Pro 7:24-25 | KD | STEP | With ועתּה, as at , the author now brings his narrative to a close, adding the exhortation deduced from it: 24 And now, ye children, give ear unto me, And observe the words of my mouth! 25 Let not thine heart incline to her ways, And stray not in her paths. The verb שׂטה (whence jēst, like jēt, , with long ē from i ) the author uses also of departure from a wicked way ( ); but here, where the portraiture of a faithless wife (a סוטה) is presented, the word used in the law of jealousy, Num 5, for the trespass of an אשׁת אישׁ is specially appropriate. שׂטה is interchanged with תּעה (cf. ): wander not on her paths, which would be the consequence of straying on them. Theodotion: καὶ μὴ πλανηθῇς ἐν ἀτραποῖς αὐτῆς, with καί, as also Syr., Targ., and Jerome. The Masora reckons this verse to the 25 which have אל at the beginning and ואל at the middle of each clause ( vid ., Baer in the Luth. Zeitschrift , 1865, p. 587); the text of Norzi has therefore correctly ואל, which is found also in good MSS ( e.g. , the Erfurt, 2 and 3).

‏ Proverbs 7:24-25

With ועתּה, as at Pro 5:7, the author now brings his narrative to a close, adding the exhortation deduced from it: 24 And now, ye children, give ear unto me, And observe the words of my mouth! 25 Let not thine heart incline to her ways, And stray not in her paths.

The verb שׂטה (whence jēst, like jēt, Pro 4:15, with long ē from i) the author uses also of departure from a wicked way (Pro 4:15); but here, where the portraiture of a faithless wife (a סוטה) is presented, the word used in the law of jealousy, Num 5, for the trespass of an אשׁת אישׁ is specially appropriate. שׂטה is interchanged with תּעה (cf. Gen 21:14): wander not on her paths, which would be the consequence of straying on them. Theodotion: καὶ μὴ πλανηθῇς ἐν ἀτραποῖς αὐτῆς, with καί, as also Syr., Targ., and Jerome. The Masora reckons this verse to the 25 which have אל at the beginning and ואל at the middle of each clause (vid., Baer in the Luth. Zeitschrift, 1865, p. 587); the text of Norzi has therefore correctly ואל, which is found also in good MSS (e.g., the Erfurt, 2 and 3).