Proverbs 7:12
in Proverbs 7Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, And lieth in wait at every corner.)
KJV
Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
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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
with the attire of a harlot
on Proverbs 7:10-15
Her “attire of a harlot and cunning of heart” are named together. Her speech opens with religious cover: “I have made my peace offerings; today I have paid my vows”. A peace offering left meat the worshipper could eat and share, so piety itself becomes the pretext for the meeting.
This site's exposition
she lurks at every corner
She lurks at every corner the way the violent men of Proverbs 1:11 lie in wait for blood. Clarke pictures her always on show in the street and the squares, her gait telling what she wants. The young man walked into her ambush.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Now in the streets, now in the squares, etc. Outside, it seizes the pagans; in the streets, the voluptuous; by the corners, other heretics.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Now is she without,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Now is she without - She is continually exposing herself, and showing by her gait and gestures what she is, and what she wants. These two verses are a parenthesis, intended to show the character of the woman.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פַּ֤עַם׀ | paam | a time | H6471 → | 118 times |
| בַּח֗וּץ | bachutz | in the street | H2351 → | 164 times |
| פַּ֥עַם | paam | a time | H6471 → | 118 times |
| בָּרְחֹב֑וֹת | barechovot | in the open places | H7339 → | 43 times |
| וְאֵ֖צֶל | veetzel | and beside | H681 → | 61 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| פִּנָּ֣ה | pinah | corner | H6438 → | 29 times |
| תֶאֱרֹֽב׃ | teero | she lies in wait | H693 → | 41 times |
פַּ֤עַם׀a time
paamH6471 →118 times
בַּח֗וּץin the street
bachutzH2351 →164 times
פַּ֥עַםa time
paamH6471 →118 times
בָּרְחֹב֑וֹתin the open places
barechovotH7339 →43 times
וְאֵ֖צֶלand beside
veetzelH681 →61 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
פִּנָּ֣הcorner
pinahH6438 →29 times
תֶאֱרֹֽב׃she lies in wait
teeroH693 →41 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
Proverbs 23:28Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…
- 1 Corinthians 10:8
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
- Hosea 4:11
Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
Through
Revelation 18:3All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance…
it leads to
- Revelation 17:2
The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
- Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Revelation 18:9
Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
- Revelation 18:23
The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bride and bridegroom will never call out in you again. For your merchants were the great ones of…
- Jeremiah 51:7
Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Revelation 17:2
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Cain and Abel; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).