Sunday Sermonette: Puritan Pornography

I'll step on this shortly with another post but I wanted to get it out of the way.

 

The author of the book that became the first part of Proverbs obviously has an obsession with adultery. One guesses that somebody boinked his own wife and he's bitter about it, although it's also possible that he was the transgressor and got into trouble for it, since a lot of this consists of threatening bad consequences. 

In any case, he purports in Chapter 7 to have observed events on the street outside his house, apparently with the benefit of a high quality directional microphone. This makes even less sense because according to the Book of Kings (ch. 7), Solomon's house was 5,000 square cubits, that is about 1,040 square meters, and it had a porch  that was about 20 by 30 meters, and it had a second house on the grounds for Pharaoh's daughter, so it would have been pretty hard for him to get a good look at the street from his window. This whole thing is ridiculous anyway.

 

7 My son, keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
² Keep my commands and you will live;
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
³ Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
⁵ They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

⁶ At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice.
⁷ I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense.
⁸ He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house
⁹ at twilight, as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰ Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
¹¹ (She is unruly and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home;
¹² now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.)
¹³ She took hold of him and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said:

¹⁴ “Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
¹⁵ So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you!
¹⁶ I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt.
¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
¹⁹ My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
²⁰ He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.”

²¹ With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk.
²² All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer^[a] stepping into a noose^[b]
23     till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life.

²⁴ Now then, my sons, listen to me;
    pay attention to what I say.
²⁵ Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths.
²⁶ Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷ Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death.

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 7:22 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew fool
2. Proverbs 7:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.