Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
In order to more firmly confirm and illustrate what he said about the harlot and fornication, he brings onto the stage a harlot, or adulteress, enticing and seducing a young man with the allurements of her words and cosmetics; and then, in verse 22, he shows his foolishness, in that he is led to slaughter, to a snare, and to the ruin of his soul.
Vulgate Text: Proverbs 7:1-27
1. My son, keep my words, and lay up my precepts with you. 2. My son, keep my commandments, and you shall live: and my law as the apple of your eye: 3. bind it upon your fingers, write it upon the tablets of your heart. 4. Say to wisdom: You are my sister; and call prudence your friend, 5. that she may keep you from the strange woman, and from the stranger who makes her words sweet. 6. For from the window of my house through the lattice I looked out, 7. and I see the little ones, I consider the foolish young man, 8. who passes through the street near the corner, and walks near the way of her house, 9. in the dark, when the day grows dim, in the darkness and gloom of night. 10. And behold a woman meets him in harlot's attire, prepared to catch souls: talkative and wandering, 11. impatient of rest, unable to stay at home with her feet: 12. now outside, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the corners. 13. And she seizes and kisses the young man, and with a brazen face flatters him, saying: 14. I vowed victims for my welfare, today I have paid my vows. 15. Therefore I came out to meet you, desiring to see you, and I have found you. 16. I have woven my little bed with ropes, I have spread it with painted tapestries from Egypt; 17. I have sprinkled my couch with myrrh and aloe and cinnamon. 18. Come, let us be inebriated with breasts, and let us enjoy the desired embraces, until the day dawns: 19. for the man is not in his house, he has gone a very long journey; 20. he took a bag of money with him: he is to return home on the day of the full moon. 21. She entangled him with many words, and drew him away with the flattery of her lips. 22. Immediately he follows her like an ox led to slaughter, and like a frolicking lamb, not knowing that a fool is drawn to bonds, 23. until an arrow pierces his liver: as if a bird should hasten to the snare, and not know that its soul is in danger. 24. Now therefore, my son, hear me, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25. Let not your mind be drawn away in her ways: nor be deceived by her paths. 26. For she has cast down many wounded, and the strongest have all been slain by her. 27. Her house is the way of hell, leading down to the chambers of death.
First Part of the Chapter
Many of these things have already been explained in the preceding chapter, others are less pleasing to chaste ears: wherefore I shall dispatch them all briefly.
Verse 1: My Son, Keep My Words
MY SON, KEEP MY WORDS, AND LAY UP MY PRECEPTS WITH YOU. — As a precious treasure, which will preserve your life and soul; "lay up," I say, in the ark of your mind, so that from it at an opportune time you may freely draw them out for the salvation of others. Whence the Syriac translates, hide in your heart. According to his custom, about to begin a new discourse, he rouses the disciple to attention by setting forth the excellence of his teachings. The Septuagint appends to this sentence another, which is found neither in the Hebrew, nor in the Chaldean, nor in the Latin, nor is it appropriate to this place: whence it seems to have been brought here and inserted from another place. It is this: "My son, honor the Lord, and you will be strong, and fear no one besides Him." This is read by the Complutensian, the Roman editions, Lucifer of Cagliari in his Apology for St. Athanasius, St. Ephrem in his treatise Against the Unchaste, who translates alium as alienum. "You will be strong," that is, you will be of good health of body and mind, by God's gift, say some. But in Greek it is ischyseis, that is, you will be powerful and strong to undertake anything, and to resist all evils. Whence St. Jerome in his commentary on Ephesians chapter 6 reads: "Son, honor the Lord, and you will be strengthened," as if to say: If you honor and worship God as is fitting, God will make you stronger than all evils and enemies: therefore fear no one else besides Him, neither demon, nor man, nor false god, that is, reverence, dread, and worship, according to that saying of Isaiah 8:12: "Do not fear his fear, nor be afraid: sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; let Him be your dread, and let Him be your terror." And that saying of Christ: "Do not fear those who kill the body; but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell," Matthew 10:28.
