The religious spirit is most dangerous with its words. Religious spirits can be most polite and enticing and engage you with flattering conversations. Beware; there may be a serpent behind those sultry ruby red lips!
We must choose by our own wills not to get involved. Simple wisdom says: Hide His word in your heart and treasure it.
My son, keep (treasure) my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. (Proverbs 7: 1)
Write His Word on your heart through meditation, musing, thinking and repeating and when you need it, Holy Spirit will bring it to your memory.
Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the tablet of thine heart. (Proverbs 7: 2 – 3)
Embrace wisdom and understanding. We guard ourselves from religious spirits by treasuring His Word in our hearts and allowing Holy Spirit to be our most intimate friend:
Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman. ( Proverbs 7 : 4) One of the characteristics of this strange woman is “smooth words” spoken through flattering lips. She sounds good and, if need be, can get real spiritual. Behind her facade is a spirit that is a stranger to the ways of God:
That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. (Proverbs 7: 5)
The young man represents a Christian who is not mature in Christ. He is simple minded and lacking in spiritual discernment. Being spiritually half-witted, he serves God through intellect and carnal religious form:
For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding. (Proverbs 7 : 6 – 7)
This simpleminded immature man willfully went near her dwelling as he left the Word, and guidance of Holy Spirit serving God out of his mind and not his heart; being led astray by his carnal soulish senses into religious FORM:
Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house. (Proverbs 7 : 8)
The closer the young man got to her (religious) house, the more spiritual discernment he lost.
In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtle of heart. (Proverbs 7 : 9 – 10)
He finally meets her. She is sly and cunning with smooth words:
She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house. (Proverbs 7 : 11)
She is loud and turbulent in the soul. Her feet abide not in her house, because she is never satisfied. She goes from church to church looking for the simpleminded to entice. She loves positive public opinion and will compromise herself to gain it. This nasty spirit is very pervasive. She is everywhere, in the marketplace, on the street corner, in the internet chat rooms and in the blogs. She is cunning and shrewd. She is looking for you. Watch out for her snares. Guard yourself. Maintain your spiritual hunger for more of God:
Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner. (Proverbs 7: 12)
She woos the simpleminded man with religious activities. She pays her vows to appease her conscience with dead works and religious activities. She comes to church on Sunday asking forgiveness and then lives for the devil on Monday; there is no change. Her bed decked with coverings and carved works reveals the idolatry in her heart as she looks to create a religious facade. Her perfumed bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon represents a false anointing and a religious covering on her life.
So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: Let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. (Proverbs 7: 13 – 20)
She uses fair speech to entice. She is very dangerous with words. She can be most polite and enticing with flattering conversations. Beware, there is a serpent behind those ruby red lips, ready with a dart to strike through the liver. The liver is the filter of the blood. The blood is the life force of the body.
With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. (Proverbs 7: 21 – 23)
Beware of this strange woman’s motives and the fate of those that follow after her as she serves God through carnal and soulish form alone. This beast is a deadly killer of the lukewarm Christian. She sits in our pews unexposed and not addressed. This beast needs to be exposed. Wake up!!!
Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. (Proverbs 7: 24 – 27)
All of us are vulnerable to religious spirits, attitudes, or attacks of self-righteousness.
She weaves her web of deceit to draw lonely, foolish old women into her trap.
We must choose, by our own wills, not to travel the path of the religious spirit.
We can guard ourselves from religious spirits by treasuring the word of God in our hearts and allowing the Holy Spirit to be our most intimate friend.
One of the characteristics of the strange woman is “smooth words” spoken through flattering, lying lips.
Religious spirits will latch on to those that know and serve God out of their souls only.
Lukewarmness will always point you in the direction of the religious spirit’s house.
The religious spirit is very dangerous with words. She can be most polite and enticing with flattering conversations.
This religious spirit is the deadly killer of the lukewarm Christian.
