Proverbs (Part 075) - Pro 7:5-7

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5. Pro 7:5 - "That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words." A. That they may keep thee from the strange woman, i. The "they" are the words, commandments, and law of Solomon (Pro 7:1-2) which, since Solomon was a prophet, are also God's words to His sons (2Pe 1:21). ii. The word of God when bound on the fingers and written in the heart (Pro 7:3) and loved and held dear as a sister or mother (Pro 7:4) will keep godly men from the strange woman (Pro 7:5). a. Keep v. - ** To guard (from external violence or injury), to preserve, maintain. 14. To guard, defend, protect, preserve, save. b. When clung to and loved, the word of God will guard, defend, protect, preserve, and save us from the dangers of the strange woman. iii. A strange woman is a fornicatress or a prostitute. a. Strange adj. - 4. strange woman: a harlot. b. Harlot n. - 5. Applied to a woman. a. As a general term of execration. c. spec. An unchaste woman; a prostitute; a strumpet. (Very frequent in 16th c. Bible versions, where Wyclif had hoore, whore; prob. as a less offensive word.) c. Unchaste adj. - Not chaste; lacking chastity; impure, lascivious d. Chaste adj. - 1. Pure from unlawful sexual intercourse; continent, virtuous. e. Chastity n. - 1. a. Purity from unlawful sexual intercourse; continence. f. Lascivious adj. - 1. Inclined to lust, lewd, wanton. g. According to God's law, unlawful sexual intercourse is fornication (1Co 6:18) and adultery (Heb 13:4). h. Fornication n. - Voluntary sexual intercourse between a man (in restricted use, an unmarried man) and an unmarried woman. In Scripture extended to adultery. iv. Therefore, a strange woman is not merely a prostitute, but is also any woman who has sex with any man to whom she is not married. v. The word of God when read, hidden in the heart, and kept will keep a man from any type of strange woman. B. from the stranger which flattereth with her words. i. The strange woman uses flattery to seduce her victims (Pro 7:21). a. Flattery n. - 1. The action or practice of flattering; false or insincere praise; adulation; cajolery, blandishment. b. Flatter v. - 1. a. intr. Of an animal, bird, etc.: To show delight or fondness (by wagging the tail, making a caressing sound, etc.). 2. To try to please or win the favour of (a person) by obsequious speech or conduct; to court, fawn upon. 3. To praise or compliment unduly or insincerely. Const. of. Also in weaker sense, to gloss over, palliate (faults), speak too leniently to (an offender). ii. The word of God will keep a man from being deceived by the strange woman's flattery. a. The scriptures teach us to not think highly of ourselves (Rom 12:3). b. A wise man who knows the Bible will consider the praise that others give him and will refine it to determine if it's valid praise or flattery (Pro 27:21). (i) A fool who thinks highly of himself (Gal 6:3) will readily accept all praise and be puffed up by it. 1. He will get a smile on his face as soon as someone compliments him. 2. A man like this is an easy target for a strange woman. (ii) Conversely, a wise man endowed with wisdom from the word of God will quickly recognize if the praise is undue, insincere, or exaggerated and will not accept it and be very wary of the person who gave it to him. (iii) The reason for this is that the wise man knows himself (Pro 14:8) and loves the truth (Psa 15:2) and will therefore not believe praise that is not true of him. c. Therefore, the man who reads the Bible, hides it in his heart, loves it, and keeps it will be kept from the flattery of the strange woman. 6. Pro 7:6 - "For at the window of my house I looked through my casement," A. Solomon begins this warning to his son about the dangers of the strange woman from a personal observation. i. Some think Solomon was telling a parable to his son to strongly illustrate the dangers of the whore. ii. This could be, but it could also have been a scene that Solomon actually witnessed. B. He looked out the window of his house and saw a sad scene unfolding which he will describe to his son in detail for the remainder of the chapter. C. Casement n. - 1. Arch. a. A hollow moulding, a cavetto, not exceeding a quarter-round; = casemate 2. 2. a. A frame or sash forming a window or part of a window, opening on hinges attached to the upright side of the frame in which it is fixed. D. Let this be a lesson to us that evil is never far from us, sometimes even right outside our houses. i. There was wickedness happening right outside the palace of the king. ii. "Solomon was a magistrate, and, as such, inspected the manners of his subjects, looked often through his casement, that he might see with his own eyes, and made remarks upon those who little thought his eye was upon them, that he might know the better how to make the sword he bore a terror to evil-doers. But here he writes as a minister, a prophet, who is by office a watchman, to give warning of the approach of the enemies, and especially where