Proverbs 7:23
in Proverbs 7until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Till an arrow strike through his liver; As a bird hasteth to the snare, And knoweth not that it is for his life.
KJV
Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
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This verse in Proverbs 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseTill a dart strike through his liver,.... The fountain of blood, and so of life; which, being pierced through and poured out, is certain death, Lam 2:11; the meaning is, till he is slain either by the hand of God, or by the civil magistrate, or by the jealous husband; and be thrust through by him, as Zimri and Cozbi were by Phinehas.
This site's exposition
her much fair speech she caused him to yield
on Proverbs 7:21-23
The narrative gives its verdict in one stroke, he goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, an animal walking toward its own death without the capacity to read the sign. Henry pairs the ox with the bird of verse 23, hasting to the snare and not knowing that it is for his life, and reads both figures the same way: the fall is not sudden ignorance of danger but a failure to connect a known danger to himself in the moment it matters. Till a dart strike through his liver names a wound, not a pleasure, and the older writers take the liver as the seat of the passions the sin itself corrupts.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
With 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.
The "cemphus" is a kind of wild sea-bird, which has so immoderate an impulse to sexual enjoyment, that its eyes seem to fill with blood in coition; and it often blindly falls into snares, or into the hands of men. To this, therefore, he compares the man who gives himself up to the harlot on account of his immoderate lust; or else on account of the insensate folly of the creature, for he, too, pursues his object like one senseless.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The ox thinks he is led to the pasture when he is led to the slaughter; the fool (that is, the drunkard, for, of all sinners, drunkards are the greatest fools) is led to the correction of the stocks, and is not sensible of the shame of it, but goes to it as if he were going to a play.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The first clause does not connect itself very clearly with the foregoing, and is probably affected by the corrupt text which makes it perplexing.
The words behind it
13 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֤ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| יְפַלַּ֪ח | yefalach | it will pierce | H6398 → | |
| חֵ֡ץ | chetz | an arrow | H2671 → | 53 times |
| כְּֽבֵד֗וֹ | kevedo | liver his | H3516 → | |
| כְּמַהֵ֣ר | kemaher | as hurries | H4116 → | 68 times |
| צִפּ֣וֹר | tzipor | a bird | H6833 → | 40 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פָּ֑ח | pach | a trap | H6341 → | |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָ֝דַ֗ע | yada' | he knows | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בְנַפְשׁ֥וֹ | venafsho | [is] for life his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| הֽוּא׃ פ | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
עַ֤דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
יְפַלַּ֪חit will pierce
yefalachH6398 →
חֵ֡ץan arrow
chetzH2671 →53 times
כְּֽבֵד֗וֹliver his
kevedoH3516 →
כְּמַהֵ֣רas hurries
kemaherH4116 →68 times
צִפּ֣וֹרa bird
tziporH6833 →40 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פָּ֑חa trap
pachH6341 →
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָ֝דַ֗עhe knows
yada'H3045 →945 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בְנַפְשׁ֥וֹ[is] for life his
venafshoH5315 →754 times
הֽוּא׃ פit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
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
Ecclesiastes 9:12For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- Luke 21:34–36
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Proverbs 6:15
Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
- Proverbs 29:6
An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices.
- Ecclesiastes 8:5–7
Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
Through
Proverbs 9:18But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
it leads to
- Proverbs 7:27
Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.
- Proverbs 7:27
Through
Proverbs 1:17How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:7
Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
- Job 35:11
who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’
- Jeremiah 8:7
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On Cain and Abel; Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.