The Book of Proverbs Paraphrased, Part 1 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
ARGUMENT.
There being nothing to which Youth is ſo prone, as to give up themſelves to ſatisfy their fleſhly deſires, and nothing proving ſo pernitious to them, if they doe it with Harlots; the Wiſe Man gives a new caution againſt thoſe impure Luſts, which he had taken notice of before (ch. II. 16, 17, &c.) as great obſtructions to Wiſedom: and with repeated intreaties begs attention to ſo weighty an argument, which here he proſecutes more largely, and preſſes not onelyonly with ſingular elegance, but with powerfull reaſons. Which in the heat of youth men are not forward to conſider; but if they would be ſo ſober, Solomon hath ſaid enough to deter them from whoredom.
Whoſe miſerable effects he deſcribes by ſeveral apt reſemblances (v. 4, 5,) which ſhew how, by this vice, men loſe their honour, their time, their health, and eſtates; and at laſt (as he ſhews afterwards) lie down in ſorrow, and end their days in an unprofitable repentance. And therefore, for the prevention of this, he commends the uſe of marriage, and a paſſionate love for a man's own Wife; which he deſcribes allegorically: firſt, [a] under the compariſon of a domeſtick fountain; where a man may quench his natural thirſt, and from whence ſtreams (i. e. Children) may be derived abroad to ſerve the publick good, &c. and ſecondly, under the compariſon of a young Hind and a young wild Goat; which are taken notice of by Authours that write of Animals (particularly Oppianus) to be loving Creatures: and which in ancient times were playfellows (as one may call them) for the greateſt perſons, who kept them in their palaces, and diverted themſelves with them, as a lovely ſort of Creature, whom they delighted to adorn with Chains and Garlands and ſuch like things. About which Bochartus among others may be conſulted: who hath demonſtrated that the Jaalah (which we tranſlate a Roe) is a Creature that lived in mountainous places, and could climb up the ſteepeſt Rocks. Ʋnto which, as well as to a young Hind, Solomon compares a good Wife, becauſe of the ſimplicity, ſoftneſs, good nature of this kind of Creature; and other qualities mentioned by ancient Authours. Who abundantly ſatisfy us, what reaſon the Wiſe Man had to make choice of theſe compariſons, to repreſent the pleaſures of ardent love between Man and Wife; when it is natural, without conſtraint; ſincere, ſimple, gentle, without moroſeneſs, ſuſpicions or pride: which good qualities are not to be found in Harlots; but may be met withall in a Wife. From whence he ſhews the unreaſonableneſs, nay unaccountable folly of preferring fornication and vagrant luſts, before the innocent joys of a married life (v. 20.) to which a man, who conſiders his own good, would chuſe to be tied that he may avoid the inconveniencies or rather miſeries to which the luſts of uncleanneſs reduce him: but eſpecially the heavy judgment of God; who having ordained marriage for the comfort of Mankind and the preſerving ſociety (v. 21, &c.) will not therefore let the contempt of it go unpuniſhed.
The principal things to be learnt in this Chapter are; not to believe every thing to be good for us, that pleaſes the fleſh for the preſent, v. 3, &c. but in the beginning of any pleaſure, to look to the end of it; to avoid the company of Harlots: to uſe due care in the choice of a Wife: to love her too much, rather than too little; to reſtrain our ſelves from inordinate affection, by the conſideration of God's omnipreſence, &c.
The Proverbial Sayings are obvious enough, in v. 3, 4, 15. I ſhall onelyonly give an account of my tranſlating foreign v. 14. [b] the Aſſembly of Judges: for in many other places, beſides thoſe quoted there in the Paraphraſe, it ſignifies the LXX. Elders or Senators who judged the People: as in the XX. Joſh. 6. and XXVII. Numb. 21. where R. Solomon thus expounds foreign all the Congregation. And ſo truly it ſeems plainly to be uſed XV. Numb. 24, &c. where the Sacrifice is different from that preſcribed in IV. Levit. 13, &c. and therefore the ſin was different and the Congregation for whom this was offered, were the Repreſentatives of the whole Congregation; or, as they now ſpeak, the great Sanhedrin.
1. MY ſon, attend unto my wiſedom, and bow thine ear to my underſtanding.
1. I Cannot too often awaken thine attention, (whoever thou art that puteſt thy ſelf under my Inſtruction. See chap. II. 1. III. 1, 21, &c.) eſpecially in things of ſuch moment as I am going to treat of: and therefore again I beſeech thee, both to mind diligently, and to conſider what I take to be true Wiſedom, and more than ordinary Prudence.
