Works Volume 4, Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
1. MY ſon, attend unto my wiſedom, and bow thine ear to my underſtanding:
2. That thou mayſt regard diſcretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
Paraphrase. 1, 2. Among all the acts of paternal and tender charity to the ſouls of men, there is none more precious and truly valuable, than that of communicating ſaving wiſedom and wholſome inſtruction to them; To that end this book is deſigned, and an humble docible heart is required to qualifie any man for the reaping the benefits and fruits of it; and if that may be found, infinite are the advantages of it for the regulating the affections, and the actions, and eſpecially the words. He that hath throughly imbibed the directions of it, will have more ſavour and taſte of good things than ever he had, will think that to be the onelyonly true wiſedom, and affect and regard it as ſuch, which is here recommended to him, the practice of all duty toward God, and man, and himſelf, and accordingly his diſcourſe will be ſavoury and pious, profeſſing the joy he taſts in theſe exerciſes, and deſiring to recommend and propagate them to other men.
3. For the lips of a ſtrange woman *are an hony-comb dropping, foreigndrop as an hony comb, and her mouth is ſmoother than oyl.
Paraphrase. 3. Of this ſort is that neceſſary advice, to beware of the flattery and deceits of ill women, whoſe beauty, and diſcourſe, and converſation, and the many allectives which that ſex is furniſhed with, are very winning and efficacious, promiſing the greateſt pleaſures and ſatisfactions imaginable.
4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, ſharp as a two-edged ſword.
Paraphrase. 4. Which if they be believed, or hearkened to, will in the event prove moſt contrary to what they promiſe, bring all the ſadneſs and bitterneſs, the moſt painfull and noxious effects, infinitely more ſharp and dolorous than the ſo ſhort enjoyments were apprehended pleaſurable.
5. Her feet go down to death, her ſteps take hold on hell.
Paraphrase. 5. And beyond the temporal miſeries which attend this ſin inſeparably and indiſpenſably, the eternal deſtruction is moſt formidable, which is the juſt reward of it, and will be ſure to overtake it.
6. †ſhe walks not the —Leſt thou ſhouldſt ponder the path of life, her ways are ‖unſtable or wandring ſhe knows not whither.moveable that thou canſt not know them.
Paraphrase. 6. Nor can any better event be rationally hoped to the temptations which are tendred from ſuch an hand: A whore being the moſt vile and miſerable creature in the world, engaging her ſelf in a courſe moſt diametrically contrary as to all vertue, ſo to all felicity, the joys and comforts of this or a better life, and proſtituting her ſelf to all the diſmal uncertainties, and ill conſequences of an endleſs inſatiate luſt, which carry her headlong, none knows whither, into a gulph of endleſs woe.
7. Hear ye me therefore O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her houſe.
Paraphrase. 7, 8. This makes it a ſeaſonable and neceſſary advice to all that fear God, or expect good from him, in this or another life, to all the children of wiſedom, profeſſours of piety, that they be moſt exactly cautious in this matter, that they yield not themſelves the leaſt liberty, or indulge to the beginnings of this ſin, that they keep as circumſpectly as is poſſible from entring into the confines of this temptation, and on the contrary remove to the greateſt diſtance from all occaſions and opportunities thereof.
9. Leſt thou give thy honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel.
10. Leſt ſtrangers be filled with thy wealth, thy labours be in the houſe of a ſtranger.
Paraphrase. 9, 10. If this advice be not timely obeyed, it will be hard, if not impoſſible, to keep out of the ſnare, and in that not onelyonly thy ſoul, but all that is precious to any man is ſure to be moſt ruinouſly engaged, thy reputation utterly deſtroyed, by ſo baſe and ſcandalous and ſottiſh a ſin, thy body, and life it ſelf, the one as ſure to be decayed, the other ſhortened by this courſe, as it could by falling into the power of the moſt implacable enemy; And for thy wealth, and fruit of thy labours, and induſtry, and the divine bleſſing, this ſin is the certain blaſting and conſuming of all; ſhe that enticeth thee to her unlawfull bed, will be ſure to lay hold on thy eſtate, and enrich her own family with the ſpoils of thine.
