Proverbs 7:21

She persuaded him ¹  with persuasive words; ²  with her smooth talk ³  she compelled him. ⁴ 

Jud 16:15-17; 1Sa 28:23; 2Ki 4:8; Ps 12:2; Pr 5:3; Pr 7:5; Lu 14:23; Lu 24:29; Ac 16:15; 2Co 5:14

¹ tn Heb “she turned him aside.” This expression means that she persuaded him. This section now begins the description of the capitulation, for the flattering speech is finished.

² sn The term לֶקַח (leqakh) was used earlier in Proverbs for wise instruction; now it is used ironically for enticement to sin (see D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 280-92).

³ tn Heb “smooth of her lips”; cf. NAB “smooth lips”; NASB “flattering lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause representing what she says.

⁴ tn The verb means “to impel; to thrust; to banish,” but in this stem in this context “to compel; to force” into some action. The imperfect tense has the nuance of progressive imperfect to parallel the characteristic perfect of the first colon.