2. That thou mayeſt regard diſcretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
2. Which if thou obſerveſt, it will make thee ſo skilfull and diſcreetly cautious, that thou ſhalt not onelyonly be able to preſerve thy ſelf from the moſt ſubtil and dangerous deceits; but upon occaſion to adviſe others, and keep them from being cheated.
3. ¶ For the lips of a ſtrange woman drop as an hony-comb, and her mouth is ſmoother than oyl.
3. ¶ As too many are by the arts of an Harlot, from whom thou oughteſt to eſtrange thy ſelf as much as if ſhe were not of the commonwealth of Iſrael: for ſhe pretending the greateſt love, allures inexperienced youth by her flattering ſpeeches, and ſweet voice perhaps and ſongs, wherewith ſhe inchants them; and making them believe they ſhall taſte nothing but the moſt delitious pleaſures, her ſoft and ſmooth inticements ſlip down glibly into their unwary hearts, which are taken with her.
4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, ſharp as a two-edged ſword.
4. But the beginning of this love is not ſo ſweet, as the concluſion is bitter; and therefore think of both together, and believe what I now tell thee without making a trial: that after a ſhort pleaſure follows long pain, by the impairing Mens health, ſtrength, eſtates, and credit; which they cannot reflect upon without trouble and vexation, and (if ſhe do not quite deſtroy their reaſon) be filled with remorſe of conſcience and anguiſh of ſpirit: for, like a ſword that cuts on both ſides, ſhe wounds both Soul and Body.
5. Her feet go down to death: her ſteps take hold on hell.
5. In ſhort, leads thoſe that follow her to an untimely, ſhamefull, and miſerable end: to have never ſo little to doe with her, is to approach to certain and inevitable deſtruction; not onelyonly here, but in another World.
6. Leſt thou ſhouldeſt ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canſt not know them.
6. For though thou mayſt think to make a retreat in time, thou wilt be deceived: ſhe having more ways than thou canſt ever know (winding and turning her ſelf into a thouſand ſhapes) to keep thee from ſo much as deliberating about thy return to a vertuous courſe of life.
7. Hear me now, therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
7. All which conſidered ſhould incline thoſe that reade theſe things, to be obedient to me: who do not deſire to reſtrain them from any thing that will make them happy; but in tender affection adviſe them, not to be inticed by her flatteries to depart from thoſe fatherly counſels, which out of mere kindneſs I give unto them.
8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her houſe:
8. If all will not be governed by them, yet do thou, whoſe mind is awakned to attend unto me, wholly ſhun all familiarity with her; nay, ſo much as the leaſt aſpect towards her: avoid her as thou wouldſt the Plague; and be ſo far from going into her Chamber, as not to come near the door of her Houſe.
9. Leſt thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel.
9. Leſt thou forfeit all the reputation, which perhaps thou haſt got by worthy actions, and grow contemptible among thy Friends and Acquaintance; who ſee thee prefer the company of Harlots, and their baſe Attendants, before that of the moſt vertuous Perſons: and thereby thou loſe, not onelyonly thy fame, but ſacrifice the flowre of thine age, and thy precious time, to one that doth not love thee a jot; but could ſee thee periſh without any pity.
10. Leſt ſtrangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labours be in the houſe of a ſtranger.
10. And that will be the iſſue of thy impurity; which waſts firſt the ſtrength and vigour of thy Body, and then thy Money and Eſtate, upon a ſtrange Family, perhaps of another Country: whoſe filthy Luſts are ſatiated at the expenſe of thy Spirits; and whoſe Houſe and Table are furniſhed with the fruit of thy care and labours.
11. And thou mourn at the laſt, when thy fleſh and thy body are conſumed.
11. And when things are come to this paſs, that thy credit, thy friends, thy precious time, thy health, thy Eſtate, and the pleaſure too are all gone, and nothing left but an heavy heart, and skin and bone; then thou begin unprofitably to groan and lament; nay, perhaps to roar out thy grief in a moſt deplorable manner:
12. And ſay, How have I hated inſtruction, and my heart deſpiſed reproof?
12. Saying, How ſtupidly fooliſh have I been, in not conſidering all this ſooner? how ſenſleſsly bent upon my own ruin? I am amazed to think how I hated the cautions that were given me to avoid her company? and inwardly deſpiſed (how civily ſoever in outward ſhow I received them) the juſt reproofs I had afterward for going to her.
13. And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that inſtructed me?
13. I wanted no good Inſtructions, my Parents, Tutours, Friends, and God's Miniſters; who informed me of the danger, and taught me how to eſcape it: but, alas! I was ſo ſottiſh, as not to obey them; ſo contumacious, that I did not ſo much as conſider what they ſaid unto me.