11. And thou mourn at the laſt, when thy fleſh and thy body are conſumed.
12. And ſay, how have I hated inſtruction, and my heart deſpiſed reproof?
13. And have not obey'd the voice of my teachers, nor enclined mine ear to them that inſtructed me.
14. I was almoſt in all evil in the midſt of the congregation, and aſſembly.
Paraphrase. 11, 12, 13, 14. Thus is it evident before hand, what cauſe of repentance and indignation at himſelf and his own folly, this ſin, if indulged to, is ſure to bring upon any man, when he hath exhauſted and rotted his very fleſh, and brought himſelf to utter ruine, he will (too late to mend his temporal condition) moſt ſadly bewail and lament his madneſs, wiſh every vein of his heart that he had taken the advice I now give him, betimes, that he had believed the ſerious and ſad truth of ſuch documents as theſe, by deſpiſing of which, and ſo adventuring on ſome beginnings and degrees of this ſin, he at laſt comes to be a moſt ſcandalous ſpectacle of miſery and woe to all the people, marked and pointed at for a wretched ſottiſh creature, that hath brought himſelf to the brink of endleſs ruine, by his own imperſwaſible folly and obſtinacy.
15. Drink waters out of thine own ciſtern, and running rivers out of thine own well.
Paraphrase. 15. Having thus repreſented to thee the dangers and waſting miſeries of incontinence, the advice will be but ſeaſonable and neceſſary, that every man reſolve to ſatisfie himſelf with his own wife, and moſt ſtrictly abſtain from wandring luſts.
16. *Thy fountains ſhall be— foreignLet thy fountains be diſperſed abroad, and rivers of waters in thy ſtreets.
Paraphrase. 16. This ſhall (beſide all other felicities) yield thee the comforts of a numerous and flouriſhing offspring, which as ſtreams, or rivers from a fountain, ſhall flow from a chaſt conjugal bed.
17. †They ſhall—foreignLet them be onelyonly thine own, and not ſtrangers with thee.
Paraphrase. 17. This ſhall give thee aſſurance, that the children thou owneſt are truly thine, whereas thoſe which come from the ſtrange woman, and call thee father, 'tis very uncertain whoſe they are, ſhe being no encloſure of thine, but common to others alſo.
18. ‖Thy fountain ſhall— foreignLet thy fountain be bleſſed, and rejoyce in the wife of thy youth.
Paraphrase. 18. This ſhall ſecure God's bleſſing of fruitfulneſs to thy wife, and that flouriſhing ſtate to thy offspring, which baſtard ſlips cannot pretend to; This ſhall yield thee a conſtant never fading pleaſure in the love and embraces of her, whoſe purity and loyalty thou haſt ſo long been acquainted with, and the longer thou art afforded this bleſſing, the more pure unallayed ſatisfaction thou wilt find in it, (when wandring luſts end in ſatiety and miſery) and being thus furniſhed by her, thou haſt no temptation to aliene thy ſelf from her, and take any other into thine embraces.
19. Let her be as the *hind of loves, or loved hind.loving hind, and pleaſant roe; let her breaſts ſatisfie thee at all times, and be thou raviſht always with her love.
Paraphrase. 19. Thou mayſt alwaies find matter of pleaſure and kindneſs in her, the ſame that the ſtag, or rain-deer doth in his beloved mate, which he hath long aſſociated with, and ſo perfectly confine thy love to her, and never wiſh for the ſociety of any other, or be weary of hers.
20. And why wilt thou, my ſon, be raviſht with a ſtrange woman, and embrace the boſom of a ſtranger?
21. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
Paraphrase. 20, 21. If all this be not ſufficient to engage thee to a conſtancy to thine own wife, and an exact abſtinence from all others, if the true joy and delights reſulting continually from the one, ballanced with the conſequent ſatieties and miſeries of the other, be not competent motives effectually to prevail with thee; then ſure this one determent may work on thee, the conſideration of the law of marriage, made by God in Paradiſe, that every man ſhall forſake all others and cleave to his own wife, and the ſevere judgments threatned againſt the violaters of this obligation, and the no poſſibility, that, be it never ſo cloſe, it ſhould be kept ſecret from God's all-ſeeing eye, which diſcerns and obſerves, and will ſeverely avenge all ſuch enormous ſins in all that are guilty of them.
22. His own iniquities ſhall take the wicked himſelf, and he ſhall be holden with the cords of his ſins.
23. He ſhall die †for want of inſtruction, foreignwithout inſtruction, and in the greatneſs of his folly he ſhall go aſtray.