The Strange Woman is, in fact, a representation of the allure that surrounds false religion. She is a seductress who eventually ensnared even the great and wise Solomon, and the kings of Israel and Judah. She has many faces, but only one method of operation, seduction, dissolution, entrapment and bondage.
The name of this strange woman…False Religion!
In His love,
Elizabeth
Ponderings Of A Seeking Heart 
Yes!….So many voices, so many attractions!
God help us to keep it real in this hour….God Bless You for this solid teaching Elizabeth Parker.
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Hi, Elizabeth..I read this once and have been doing lots of thinking on it. I know this is a true warning and that we are in a very serious time that we all need to be hearing these warnings and discerning what is what and who is who. I hope this word falls on hearing ears and makes a big difference!
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I’ve researched this woman in Proverbs for many months in various Bibles and languages. I believe she is either a serial adulteress or, more likely, a married prostitute, in simple terms. It is possible there is also an additional spiritual side to her or an additional, spiritual meaning to her, so please don’t think I’m saying you’re totally wrong, but I believe the warnings about her refer to an actual type of human female. I’ll send you a condensed version of my research.
Proverbs’ Strange/Estranged woman/wife (to/from her husband/house perhaps) or Foreign woman/wife and ‘Foreign woman’ was likely, in relatively simple terms:
1) a married prostitute or
2) a serial adulteress
Terms for her in Proverbs:
Proverbs ‘Strange woman/wife’ (Heb: אִשָּׁ֣ה זָרָה ‘ishah zar-ay’/Heb: זָרָה ‘zar-ay’), (possibly to her husband/house) or ‘Estranged woman/wife’ (possibly from her husband/house) or ‘Foreign woman/wife’ and ‘Foreign woman’ (Heb: נָכְרִיָּֽה ‘nak-ree-ay’), (foreign women were likely prostitutes in ancient Israel at least partially due to Lev 19:29 and/or Deut 23:17-18 ‘frowning’ on Israelite prostitutes/temple prostitutes)
There are at least two different terms for her in Hebrew Proverbs. This fact, in my opinion, shows she is more complex than simply a ‘prostitute’ or ‘an adulteress’ or ‘an immoral woman’.
Latin extraneus ‘foreign, external, from without’ ->
Old French estrange, ‘foreign, alien, unusual, unfamiliar, curious, distant, inhospitable, estranged, separated’ ->
English strange (adj) late 13c, ‘foreign,of external origin or kind or character,exciting wonder,discouraging familiarities or reserved or distant,estranged’
Vulgar Latin *extraneare, ‘to treat as a stranger’ ->
Middle French ‘estrangier’, to alienate ->
English estranged (adj) late 15c, to remove from customary environment or associations, to arouse mutual enmity or indifference in where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness, alienate
(Heb: אִשָּׁ֣ה זָרָה , ‘ishah zar-ay’/Heb: זָרָה ‘zar-ay’, ‘strange/estranged woman/wife’) is used in Prov 2:16, 5:3, 5:20, 7:5; plural for ‘zar-ay’, זָר֑וֹת , ‘zarvot’ in 22:14, 23:33
(Heb: נָכְרִיָּֽה , ‘nakariyah’, ‘foreign woman’ is used in Prov 2:16, 5:20, 6:24, 7:5, 20:16, 23:27, 27:13
My opinion: At least one of the primary terms for her in the Book of Proverbs, ‘foreign woman/wife’ or ‘strange woman/wife’ or ‘estranged woman/wife’ (זָרָה ,
‘zarah’ and אִשָּׁה זָרָה , ‘ishah zarah’) can also mean an estranged woman/wife, and thus from her husband, or a strange woman/wife to her husband, and thus a serial adulteress.
