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Proverbs 6:20-22
New Catholic Bible
Proverbs 6:20-22
New Catholic Bible
The Wiles of a Seductress[a]
20 Observe your father’s command, my son,
and do not reject your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them forever in your heart;
tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you awaken, they will instruct you.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:20 The exhortation resumes and we soon rediscover the theme of the perverse woman whose frequentation is more dangerous than commerce with prostitutes. The author knows how to describe the behavior of a seductress. Like a magician, she weaves a spell over the naive man so as to catch him in her nets. In order to escape her clutches, it is not enough for a man to see clearly. He needs to be modest and humble, not presume on his strength, and take to flight rather than confronting the seductress and becoming lost in situations from which no one can emerge unscathed. It is at least good psychology in the context of the morals of that time. Nonetheless, in the background of this picture sketched by the moralist with its warnings and threats, we see the lofty idea that our author has of conjugal fidelity.
