or death. These words of instruction would be there most prized possession.
7:3 Bind them on your forearm; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Solomon asked his sons to bind these instructions on their forearms and bind them on the tablet of their hearts.
7:4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding a close relative,
In the Old Testament, one’s sister was considered an intimate relative. Sometimes, the sister was used as a synonym for one’s wife. Solomon asked his sons to be as intimate with wisdom as they were with their own sisters and their own wives. Wisdom was Bible doctrine.
7:5 so that they may keep you from the adulterous woman, from the loose woman who flatters you with her words.
The mastery of Bible doctrine would help keep these boys from the seductions of the adulterous woman.
7:6 For at the window of my house through my window lattice I looked out
Solomon told his sons a story. It was possibly an eyewitness account of his former days. In this past account, Solomon was sitting in his castle and looking out of his window.
7:7 and I saw among the naive— I discerned among the youths— a young man who lacked wisdom.
Solomon saw a young man who lacked Bible doctrine.
7:8 He was passing by the street near her corner, making his way along the road to her house
The young man who lacked Bible doctrine was heading towards the house of an adulteress.
7:9 in the twilight, the evening, in the dark of the night.
This encounter took place at night.
7:10 Suddenly a woman came out to meet him! She was dressed like a prostitute and with secret intent.
The adulteress saw the young man as easy prey. She was dressed like a prostitute. Her secret intent was to seduce the young man who lacked Bible doctrine.
7:11 (She is loud and rebellious, she does not remain at home—
The adulteress was not quite and submissive, but loud and rebellious. She was rebelling against the Mosaic Law and against the marriage contract with her husband. She left her home to seduce the young man.
12 at one time outside, at another in the wide plazas, and by every corner she lies in wait.)
The adulteress lies in wait for the young man.
7:13 So she grabbed him and kissed him, and with a bold expression she said to him,
The adulteress surprised the young man by kissing him.
7:14 “I have fresh meat at home; today I have fulfilled my vows!
There was no refrigeration in Solomon’s day. The adulteress invited the young man into her house to share with her a barbecue feast.
7:15 That is why I came out to meet you, to look for you, and I found you!
The adulteress found her prey.
7:16 I have spread my bed with elegant coverings, with richly colored fabric from Egypt.
The adulteress seduced the young man with an Egyptian bedroom decor.
7:17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
The adulteress perfumed her bed with many sweet-smelling aromas.
7:18 Come, let’s drink deeply of lovemaking until morning, let’s delight ourselves with sexual intercourse.
The adulteress invited the young man into her bed room for a night of adultery.
7:19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a journey of some distance.
The adulteress assured the young man that her husband would not be able to catch them in the act of adultery.
7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him; he will not return until the end of the month.”
The husband will be gone for the rest of the month. This was a very bold move for a Jewish woman to make (since she was living under the Mosaic Law).
7:21 She persuaded him with persuasive words; with her smooth talk she compelled him.
The adulteress persuaded the young man to enter into her bed room with seductive words.
7:22 Suddenly he went after her like an ox that goes to the slaughter, like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare
The young man went into her bedroom just as an ox goes to the slaughter. The young man was trapped just as a deer is caught in a snare.
7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver— like a bird hurrying into a trap, and he does not know that it will cost him his life.
The young man was caught by the adulteress just as a man is shot in the liver by an arrow. The young man hurried to the adulteress’s bedroom just as a bird hurries into a trap. The young man did not know that this adulterous affair would cost him his life.
7:24 So now, sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words I speak.
Solomon spoke to his sons in the plural. He asked them to pay close attention to what he was about to tell them.
7:25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways— do not wander into her pathways;
Solomon told his sons not to allow their fantasies to wander down the road of the adulteress.
7:26 for she has brought down many fatally wounded, and all those she has slain are many.
The adulteress was a major killer of men who possessed poor Bible doctrine.
7:27 Her house is the way to the grave, going down to the chambers of death.
Spending this one night with an adulteress can send a man to the grave. The angry husband may kill him. He may be caught in the act and stoned. He may catch a venereal disease. He may suffer from spiritual or emotional anguish. AIDS is the big adultery killer of today.
It was important for Solomon to teach these lessons to his sons. One day they may be king. They were to carry the Messianic seed. Satan would make the house of David a major target.