One can make one’s own opinion on what the aforementioned terms or words mean in the Book of Proverbs, but my opinion is that Proverbs’ ‘strange women’ are not the same type of ‘strange women’
1) mentioned in the 1st Book of Kings 11:1-8; Ezra 10:2,6,8,10-14,17-18,44; Nehemiah 13:23-27; Tobit 4:12-13 (foreign women with foreign religion, lifestyle, god[s] from nations adjacent to ancient Israel or ancient Judah)
2) and Ruth (Ruth 1:4,15;2:10-11; a foreign woman from Moab friendly to the worship of the Jewish deity).
Proverbs’ ‘strange woman’ is called so because of her sexual habits.
The terms used could be further defined as in
1) a married, seductive, serial adulteress, who lives with her husband in a house and is also a prostitute or
2) a married, seductive, serial adulteress, who lives with her husband in a house
but I’m trying to simplify the meaning of the terms in Proverbs.
Reasons I believe Proverbs ‘foreign woman’ is either a married prostitute or a serial adulteress:
Prov 2:17 mentions her forsaking (participle, so appears to be ongoing) the guide (possibly husband) of her youth; coupled in particular with Prov 5:18
which mentions ‘wife of thy youth’ and Micah 7:5 which uses the same word as ‘guide’ in Prov 2:17, ‘Trust ye not in a friend [possibly husband], put ye not
confidence in a guide [likely at least partially in reference to a husband]: keep the doors of thy mouth from her [likely wife] that lieth in thy bosom’
Prov 2:18 mentions she has sunk her house unto death and her paths unto the dead, and
Prov 2:19 mentions in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, ‘all’ who go into/unto her. So apparently she’s serial, repetitive about her behavior, and has many ‘victims’
Prov 5:3 in the ‘Septuagint’ and ‘Vulgate’ has the Greek (πόρνης) and Latin (meretricis) genitive noun for prostitute
Prov 5:5 mentions ‘her feet’ going down to death and ‘her steps’ taking hold of Sheol. ‘Feet’ and ‘steps’ reminds one of a streetwalker/prostitute, and the
verse seems to imply continuous action.
Prov 5:9-10 advises to avoid a ‘foreign’ or ‘estranged’ woman, and her house, lest you give (same Hebrew word, used for a ‘gift’ to a prostitute, נתן
‘nâthan’ , in Gen 38:16-18, Ezek 16:33-34) four things, your honor, your years, your strength and your labors.
Prov 5:9-10 mentions ‘cruel’ and ‘house of a stranger’, both masculine singular, perhaps hinting she is married.
Prov 6:24 mentions avoiding flattery of a ‘foreign’ or ‘strange’ tongue, or flattery of tongue of a ‘strange’ or ‘foreign’ woman
Prov 6:25 mentions not to lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her take you with her eyelids (prostitutes tend to paint their eyelids)
Prov 6:26 mentions the Hebrew word for prostitute, and also mentions ‘hunts’
Prov 6:26,29,32,34 mentions adulteress, adultery, and jealousy/rage of a man/husband, so she is likely married.
Prov 7:8 mentions ‘street’ and ‘her corner’
Prov 7:10 mentions a ‘strange’ or ‘foreign’ woman with an attire of a harlot
Prov 7:11 mentions that her feet abide not in her house, which is consistent with a streetwalker/prostitute.
Prov 7:12 mentions her in the streets or squares or plazas and lying in wait at (or near) every corner (prostitutes tend to be found at or near corners
of streets)
Prov 7:16 mentions her bed having something from Egypt, so a ‘foreign’ aspect is mentioned.
Prov 7:19 mentions ‘the man’ of the house, so apparently she is married and lives with her husband.
Prov 7:26 mentions her casting down many wounded/slain, so again, she is serial, continuous in her harlotry, and has many victims
Prov 9:13-18 mentions a similar or the same type of woman calling out in invitation to many at a high place in a city, who says ‘stolen water is sweet,
hidden bread is pleasant’ (stolen water probably refers to adultery)
Prov 20:16 possibly has a reference to a pledge (perhaps of a cloak) or payment for sex with a ‘foreign’ woman.