Paraphrase. 22, 23. And an eminent act of his vengeance and providence it is, that this ſort of ſinners ſeldom goes unpuniſhed in this life; His ſin, without any other aid, conſtantly brings ſore puniſhments upon him, ſeiſes on him, as the Hound or Vulture on its prey, or as the Lictor and Serjeant on the malefactour, lays him under the cuſtody of ſome noiſome diſeaſe. His unnurtured unſavoury life, his diſobedience to the laws of marital chaſtity, and continence, is the exhauſting his body, and perhaps eſtate, and good name, and all that is valuable, and brings him to a ſcandalous death; he goes out unpittied, and ſcorned, as guilty of the higheſt folly and miſtakes, (as well as injuſtice, and ſuch like enormous crimes againſt his wife, and others, and himſelf) he thought he had purſued his pleaſure, and at leaſt gratified his ſenſes, but in the end he finds it quite contrary, he acquires nothing but loathſome maladies, and untimely death, and ſo appears cheated of all that he projected to gain by his ſin, beſide the yet ſadder loſſes, and pains both of body and ſoul to all eternity.
Annotations on Chap. V.
foreignV. 6. Leſt thou ſhouldeſt ponder] That foreign is here to be rendred not, and foreign applied to the ſtrange woman, whoſe feet and ſteps are mentioned v. 6. is agreed on by all ancient Interpreters, and there is no cauſe of doubting it, foreign, ſhe goes not in the paths of life, ſaith the Chaldee, and ſo the Syriack, in the ſame words; foreign, ſhe enters not on the ways of life, ſay the LXXII. and the Latin, applying it to her feet precedent, per ſemitam vitae non ambulant, they walk not by the path of life. Which agree alſo to give us the right notion of foreign here, for directing (the ſteps) i. e. walking, or going, which it is acknowledged to ſignifie, (as well as pondering) and which properly belongs to it in this place, the ſteps being mentioned in the former verſe; To this interpretation agrees that which follows, her paths are foreign, wandring, vagi, ſaith the Latin, foreign, dangerous, ſay the LXXII. (becauſe they that wander run into danger) but unſtable, ſaith the Chaldee, foreign, literally, not to know, i. e. either thou canſt not know them, non ſcies, ſaith the Interlinear, foreign, they are not eaſie to be known, ſay the LXXII. and ſo the Latin, (and the Syriack) inveſtigabiles, ſecret and inveſtigable; or rather ſhe knows not, i. e. ſhe wanders ſhe knows not whither, ſo the Chaldee, foreign, and ſhe knows not, which the learned Caſtalio well expreſſes, errantibus neſcio quo ejus itineribus, her goings wandring I know not whither, i. e. to all the ill imaginable. This ſixth verſe ſeems deſigned as the character of a naughty woman to enforce the former exhortation, of not yielding to her moſt flattering and promiſing temptations.
V. 14. In all evil] The queſtion here is whether all evil ſignifie all ſin, or all miſery. foreignThe word foreign is common to both, but the context ſeems to reſpect the latter rather, the miſery being that, v. 11. that brings the unclean perſon to his ſad complaints of himſelf, and the foreſight of which is uſed as an argument to deter all men from falling into ſin; And thus the ancient Interpreters ſeem to have underſtood it, foreign, in all ſhames, i. e. in a moſt reproachfull, ridiculous condition, the ſcorn and laughing-ſtock of the people, and ſo the Syriack alſo. The Arabick, into all miſery, of which alſo the LXXII. their foreign, and the Latin's in omni malo may fitly be interpreted. Were it underſtood of ſin, it were then an expreſſion of godly ſorrow, and a reſcue from the power of this ſin, by repentance: But the intention of the writer looks not that way; but rather to the ſad condition that at laſt the adulterer finds himſelf reduced to for want of timely care, and therefore that is more probably to be pitched on.
V. 16. Let thy fountains, &c. ] The Hebrew here and v. 17, and 18. reads in the future foreign,foreign ſhall be diſperſed, foreign, ſhall be, and foreign, ſhall be; then in the latter part of v. 18. foreign, and rejoyce, &c. And thus the Chaldee foreign, thy fountains ſhall abound, foreign, they ſhall be, and foreign, it ſhall be; Yet the LXXII. and the Latin reade in the imperative, foreign, let them be poured out abundantly; as for the foreign, not] which the ordinary Copies prefix, it is viſibly an errour in the Scribe, which the Alexandrian Copy hath mended, and the Arabick appears not to have read.
