Till an arrow strikes through his liver; as a bird hastens to the snare, and knows not that it is for his life.
All Commentaries on Proverbs 7:23 Go To Proverbs 7
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
She endeavors to steal the hearts of young men—a woman restless at home, a wanderer in the public squares, prodigal of kisses, indifferent to shame, gaudy in her dress and countenance. Since she is unable, indeed, to assume a beauty that is true to nature, she affects what is the opposite to truth—an external show of meretricious arts.… She attacks the citadels of men’s hearts while uttering such words as these as a war cry: “I have vowed victims for peace, this day I have paid my vows. Therefore I am come out to meet you, desirous to see you, and I have found you. I have woven my bed with cords. I have covered it with tapestry from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with saffron and my home with cinnamon. Come and let us wrestle with desire.” Here in the words of Solomon we behold the very picture of a wanton [woman]. What other than worldly pleasure is more characteristic of a prostitute who makes her entrance stealthily into the house, first making tentative explorations with her eyes and then entering quickly, while you concentrate the gaze of your soul outward on the public square, that is, on the streets frequented by passersby and not inward on the mysteries of the law? She has contrived to trap us in a room devoted to the associations of common life by such solid chains that a person, although held in bondage, finds herself at ease there. As she reclines there she covers her body with coverlets of fraud and deceit so as to allure the souls of young men, alleging the absence of a husband, that is to say, her disregard for the law. The law does not exist for sinners, for, if it were present, it would not have been ignored. Hence we read: “For my husband is not at home, he is gone a very long journey. He took with him a bag of money.” What is the meaning of this, if not that the rich believe that there is nothing that money cannot control and that the law is something that can be sold for profit? Pleasure dissipates its fragrance because it has not the fragrance of Christ. Pleasure looks for treasures, it promises kingdoms, it assures lasting loves, it pledges undreamed of intimacies, instruction without a guardian and conversation without hindrance. Pleasure promises a life bereft of anxiety, a sleep devoid of disturbance and wants that cannot be satiated. We read: Entangling him with many words and alluring him with the snares of her lips, she led him even to her home. He was beguiled and followed her.… Everything there was confused and contrary to the order of nature. .