Prov 20:17 mentions ‘bread of deceit’ being sweet, again, possibly a reference to adultery (Gen 39:6 mentions ‘the bread’ of Potiphar, perhaps at least
partially referring to his wife; Also, Prov 6:26 mentions ‘bread’ in conjunction with a prostitute)
Prov 23:27 mentions a ‘foreign woman’ in conjunction with the Hebrew word for prostitute, and calls her a ‘narrow pit’ or ‘narrow well’ (deep, perhaps
unclean, and hard to escape from)
Prov 23:28 mentions ‘also she’ (so she could be like a prostitute in lying in wait) lies in wait as for a prey (or as a bandit or robber) and increases
the transgressors among men. (Sounds like a sexual stalker, so could be some kind of prostitute)
Prov 27:13 again has a possible reference to a pledge (perhaps of a cloak) or payment for sex with a ‘foreign woman’
(Sirach 9:3) Sept, μὴ ὑπάντα γυναικὶ ἑταιριζομένῃ, μήποτε ἐμπέσῃς εἰς τὰς παγίδας αὐτῆς (Not meet [with? a] woman courtesan or woman courtesaning, lest
thou fall into her snares). Heb: אִשָּׁה זָרָה woman strange or foreign or estranged (woman, [Heb: אִשָּׁה ish-shaw’], strange/foreign/estranged [Heb: זָרָה ‘zoor-ay’]),
entire verse: (Heb: ג) אַל תִּקְרַב אֶל אִשָּׁה זָרָה, פֶּן תִּפּוֹל בִּמְצוּדֹתֶיהָ )
http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/chapter.asp?book=30&page=9
Greek verbal participle ἑταιριζομένῃ (‘courtesaning’) can be taken as a noun (courtesan), many participles are like this.
(Sirach 9:3) Heb: Not approach (Heb: קְרַב ‘qârab’, approach, come, go, offer) unto (Heb: אֶל ‘unto’, ‘toward’, ‘near’, ‘among’) a strange woman, (Heb: אִשָּׁה זָרָה
‘woman strange/foreign/estranged’), lest you fall into her snares (Heb: בִּמְצוּדֹ , into ‘snares’, ‘nets’, bulwarks’, ‘munitions’)
http://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%91%D7%9F_%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%90_%D7%98
Thus, I think in simple terms, Proverbs ‘foreign’ or ‘estranged’ or ‘strange’ woman is a married prostitute. She apparently isn’t directly called a prostitute in Hebrew Proverbs, perhaps at least because of these reasons:
1) Hebrew noun Zonah in the Hebrew Bible always or almost always referred to a ‘professional’ or ‘unmarried’ prostitute, when referring to a living person.
2) This Hebrew noun is used elsewhere in Proverbs (6:26;7:10;23:27;29:3) so directly calling this ‘foreign woman’ a Zonah could be confusing
3) She fulfills a much larger role than simply a ‘prostitute’, such as her married serial adultery (Prov 2:16-19; 5:3-6,8-11,14,22-23; 6:24-26,29,32,34; 7:5,10-12,19,26-27; possibly 9:13-18; 20:16-17) and her seduction, her flattering/’smooth’ tongue/mouth/lips (Prov 2:16; 5:3; 6:24-25; 7:5,21; possibly 9:17), and her ‘foreign’ connection (Prov 7:16)
4) Directly calling this foreign woman a prostitute could imply all foreign women are prostitutes, which common sense says is wrong.
Addendum:
The ‘strange’ or ‘foreign’ or ‘estranged’ (possibly from her husband/house) woman of Proverbs is not necessarily the same type of ‘strange woman’ found elsewhere in the Bible, such as 1 Kings 11, Ezra, Nehemiah, which has the usual term for ‘foreign woman’ (nokeriyah); a foreign women with foreign religion, lifestyle, god[s] from nations adjacent to ancient Israel or ancient Judah. Ruth 1:15 in particular mentions the foreign god/gods.
