Proverbs 7:16
in Proverbs 7I have decked my bed with coverings, with colored linen from Egypt.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
KJV
I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
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This verse in Proverbs 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWith a provocative movement of a prostitute, with a disrupted gait through delights, with wandering eyes, and with playful darting of her eyelids, she captures the precious souls of young men (for the eye of a prostitute is a snare of a sinner), and with doubtful perception, she accosts anyone passing by in the corner of her house, with charming words, causing the hearts of young men to flutter, restless at home, wandering in the streets, prodigal with kisses, cheap in modesty, rich in attire, painted cheeks.
This site's exposition
I have decked my bed with coverings
on Proverbs 7:16-20
The speech turns from religious pretext to sensory inventory, Egyptian linen, myrrh and cinnamon, an appeal built entirely on the furnishing of a room rather than on anything true about the man she addresses. Her closing argument in verses 19 and 20 is logistics: the goodman is away and far off, the money bag is taken with him, the return date is fixed, so the danger she is selling is calculated safety. Bridges notes that every clause of her speech answers an objection the young man has not yet raised, which is itself the mark of a seasoned approach rather than a chance meeting.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
I have woven my bed with cords, etc. Beds that are woven with cords, or according to another translation, with withes, are usually softer than those made of wood, leather, or any other material. Therefore, with a bed woven with cords, the harlot designates the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry,.... Made use of by the ancients (o) for bed clothes: beautiful ornaments, as Gersom; and precious garments, as Jarchi.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I have decked my bed - ערשי arsi, “my couch or sofa;” distinguished from משכבי mishcabi, “my bed,” Pro 7:17, the place to sleep on, as the other was the place to recline on at meals. The tapestry, מרבדים marbaddim, mentioned here seems to refer to the covering of the sofa; exquisitely woven and figured cloth. חטבות אטון chatuboth etun, the Targum translates painted carpets, such as were manufactured in Egypt; some kind of embroidered or embossed stuff is apparently meant.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The words point to the art and commerce which flourished under Solomon. Carved works - Most commentators take the original as meaning “striped coverlets of linen of Egypt.”
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 31:22She makes coverings for her bed; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
it leads to
- Revelation 19:8
She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.
- Genesis 41:42
Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.
- Judges 8:26
The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks…
- Revelation 19:8
Through
1 Kings 10:28Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue; the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 17:16
But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way…
- 2 Chronicles 9:28
Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from all the lands.
- Isaiah 31:1–3
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Deuteronomy 17:16
Through
Isaiah 19:9The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 27:7
Of embroidered fine linen from Egypt they made your sail, which served as your banner. Of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah they made your awning.
- 1 Kings 10:28
Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue; the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 27:7
About Proverbs
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On Cain and Abel; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).