With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.
Parallel translations
- WEB With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
- KJV With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
- NKJV With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, With her flattering lips she seduced him.
- NASB With her many persuasions she entices him; With her flattering lips she seduces him.
- NLT So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery.
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
Her persuasive, flattering words finally lead him astray. Smooth speech overcomes the naive youth's resistance.
Overview
With abundant persuasion and seductive flattery, she compels the young man to yield. The emphasis falls again on the deadly power of enticing words. The verse confirms wisdom's repeated warning that flattery is a chief tool of temptation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 5:3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Prov 7:5that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
- 2 Kgs 4:8One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
- Luke 24:29But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.
- Ps 12:2They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Prov 6:24to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
- Judg 16:15–17“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”
- 2 Cor 5:14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.
- Acts 16:15And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
- Luke 14:23So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
- 1 Sam 28:23Saul refused, saying, “I will not eat.” But his servants joined the woman in urging him, and he heeded their voice. He got up from the ground and sat on the bed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 7:21 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
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