The Hebrew noun for prostitute in the Bible always or almost always, when in reference to an actual living human, referred to a ‘professional’ or ‘unmarried’ prostitute. In Hebrew of Proverbs, Proverbs’ ‘strange’ or ‘foreign’ or ‘estranged’ woman apparently isn’t directly called a prostitute.
Septuagint and Vulgate in Prov 5:3 has the Greek and Latin genitive noun for prostitute. She apparently is a serial adulteress or a prostitute who is a serial adulteress (married prostitute; serial adulterous prostitute).
I believe all of the ‘strange women’ in Proverbs fits the description of Proverbs 7 ‘strange woman’. She apparently is married since Prov 7:19 mentions ‘the man’ of the house. Since Prov 23:27-28 mentions ‘a whore [prostitute] is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit. She also lieth in wait as for a prey [or as a robber or a bandit] and increaseth the transgressors among men’, it is reasonable to assume that Proverbs ‘strange’ or ‘foreign’ or ‘estranged woman’ is something extremely like or identical with a prostitute. References or possible references to adultery are peppered throughout Proverbs, such as Prov 2:17 ‘guide of her youth’ (coupled in particular with Prov 5:18 which mentions ‘wife of thy youth’ and Micah 7:5 which uses the same
word as ‘guide’ in Prov 2:17, ‘Trust ye not in a friend [possibly husband], put ye not confidence in a guide [likely at least partially in reference to a husband]: keep the doors of thy mouth from her [likely wife] that lieth in thy bosom’); 5:9,10 (house of a stranger/a cruel [one]); Prov 6:26,29,32,34
mentions adulteress, adultery, rage of a man/husband; Prov 7:19 ‘the man’ of the house. Prov 9:17 ‘stolen water is sweet, hidden bread is pleasant’ (Stolen water is likely a reference to adultery, since Prov 5:15 likens the wife to ‘water’, referring to her as a cistern and a well and running/flowing waters).
I believe all of the verses until 5:19 at least has partial reference to a wife, likening her to water in some way or another. “Hidden bread’ could also be a reference to a wife, (Gen 39:6 mentions ‘the bread’ of Potiphar as possibly obliquely referring to his wife), and ‘hidden bread’ could possibly obliquely reference a prostitute since Prov 6:26 mentions ‘bread’ in conjuction with prostitute. Prov 30:20 also mentions a ‘woman/wife of adultery’ or ‘adulterous woman/wife’, who seems to lack a conscience about it and appears to be serial in her adultery. Prov 20:16-17 (Prov 27:13 is basically a repetition of Prov 20:16) is another possible reference to prostitution and/or adultery.
Prov 2:16-17;5:9-10;6:26,29,32;7:19;9:17;20:16-17;30:20 are possible references to her adultery and her being married. ‘guide of her youth and covenant of her God/god(s)’ likely has at least partial reference to her husband and adultery as Prov 5:18 mentions ‘wife of thy youth’ and Micah 7:5 mentions trusting not in a ‘guide’ (likely at least partial reference to one’s husband) nor the woman in your bosom (likely one’s wife). Stolen water and hidden bread/bread of deceit are likely references to adultery (Potiphar’s wife is possibly obliquely referred to as ‘the bread’ of Potiphar in Gen 39:6). A thief when he is hungry is compared to an adulterer in Prov 6:30. Bread is mentioned in connection with a prostitute or harlot in Prov 6:26, either that she can reduce you to a loaf/cake of bread or that she can be had for a loaf/cake of bread, or both. Prov 20:16-17 and 27:13 are possible references to a pledge or payment for sex with this ‘strange woman’.
