Proverbs 7:27

Her house is the way to the grave, ¹  going down ²  to the chambers ³  of death.

Pr 2:18,19; Pr 5:5; Pr 9:18; Ec 7:26

¹ tn The noun “Sheol” in parallelism to “the chambers of death” probably means the grave. The noun is a genitive of location, indicating the goal of the road(s). Her house is not the grave; it is, however, the sure way to it.

sn Her house is the way to the grave. The young man’s life is not destroyed in one instant; it is taken from him gradually as he enters into a course of life that will leave him as another victim of the wages of sin. The point of the warning is to prevent such a course from starting. Sin can certainly be forgiven, but the more involvement in this matter the greater the alienation from the healthy community.

² tn The Qal active participle modifies “ways” to Sheol. The “road,” as it were, descends to the place of death.

³ tn “Chambers” is a hypocatastasis, comparing the place of death or the grave with a bedroom in the house. It plays on the subtlety of the temptation. Cf. NLT “Her bedroom is the den of death.”