14. I was almoſt in all evil, in the midſt of the congregation and aſſembly.
14. But gave up my ſelf to follow my luſts, which in a ſhort time ingaged me in almoſt all kind of wickedneſs; from which the reverence of no perſons could reſtrain me: but openly, in the face of the moſt publick and ſolemn Aſſemblies of God's people; even before the Magiſtrates and Judges (XXV. Numb. 7. XXXV. 12.) I boldly committed them. See Arg. [b]
15. ¶ Drink waters out of thine own ciſtern; and running waters out of thine own well.
15. ¶ Such are the fruitleſs moans of a man, that hath quite exhauſted himſelf in thoſe leud courſes; which ſhew how much better it is to follow the advice, which I now give thee: Marry; and in a Wife of thine own enjoy the pleaſures thou deſireſt, and be content with them alone; innocent, chaſt, and pure pleaſures; as much different from the other, as the clear waters of a wholſome fountain, are from thoſe of a dirty lake or puddle.
16. Let thy fountains be diſperſed abroad, and rivers of waters in the ſtreets.
16. Of whom thou mayſt have a lawfull Iſſue, which thou needeſt not be aſhamed to own; but openly produce, and ſend them abroad, like ſtreams from a Spring, to ſerve the publick good: nay, a numerous progeny may be derived from your happy ſociety, and match into divers other honeſt families.
17. Let them be onelyonly thine own, and not ſtrangers with thee.
17. Children that acknowledge no other Father, becauſe they ſpring from one whom thou enjoyeſt (like a fountain in thy own ground) to thy ſelf alone: being taught by thy confining thy ſelf to her, never to admit any ſtranger to thy bed; but to keep it ſolely unto thee.
18. Let thy fountain be bleſſed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
18. Happy ſhalt thou every way be in ſuch a Wife; whom I advice thee to take in thy youth, and avoiding thoſe filthy cruel Harlots (v. 9.) to ſolace thy ſelf in her innocent and delightfull company: whereby thou wilt long preſerve thy youth, which they ſpeedily deflowr, v. 10.
19. Let her be as the loving hind, and pleaſant roe, let her breaſts ſatisfy thee at all times, and be thou raviſht always with her love.
19. Love her and cheriſh her, with a moſt tender affection; and let her always ſeem amiable in thy eyes: if thou wouldſt recreate and diſport thy ſelf (as ſome are wont to do with young fawns, and other beautifull creatures of like kind) let it be with her, as the ſweeteſt companion; in whoſe embraces take ſuch ſatisfaction, as to forget all other, and to be exceſſively tranſported with her as long as you live. See Arg. [a]
20. And why wilt thou, my ſon, be raviſht with a ſtrange woman, and embrace the boſom of a ſtranger?
20. Conſider, My Son, (v. 1.) what I ſay, and deny if thou canſt, that it is an unaccountable folly to ſeek that in a vile Harlot (to whom thou oughteſt to be as great a ſtranger, as to her Religion) which thou mayſt more fully, more pleaſantly, ſecurely, and conſtantly, as well as more innocently, enjoy in a pious Wife of thine own Nation.
21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
21. And, which is moſt conſiderable, enjoy with the approbation and favour of the Lord: from whom no man can hide his moſt private actions, but He plainly ſees and weighs all he doth, whereſoever he be; and will exactly proportion rewards and puniſhments, according as he behaves himſelf.
22. ¶ His own iniquities ſhall take the wicked himſelf, and he ſhall be holden with the cords of his ſins.
22. ¶ If he be a wicked Fornicator or Adulterer, for inſtance, let him not think to eſcape, becauſe he is ſo cunning that no body obſerves him, or ſo powerfull that none can call him to account: for his own manifold iniquities ſhall arreſt and apprehend him; and he ſhall need no other chains to bind and hold him faſt, to anſwer for them to God.
23. He ſhall dye without inſtruction, and in the greatneſs of his folly he ſhall go aſtray.
23. Whoſe ſentence upon ſuch a perſon is this; that he ſhall inevitably periſh, (v. 5.) becauſe he refuſed to follow theſe Inſtructions; and not onelyonly miſs of his aime of being happy, but, like men that wander from the right way, precipitate himſelf into unexpected ruin (v. 9, 10, 11.) becauſe he was ſuch an egregious fool, as to take no warning by all that could be ſaid to him; but ſtill to commit innumerable ſins (v. 13, 14.) though he was told the many inconveniencies, nay miſchiefs they would bring upon him.