Claiming she is simply a prostitute in Proverbs is wrong in my opinion, but so is claiming she merely an ‘adulteress’. An adulteress isn’t necessarily a narrow pit/well and doesn’t necessarily lieth in wait as for a prey/as a robber/as a bandit and increaseth the transgressors among men (Prov 23:27-28), nor is an adulteress necessarily flattering/seducing (Prov 2:16; 5:3; 6:24-25; 7:5,21; possibly 9:14-17), nor does she have necessarily have beauty worth mentioning (Prov 6:25), nor does she necessarily have ‘a corner’ (Prov 7:8), be in ‘an attire of a harlot’ (Prov 7:10), nor does ‘her feet rest not in her house’ necessarily (Prov 7:11), nor is she necessarily ‘in the streets/markets/plazas, lieth in wait at every corner’ (Prov 7:12), nor does an adulteress
necessarily call out to many in invitation at a high place in a city (possibly Prov 9:14-15), have numerous adulterous partners (possibly Prov 9:14-18), ‘all who go into/unto her’ (Prov 2:19 in Hebrew/Sept/Vulgate), nor does she necessarily ‘cast down many wounded/slain’ (Prov 7:26), imply having adultery with her is sweet (possibly Prov 9:17) or have many victims (possibly Prov 9:18), for instance. ‘Adulteress’ isn’t the actual term in any of the ancient texts in Proverbs where ‘strange’ or ‘foreign’ or ‘estranged’ woman is at, not just the KJV. Divorce wasn’t an option for ancient Israelite women, so it is unlikely she is a divorcee, at least per se. A husband could divorce a wife for virtually any reason, but not the other way around. Prov 2:17 has a participle, ‘forsaking’, in the Hebrew and ‘Septuagint’, which might refer to an ongoing action. (2:17)
refers to her ‘forsaking the guide of her youth’ הַ֭עֹזֶבֶת אַלּ֣וּף נְעוּרֶ֑יהָ (Heb: עֹזֶבֶת ‘ozebet’, ‘forsaking’, qal participle; Sept: ἀπολείπουσα, present participle; Vulgate: relinquit, present indicative active. She also is said to have ‘forgotten’/’left’/’ignored’/’ceased to care about’ the covenant of her God/god(s),
sunk her house unto death, her paths unto the dead, and mention is made of ‘all’ (Hebrew/’LXX’/Vulgate), plural, who go into her (2:19). Prov 2:16 also mentions her smooth words. Those facts sound more than just merely any ‘adulteress’ to me.
Even Luther’s Bible which has ‘adulteress’ in Prov 23:27 instead of ‘strange’ or ‘foreign’ or ‘estranged’ woman implies she is more than just an ‘adulteress’ with his plural words: Luther’s Bible: Prov 23:28 Auch lauert sie wie ein Räuber (she lieth in wait as a robber), und die Frechen, (‘the insolent’, plural) unter den Menschen (‘the men’, plural) sammelt sie zu sich, ‘and the insolent among the men gathers she to herself’ (serial adulteress, possibly prostitute also). Luther’s Bible in Prov 2:19 also uses the German word ‘alle’, which is a nominative plural meaning ‘all’.
The English word ‘serial’ didn’t come into being until around the mid 19th century. Even when some old commentaries referred to her as possibly being an ‘adulteress’ (a prostitute is also an often suspected identity for her), the implication was often that she was serial in her adultery. In Ezekiel 16 Jerusalem is portrayed as a spiritual serial adulteress (16:8,24-26,28-29,31-39), ‘taking strangers/foreigners (plural) instead of her husband’, mention is made of her ‘lovers’ (plural), her whoredoms (plural) with Egyptians, Assyrians, and from the land of Canaan to Chaldea, her ‘opening her feet to everyone that passes by’, her multiplying/increasing her whoredoms (plural), but a ‘spiritual serial adulteress’ is called a prostitute (Ezekiel 16:35). A physical
serial adulteress isn’t necessarily a prostitute, however.
