Proverbs 7:15
in Proverbs 7So I came out to meet you; I sought you, and I have found you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore came I forth to meet thee, Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
KJV
Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
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This verse in Proverbs 7
Commentary
7 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
I sought you, and I have found you
She tells him the feast was prepared for him alone, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note how boldly she makes him the one sought out. Any young man passing her corner would have heard the same words. The flattery is the hook.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
(2.) Her profession of piety. She had been to-day at the temple, and was as well respected there as any that worshipped in the courts of the Lord. She had paid her vows, and, as she thought, made all even with God Almighty, and therefore might venture upon a new score of sins.
Therefore came I forth to meet thee,.... Having so much good cheer at home, and none to eat of it with her; and having so fond and affectionate a regard to this young man, as she pretended; he being the only person in her thoughts, whom she hoped to meet with, and whose company she desired, and his only; though, had she met any other, she would have said the same things to them.
Sinners take pains to do mischief, and are as the roaring lion himself; they go about seeking to devour, and yet pretend they are seeking to oblige. [2.] She would have it thought that Providence itself countenanced her choice of him for her companion; for how quickly had she found him whom she sought!
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The offerer retained part of the victim for a feast (Le 3:9, &c.). This feast she professes was prepared for him whom she boldly addresses as one sought specially to partake of it. 16, 17. my bed--or, "couch," adorned in the costliest manner.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I had to bring peace offerings I prepared a great feast, for today I sacrificed my vows and my peace offering.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֭ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יָצָ֣אתִי | yatzati | I have come out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לִקְרָאתֶ֑ךָ | likratecha | to meet you | H7122 → | 139 times |
| לְשַׁחֵ֥ר | leshacher | to seek | H7836 → | 12 times |
| פָּ֝נֶ֗יךָ | paneikha | face your | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וָאֶמְצָאֶֽךָּ׃ | vaemtzaeka | and I have found you | H4672 → | 455 times |
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֭ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
יָצָ֣אתִיI have come out
yatzatiH3318 →1067 times
לִקְרָאתֶ֑ךָto meet you
likratechaH7122 →139 times
לְשַׁחֵ֥רto seek
leshacherH7836 →12 times
פָּ֝נֶ֗יךָface your
paneikhaH6440 →2123 times
וָאֶמְצָאֶֽךָּ׃and I have found you
vaemtzaekaH4672 →455 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Proverbs
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On Cain and Abel; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.