V. 19. The loving hind] The Hebrew reade foreign, the hind of loves, which the Chaldee and Syriack render literally, as the LXXII. foreign, the hind of love, as the following phraſe foreign, the fole of thy favours; the Latin fitly render the ſenſe, chariſſima cerva, gratiſſimus hinnulus, the moſt dear and moſt acceptable: This therefore is to be preferred before our reading in the active, the loving hind.] The onelyonly difficulty is, whether this do not refer to the cuſtom of Princes and great perſons, to have ſuch creatures tame, to accompany them wherein they took pleaſure; And thus ſure the LXXII. and Latin underſtood it, who for the roe, reade foreign, and hinnulus, in the maſculine; But the Hebrew foreign is in the feminine, and then the moſt obvious interpretation may be beſt, that his wife ſhall be to him the continual, moſt delightfull companion of life, of whom he is never weary, as the ſtag, or other ſuch male creature of the field is always pleaſed, and never weary of the company of his beloved…mate, ſome female, with which he hath long aſſociated.
V. 2. For foreign, and let thy lips preſerve knowledge, the LXXII. reade foreign, the underſtanding of my lips is commanded thee, or as other copies have it, (which the Arabick alſo follows) foreign, I command or appoint thee the underſtanding of my lips; It ſeems they reade foreign, my lips, for foreign, thy lips; and then the foreign, I command, was but expreſſive of the imperative foreign, let them keep.
V. 3. For foreign, and ſmooth above oyle is her palate, foreign, (ſaith Symmachus) they reade foreign, for a time ſhe fattens thy palate; But I make no doubt, foreign, for favour, or by way of flattery, ſhould be the reading (though the Arabick reading for a ſhort time, ſhew that the other was read at the time of that tranſlation) For as foreign ſignifies ſmoothing and flattering, and ſo is uſed, Prov. 7.5. as here, concerning the ſtrange woman, ſo the LXXII. there render it, foreign, if ſhe ſet upon thee with words for favour, i. e. flattering ſpeeches; ſo chap. 28.23. for foreign, he that flattereth with his lips, they reade foreign, he that hath grace, i. e. flattery in his tongue; ſo Ezek. chap. 12.24. foreign, prophecying things for favour, or flattering divines: And then this being the reading, their interpretation is no unfit paraphraſe of the paſſage, though it be not a literal rendring of it, ſhe fattens thy palate for favour, i. e. ſhe flatters thee extremely, which is all one with her mouth is ſmoother than oyle.
V. 5. For [Her feet go down to death, &c. ] they reade foreign, for the feet of folly (by which word ſins of that kind, viz. uncleanneſs, are frequently meant) lead thoſe that uſe it after death to hades, but the footſteps thereof are not ſuſteined; merely by way of paraphraſe, wherein yet the double ſignification of foreign is reſpected, which as it ſignifies to apprehend, or lay hold of, ſo it ſignifies alſo to ſuſtein or ſupport.
V. 18. For foreign, bleſſed, they reade foreign, to thee alone, perhaps reading as v. 17. foreign, to thee alone, perhaps onelyonly by way of paraphraſe, accounting that wife onelyonly the happy fountain which was kept proper to the husband. So v. 19. inſtead of let her breaſts ſatisfie thee at all times, they reade by way of paraphraſe clearly, foreign, let her company with thee, let her be accounted thy peculiar, let her aſſociate with thee at every ſeaſon; In the end of that verſe for foreign, be raviſht always, they reade foreign, being carried about (with her love) thou ſhalt be long-liv'd, rendring the adverb foreign, continually] by carried about, and reading foreign as if it had been from foreign, which ſignifies to multiply, or encreaſe, ſo v. 20. they render it by foreign, be thou much, whereby they do not amiſs expreſs the true meaning of being extraordinarily with her, which we ordinarily expreſs by a like phraſe of being great with her.
V. 23. For, In the multitude of his folly he ſhall be deceived] they reade foreign, he is caſt out from the length of his days, and periſhed through his folly,] clearly by way of paraphraſe, therein reſpecting the promiſe, which their former rendring of v. 19. had made to him, that continued conſtant to his own wife; There they had ſaid foreign, thou ſhalt have long life, and in proportion being here to expreſs the miſcarriage and folly of the adulterer, they ſay he is caſt out, and looſeth, forfeiteth the foremention'd length of days, and periſhes for his ſad miſtake.