The ‘strange’ woman in Proverbs 7 doesn’t apparently explicitly ask for money. This might be because she is like Jerusalem which is described as a wife taking strangers/foreigners (plural) over her husband in Ezekiel 16. The fact that Proverbs ‘strange woman’ is ‘an adulteress’ is worse than that she might be a ‘prostitute’, in my opinion (See Exo 20:14; Lev 20:10; Deut 5:18; 22:22). Jerusalem was a spiritual prostitute and explicitly named as one in Ezekiel 16:35. Ezekiel 16:33 says they give a gift or gifts to all whores/prostitutes. Always or almost always, the Hebrew noun for prostitute in the Bible, when in reference to an actual living being meant a professional or unmarried prostitute.
In my opinion, there isn’t really reason to think that other ‘strange women’ in Proverbs are substantially different than Proverbs 7 ‘strange woman’, which, if not a prostitute, is apparently as close as one can get to being one, since Prov 7:8-12 mentions ‘street’ and ‘her corner’, her being in a ‘harlot’s attire’, ‘her feet rest not in her house’, she is in the streets/markets/plazas (plural in virtually all versions, in particular ancient ones such as the Masoretic/’Septuagint’/Vulgate), and she ‘lieth in wait at every corner’. Prov 7:19 mentions ‘the man’ of the house and Prov 7:16 mentions her ‘foreign connection’, so either or both may be reason(s) why she isn’t apparently explicitly referred to as a prostitute in Hebrew.
The Hebrew noun for professional or unmarried prostitute is mentioned in Prov 6:26;7:10;23:27;29:3. Always or almost always that noun, in the Bible, refers
to a professional or unmarried prostitute when it refers to a living person, as opposed to a city (Jerusalem for instance in Ezekiel 16:35), possibly nation or possibly a group of people/people group.
Some say the ‘strange woman’ is any woman you’re not married to, which implies every woman you’re not married to is a prostitute or basically is one or is an ‘immoral woman’ (Prov 7:5,10-12,19,26-27), and it also implies every woman you’re not married to is also a ‘narrow pit/well, and lieth in wait as for a prey (or as a robber or as a bandit) and increaseth the transgressors among men’ (Prov 23:27-28), and it also implies that every woman you’re not married to
also is a serial adulteress (Prov 2:16-19; 5:3-6,8-11,14,22-23; 6:24-26,29,32,34; 7:5,10-12,19,26-27; possibly 9:13-18; 20:16-17), and seducing with flattering/’smooth’ tongue/mouth/lips (Prov 2:16; 5:3; 6:24-25; 7:5,21; possibly 9:17)
The idea that she may be ‘the one not your own’ (wife) came from the mistranslation/different source text/multiple meaning of Septuagint Prov 5:20 which says ‘neither’ (Sept: μηδὲ) … ‘the one’ (της, genitive singular definite article, feminine) not [possibly of] your own (ἴδιας, genitive, ‘idias’) tribe/tongue/race/nation/wife. The Masoretic text/Hebrew and many other versions have ‘foreign’ or ‘strange’ or ‘estranged’ woman here.
She is obviously much more than ‘an adulteress’, although I dislike the claim that she is merely a prostitute. I believe she is either a serial adulteress or a married prostitute/prostitute who is a serial adulteress/serial adulterous prostitute.
The pastor I agree with probably the most is this one here, by the name of M. Sean Reynolds, where he says:
Therefore, the “foreign woman” in Proverbs is a seductive adulteress, who is also sometimes a prostitute.
http://www.thewholecounsel.com/proverbs-2214/
Pastor/priest/Bible scholar George Leo Haydock’s Catholic commentary (mid 19th century) lists a married ‘abandoned woman’ (prostitute) as a preferred definition of who she is, citing Antoine Augustin Calmet (a French Benedictine monk of the 17th and 18th centuries who wrote commentaries on the Bible)
http://haydock1859.tripod.com/id1096.html
To me, it is obvious the Proverbs’ ‘strange woman’ is either a serial adulteress or a married prostitute (serial adulterous prostitute, prostitute who is a serial adulteress)
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Thank you for your input. I’ll check this out more throughly. ^_^
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