Proverbs 6:25 - Exposition

To keep thee from the evil woman. The specific object to which the discourse was tending. The "commandment" and the "law" illuminate the path of true life generally, but in a special degree they, if attended to, will guard the young against sins of impurity, fornication, and adultery. The evil woman (Hebrew, esheth ra ); strictly, a woman of evil, or vileness, or of a wicked disposition, addicted to evil in an extraordinary degree; ra being here a substantive standing in a genitive relation to esheth, as in Proverbs 2:12 , "The way of evil ( derek ra ) . " Cf. also tah'pukoth ra, perverstates mali ( Proverbs 2:14 ), and makh'sh)'voth ra, cogitationes mali ( Proverbs 15:26 ), and an'shey ra , viri mali ( Proverbs 28:5 ). The Vulgate, however, gives an adjectival force to ra rendering, it muliere mala. The LXX . ἀπὸ γυναικὸς , i.e. "from the married woman," arises from reading rea , "a companion," for ra , "evil." From the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman; i.e. from her enticements; Hebrew, mekhel'kath lashon noh'riyyah ; literally, "from the smoothness of a strange tongue," as in the margin. Zockler, however, proposes an emendation of the Masoretic text, and substitutes the construct case, l'shon, for the absolute, lashon, rendering as in the Authorized Version, on the ground that the emphasis lies, not on the "tongue," which would be the case if we render "of a strange tongue," but on "the strange woman," who is the subject of the discourse, as in Proverbs 2:16 and Proverbs 5:20 . But nok'riyyah is feminine of the adjective nok'ri, ann in agreement with lashon, which, though common, is more frequently feminine (Gesenius), and hence the two words may stand in agreement. The marginal reading is to be preferred (Wordsworth). Again, me - khel'kath, the construct ease of khel'kah, literally, "smoothness," and metaphorically flattery, with the prefix me, forms one member of the phrase, while the compound expression, lashon nok'riyyah, forms the second. Ewald and Bertheau render, "from the smooth-tongued, the strange woman," thus connecting mekhel'kath lashon, and regarding nok)riyyah as a separate and distinct idea. They agree with Symmachus and Theodotion, ἀπὸ λειογλώσσου ξένης , i.e. "from the smooth-tongued or flattering stranger." So the Vulgate, a blanda lingua extraneae, i.e. from the smooth tongue of the strange woman. The LXX . again favours the marginal reading, ἀπὸ διαβολῆς γλώσσης ἀλλοτρίας , "from the slander of a strange tongue." So the Chaldee Paraphrase. The Syriac reads, "from the accusation of a woman of a strange tongue," i.e. who uses a foreign language. If, however, the Authorized Version be retained, the Hebrew nok'riyyah will, as in other passages, mean "an adulteress" (Gesenius); Proverbs 5:20 ; Proverbs 7:5 ; Proverbs 23:27 . Under any circumstances, we have here attributed to the tongue what, in fact, belongs to the woman. It is against the enticements and blandishments of a woman of depraved moral character that the "commandment" and "law" form a safeguard to youth.