Verses 1-27

The Bad Woman

A picture drawn from life of the enticing of a young man by a wicked woman.

2. The apple] lit. 'the little man' of the eye, so called because an image is reflected from the pupil of the eye. It is a figure for the most precious and delicate things (Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalms 17:8).

3. The Jews wear a long leather band twisted round the arm and fingers during prayer. Passages of Scripture written on parchment and enclosed in a small leather box are at the same time worn on the forehead.

4. My sister] the title by which bride and wife are addressed (Song of Solomon 4:9).

6. The window is the opening; the casement is the lattice-work filling it, looking through which one may see and remain unseen.

9. Twilight ends suddenly, and is followed by dense darkness.

11. Stubborn] or 'wilful'; an epithet applied to an unruly beast which has shaken off the yoke (Hosea 4:16).

14. Leviticus 7:16-18 shows that such sacrifices were followed by a feast: the blood and the fat of the intestines were offered to God; the rest of the animal was consumed by the offerer, his family and guests. The woman is therefore inviting to a sumptuous feast.

19, 20. The husband is a merchant, who is absent on a long journey, as is evident from his having taken with him his purse. He will not be home till the 'full moon' (RV).

26. Read, 'Yea, many are those she has slain.'

27. The chambers of death are the many diverse receptacles supposed to be in the under-world: cp. John 14:2.