Proverbs Warns Young Men: Her House Is the Road to Hell

Proverbs 7 is a dramatic scene: a young man without sense walks down the street at dusk near the house of an adulteress. She catches him, kisses him, speaks to him with brazen words. 'I have covered my bed with colored linens. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let's drink deeply of love until morning.' He follows her 'like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose.' The teacher watching from his window delivers the verdict: 'Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.' The text is brutal and clinical about male vulnerability.