Pro 7:21-23 | KingComments | STEP | It takes the wisdom and sincerity of a Joseph to resist such reasoning and flattery. “Her many persuasions” ( ) has driven out of him all strength to say “no”. “With her flattering lips” she entered him and melted away all resistance from him. She has persuaded the young man to follow her. The defeat is sudden and irrevocable ( ). He immediately goes with her. We see him chasing after her like an ox, however, not like an ox going to a grazing pasture, but “as an ox goes to the slaughter”. He is not going to pleasure, but to his death. An advertising campaign against irresponsible use of fireworks has the slogan: You are an ox if you stunt with fireworks. A variant related to what Solomon is saying here is: You are an ox if you stunt with porn. He is “a fool” who is taken to prison “as [one in] fetters to the discipline” (cf. ; ). Stupid animals see no connection between a trap and death. Similarly, stupid people see no connection between their sin and death. He must pay the price of sin, death: “For the wages of sin is death” ( ). This sin costs him his life. The phrase “until an arrow pierces through his liver” possibly refers to the gnawing of a guilty conscience, the realization that he will reap spiritual and bodily destruction ( ). He is as a bird that has eyes only for the bait, but in doing so does not see the snare. He flies toward the bait because it is so attractive and because he needs it to continue living. But he does not realize that the opposite is true. The bait is aimed against its life. By flying toward it, it flies toward his death. The smell of the bed of the harlot turns into a smell of death, and the short night of pleasure turns into an eternal night of torment.

‏ Proverbs 7:21-23

The Capitulation of the Victim

It takes the wisdom and sincerity of a Joseph to resist such reasoning and flattery. “Her many persuasions” (Pro 7:21) has driven out of him all strength to say “no”. “With her flattering lips” she entered him and melted away all resistance from him. She has persuaded the young man to follow her.

The defeat is sudden and irrevocable (Pro 7:22). He immediately goes with her. We see him chasing after her like an ox, however, not like an ox going to a grazing pasture, but “as an ox goes to the slaughter”. He is not going to pleasure, but to his death. An advertising campaign against irresponsible use of fireworks has the slogan: You are an ox if you stunt with fireworks. A variant related to what Solomon is saying here is: You are an ox if you stunt with porn.

He is “a fool” who is taken to prison “as [one in] fetters to the discipline” (cf. Ecc 7:26; Jdg 16:16-19). Stupid animals see no connection between a trap and death. Similarly, stupid people see no connection between their sin and death. He must pay the price of sin, death: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). This sin costs him his life.

The phrase “until an arrow pierces through his liver” possibly refers to the gnawing of a guilty conscience, the realization that he will reap spiritual and bodily destruction (Pro 7:23). He is as a bird that has eyes only for the bait, but in doing so does not see the snare. He flies toward the bait because it is so attractive and because he needs it to continue living. But he does not realize that the opposite is true. The bait is aimed against its life. By flying toward it, it flies toward his death. The smell of the bed of the harlot turns into a smell of death, and the short night of pleasure turns into an eternal night of torment.