Proverbs 7:14-20 New English Translation
14 “I have meat from my peace offerings at home;[a]
today I have fulfilled my vows!
15 That is why I came out to meet you,
to look for you,[b] and I found you!
16 I have spread my bed with elegant coverings,[c]
with richly colored fabric[d] from Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink deeply[e] of lovemaking[f] until morning,
let’s delight ourselves[g] with love’s pleasures.
19 For my husband[h] is not at home;[i]
he has gone on a journey of some distance.
20 He has taken a bag of money with him;[j]
he will not return until[k] the end of the month.”[l]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 7:14 tn Heb “peace offerings are with me.” The peace offerings refer to the meat left over from the votive offering made at the sanctuary (e.g., Lev 7:11-21). Apparently the sacrificial worship meant little to this woman spiritually. By expressing that she has peace offerings, she could be saying that she has fresh meat for a meal at home, or that she was ceremonially clean, perhaps after her period. At any rate, it is all probably a ruse for winning a customer.
- Proverbs 7:15 tn Heb “to look diligently for your face.”
- Proverbs 7:16 tn Heb “with spreads I have spread my bed.” The rare noun is a cognate to the verb.
- Proverbs 7:16 tn The feminine noun means “dark-hued stuffs” (BDB 310 s.v. חֲטֻבוֹת). The form is a passive participle from a supposed root II חָטַב (khatav), which in Arabic means to be of a turbid, dusky color mixed with yellowish red. Its Aramaic cognate means “variegated”; cf. NAB “with brocaded cloths of Egyptian linen.” BDB’s translation of this colon is unsatisfactory: “with dark hued stuffs of yarn from Egypt.”
- Proverbs 7:18 tn The verb means “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill,” and can at times mean “to be intoxicated with.”
- Proverbs 7:18 tn Heb “loves.” The word דּוֹד (dod) means physical love or lovemaking. It is found frequently in the Song of Solomon for the loved one, the beloved.
- Proverbs 7:18 tn The form is the Hitpael cohortative of עָלַס (ʿalas), which means “to rejoice.” Cf. NIV “let’s enjoy ourselves.”
- Proverbs 7:19 tn Heb “the man.” The LXX interpreted it as “my husband,” taking the article to be used as a possessive. Many English versions do the same.
- Proverbs 7:19 tn Heb “in his house.”
- Proverbs 7:20 tn Heb “in his hand.”
- Proverbs 7:20 tn Heb “he will come back to his home at.”
- Proverbs 7:20 tn Heb “new moon.” Judging from the fact that the husband took a purse of money and was staying away until the next full moon, the woman implies that they would be safe in their escapade. If v. 9 and v. 20 are any clue, he could be gone for about two weeks—until the moon is full again.
New English Translation (NET)
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