“I have spread my couch with coverings, With colored linens of Egypt.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
- KJV I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
- BSB I have decked my bed with coverings, with colored linen from Egypt.
- NKJV I have spread my bed with tapestry, Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.
- NLT My bed is spread with beautiful blankets, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
She entices him with luxurious, exotic furnishings. Temptation often appeals through sensual comfort and allure.
Overview
She describes her bed adorned with fine, imported linens, painting a scene of indulgent luxury. The sensory appeal is designed to break down resistance and stir desire. The verse reveals how sin dresses itself attractively to draw the heart in.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 19:9Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, will be confounded.
- Ezek 27:7Your sail was of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt, that it might be to you for a banner; blue and purple from the islands of Elishah was your awning.
- Song 3:7–10Behold, it is Solomon’s carriage! Sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel.
- Rev 2:22Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works.
- 1 Kgs 10:28The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.
- Prov 31:22She makes for herself carpets of tapestry. Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
- Song 1:16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; and our couch is verdant.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 7:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.