they lie in ambush, that we may not be ignorant of Satan's devices, but may know where to double our guard." (Matthew Henry's Commentary) iii. "As Solomon was a public magistrate, he is here represented as a private observer of the behaviour of his subjects, as sitting in his palace at a window, at the small windows of it, as the Targum, where he could see and not be seen himself; near to which was an harlot's house; for they generally get about the courts of princes, where they make their prey;" (John Gill's Commentary) iv. Spiders make their way into kings palaces (Pro 30:28), and harlots get within earshot of it. E. Keeping in mind that Solomon's words are God's words to us, remember that just as Solomon the king was witnessing sin happening under his reign, likewise God's eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good (Pro 15:3). F. Let this also be a reminder that someone (in addition to God) may be watching you when you think you are alone. Be sure your sin will find you out (Num 32:23). 7. Pro 7:7 - "And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding," A. And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, i. This parallelism identifies young people as simple. a. Simple adj. - I. 1. Free from duplicity, dissimulation, or guile; innocent and harmless; undesigning, honest, open, straightforward. II. 4. a. Of persons, or their origin: Poor or humble in condition; of low rank or position; undistinguished, mean, common. 9. Deficient in knowledge or learning; characterized by a certain lack of acuteness or quick apprehension: a. Of persons (and animals). b. Of mental powers, etc. 10. a. Lacking in ordinary sense or intelligence; more or less foolish, silly, or stupid; also, mentally deficient, half-witted (now dial.). b. The context of the verse makes it clear that definitions 9&10 are the senses in which simple is to be taken in this verse. c. Youth n. - 1. a. The fact or state of being young; youngness. (Often blending with sense 2.) 2. a. The time when one is young; the early part or period of life; more specifically, the period from puberty till the attainment of full growth, between childhood and adult age. (i) Youth can extend into young adulthood when a man is of marrying age (Pro 5:18; Mal 2:14). (ii) Youth are old enough to commit whoredom (Eze 23:3, 8, 19, 21). (iii) A man can be a young man even after the days of his youth (adolescence) (Mat 19:20). (iv) Timothy was said to have youth even as a pastor/elder (1Ti 4:12). d. Oftentimes, young people in their teens and early 20s (and some older than that) are deficient in knowledge, lack common sense, are mentally deficient, half-witted, and often downright stupid. e. The young man that denies this about himself when others clearly see it manifests his foolishness. ii. This passage also teaches us that in order to discern we must behold. a. Behold v. - I. To hold by, keep, observe, regard, look. 7. trans. a. To hold or keep in view, to watch; to regard or contemplate with the eyes; to look upon, look at (implying active voluntary exercise of the faculty of vision). arch. This has passed imperceptibly into the resulting passive sensation: b. To receive the impression of (anything) through the eyes, to see: the ordinary current sense. b. Discern v. - 1. trans. To separate (things, or one thing from another) as distinct; to distinguish and divide. 2. To recognize as distinct; to distinguish or separate mentally (one thing from another); to perceive the difference between (things). c. If we are not looking, watching, and paying attention to our surroundings, both literally and figuratively, we will not discern what is happening and distinguish right from wrong and truth from error. d. If we are to be wise men, we must be circumspect (Eph 5:15). e. Circumspect adj. - 1. Of things or actions: Marked by circumspection, showing caution, well-considered, cautious. 2. Of persons: Watchful on all sides, attentive to everything, cautious, heedful of all circumstances that may affect action or decision. B. a young man void of understanding, i. As stated above, young men are often void of understanding. a. Void adj. - I. 1. a. Of a see, benefice, etc.: Having no incumbent, holder, or possessor; unoccupied, vacant. 4. Not occupied by visible contents; containing no matter; empty, unfilled: b. Understanding n. - 1. a. (Without article.) Power or ability to understand; intellect, intelligence. b. of understanding, intelligent, capable of judging with knowledge. Similarly of some, of no, understanding. ii. The whore goes after young men because they lack understanding (Pro 6:32) and can be easily seduced with flattery (Pro 6:24). iii. In this state of foolish youth, young men often commit grievous sins which they will regret for the rest of their lives (Job 13:26; Psa 25:7; Psa 79:8; Jer 31:19). iv. This is why it's so important for young men and women to seek God in the days of their youth in order to be delivered from the strange woman and sin in general (Ecc 11:9-10; Ecc 12:1; Lam 3:26-27; 2Ch 34:3).