Proverbs 7:23-27
23 till an arrow pierces his liver ▼
▼sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).
— like a bird hurrying into a trap,
and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ▼
24 So now, sons, ▼
▼tn The literal translation “sons” works well here in view of the warning. Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “children.”
listen to me, and pay attention to the words I speak. ▼
▼tn Heb “the words of my mouth.”
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways—
do not wander into her pathways;
26 for she has brought down ▼
▼tn Heb “she has caused to fall.”
many fatally wounded, and all those she has slain are many. ▼
▼tn Heb “numerous” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or “countless.”
27 Her house is the way to the grave, ▼ ▼
▼sn Her house is the way to the grave. The young man’s life is not destroyed in one instant; it is taken from him gradually as he enters into a course of life that will leave him as another victim of the wages of sin. The point of the warning is to prevent such a course from starting. Sin can certainly be forgiven, but the more involvement in this matter the greater the alienation from the healthy community.
going down to the chambers of death.
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