Proverbs 2:16-17

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 2:16 sn The same term, לְהַצִּילְךָ (l^ehatsil^ekha, “to deliver you”), introduces twin purposes in vv. 12 and 16 of deliverance from the evil man and the wicked woman. Four poetic lines elaborate each: vv. 12-15 the evil man, vv. 16-19 the evil woman.
2. Proverbs 2:16 tn Heb “strange woman” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the loose woman.” The root זוּר (zur, “to be a stranger”) sometimes refers to people who are ethnically foreign to Israel (Isa 1:7; Hos 7:9; 8:7) but it often refers to what is morally estranged from God or his covenant people (Pss 58:4; 78:30; BDB 266 s.v.). Referring to a woman, it means adulteress or prostitute (Prov 2:16; 5:3, 20; 7:5; 22:14; 23:33; see BDB 266 s.v. 2.b). It does not mean that she is a foreigner but that she is estranged from the community with its social and religious values (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 285). It describes her as outside the framework of the covenant community (L. A. Snijders, “The Meaning of זוּר in the Old Testament: An Exegetical Study,” OTS 10 [1954]: 85-86). Here an Israelite woman is in view because her marriage is called a “covenant with God.” She is an adulteress, acting outside the legal bounds of the marriage contract.
3. Proverbs 2:16 tn Heb “alien woman.” The adjective נָכְרִי (nokhri, “foreign; alien”) may refer to people who are non-Israelite, ethnically foreign, or someone who is unknown or unfamiliar, although an Israelite (see BDB 649 s.v.) It is perhaps used as a technical term in Proverbs for a harlot or promiscuous woman as someone who is morally alienated from God and moral society (Prov 2:16; 5:20; 6:24; 7:5; 23:27; see BDB 649 s.v. 2). Or perhaps the terms characterizing her as a stranger are chosen to underscore the danger of being naively taken in by someone unknown.
4. Proverbs 2:16 tn Heb “has made smooth.” The Hiphil of II חָלַק (khalaq, “to be smooth; to be slippery”) means (1) “to make smooth” (metal with hammer) and (2) “to use smooth words,” that is, to flatter (Pss 5:10; 36:3; Prov 2:16; 7:5; 28:23; 29:5; see BDB 325 s.v. 2; HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק hif.2). The related Arabic cognate verb means “make smooth, lie, forge, fabricate.” The seductive speech of the temptress is compared to olive oil (5:3) and is recounted (7:14-20).sn As the perfect verb of a dynamic root, the verb reports what she has done not what she is doing (the way the participle in 2:12 describes the men speaking). While it is likely true that she would regularly flatter every man who crossed her path, we are given the picture of the young man carrying on his mind what she has said to him. Part of succumbing to temptation often involves becoming narrowly focused on something potentially pleasurable and blocking out the consequences. Compare Eve in Genesis 3. The man has been flattered—how will he let that sit in his mind?
5. Proverbs 2:16 sn For descriptions of seductive speech, see Prov 5:3 where it is compared to olive oil, and 7:14-20 where such speech is recorded.
6. Proverbs 2:17 tn Or “the husband-abandoner.” The construction is the active participle of עָזַב (ʿazav) with the article, serving as an attributive adjective. The verb means “to forsake; to leave; to abandon.” Presumably this woman left her husband for good some time ago in the past. Understanding the participle as a label continues to assign the character to her. By comparison God is called the Maker of the earth (Isa 45:18), using the participle יֹצֵר (yotser). The label persists even though creation was in the past.
7. Proverbs 2:17 tn Heb “companion” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “partner.” The term אַלּוּף (ʾalluf, “companion”) is from the root אָלַף (ʾalaf, “to be familiar with; to cleave to”) and refers to a woman’s husband (Prov 2:17; Jer 3:4; see BDB 48 s.v. אַלּוּף 2). This noun follows the passive adjectival formation and so signifies one who is well-known.
8. Proverbs 2:17 tn Heb “of her youth.” The noun נְעוּרֶיהָ (n^eʿureha, “her youth”) functions as a temporal genitive. The plural form is characteristic of nouns that refer to long periods of duration in the various stages of life. The time of “youth” encompasses the entire formative period within marriage.
9. Proverbs 2:17 tn The verb שָׁכַח (shakhakh) is often translated “forget” but can also mean to “ignore” or “neglect.” Rather than being unable to remember that she entered into a covenant, she has dismissed its relevance. The form is a Hebrew perfect and the perfect in English captures this well. She made a past decision to ignore the covenant, a condition which continues. The vowel pointing of pausal forms of the Qal perfect of this verb usually has an i-class vowel (tsere), suggesting the root may be stative, which would allow a past or present tense translation, “she ignores.”
10. Proverbs 2:17 tn Heb “the covenant.” This could refer to the Mosaic covenant that prohibits adultery, or more likely, as in the present translation, the marriage covenant (cf. also TEV, CEV). The lexicons list this use of “covenant” (בְּרִית, b^erit) among other referents to marriage (Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8; Mal 2:14; BDB 136 s.v. 1.5; HALOT 157 s.v. A.9).
11. Proverbs 2:17 tn Heb “covenant of God.” The genitive-construct could mean “covenant made before God.” The woman and her husband had made a marriage-covenant in which God was invoked as witness. Her sin is against her solemn pledge to her husband, as well as against God.