Verse 2: Keep My Commandments and You Shall Live
MY SON, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, AND YOU SHALL LIVE; AND MY LAW AS THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE. — The Hebrew, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion have: and live, that is, you shall certainly live, both in this life a long and happy life, and in the future an eternal and blessed one. In Hebrew keischon, that is, as the little man of the eye: for from isch, that is, man, is derived the diminutive ischon, that is, little man: thus the pupil is so called, because in it the image of a little man shines. So the Greeks call the pupils koras, as the Septuagint translates, as if to say, Maidens and Nymphs, because the image of a maiden appears in the pupil. Whence Plutarch writes that a certain orator said sharply, but wittily, of a certain shameless person, that he had in his eyes not koras but pornas, that is, not maidens but harlots. So also the Latins call the pupil pupilla or pupula, as if a small doll, that is, a little girl. Whence Manilius, book IV: The tiny pupil has pervaded heaven.
Remarkable is what Pliny writes, book XXVIII, chapter 26: "An augury from the man himself is that death is not to be feared in illness, as long as the pupils of the eyes return an image." Hence also the word pupillus, as if pupus and pupa. Others think the pupil is called ischon, that is, darkness or blackness, because it is itself a dark and very black little circle of the eyes: from which, however, shines forth the power of sight and the spark of light. For just as God brought forth light from darkness for the world, Genesis 1:2, by saying: "Let there be light," so from that darkness of the eye He wondrously brought forth the light of the body. To which the Apostle alludes, 2 Corinthians 4:6: "God, He says, who said that light should shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts, for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus."
Moreover Aristotle, book V On the Generation of Animals, chapter 1, teaches that the power of sight consists in the aqueous humor, and that the blackness is a sign of the abundance of aqueous humor. The same author, book I of the History of Animals, chapter 1: "The white of the eye, he says, is for the most part similar in all. But what is called the dark part varies: for in some it is black; in others quite grey; in others tawny; in others goat-like, which is a sign of the best character, and holds the first place for clarity of seeing." For the blackness is necessary for gathering the colors that are to be seen, because light and a bright color, that is, white, disperses and scatters the sight.
The sense therefore is, as if to say: Let my law and discipline be as dear and important to you as the pupil of the eye, which you love and guard supremely as a tender little one and maiden: and as much as that little black circle of the pupil itself, in which the keenness of sight consists: for although there are certain things in the law that are dark, that is, obscure and difficult, nevertheless the power of the mind, of reason, and of virtue consists in them. Therefore guard them much more than a guardian guards his ward and the ward's possessions: for the pupil of the eye is loved more than the ward of a dead man.
Therefore, just as the pupil, says St. Basil in Homily 11 on the Hexaemeron, is fortified and guarded by nature with three ramparts, as it were: namely first, by a fourfold tunic, that is, the specular, reticular, crystalline, and corneal; second, by eyelids and eyelashes against flies, sand, and dust; third, by eyebrows, under which it lies hidden in a hollow as in a cave, lest it be injured, and so that they may direct and regulate the sharp focus of the visual faculty. The eyebrows therefore are, as it were, the dwelling and defense of the eye; for they themselves are like a roof covering the eyes, lest the sweat of the head and forehead flow into them, but rather flow down to the temples and cheeks. See St. Basil in the place cited.
Second, just as the pupil is like a torch, a star, and a small sun illuminating the whole person, shining before and directing, so that one may traverse all ways and actions clearly and rightly: for without the light of the pupil a person would be blind and could accomplish nothing, but would crash into a thousand rocks and crags: so likewise the law is a light directing a person to act honestly and rightly in every encounter with things. Whence Christ says: "The lamp of your body is your eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is wicked, your whole body will be in darkness," Matthew 6:22.
Third, just as the pupil, although small, contains and comprehends in itself all things, indeed even heaven and the world: so the law and discipline, although it may seem to consist in small matters, nevertheless contains in itself all honesty, every virtue, every good, indeed even heaven and blessed eternity, and everlasting happiness.
Let every Religious and faithful person, therefore, represent these words to himself, and consider them as sung to him by the Holy Spirit: My son, keep my words, etc. as the pupil of your eye, that is, most exactly, with the greatest zeal, love, effort, and perfection. Therefore, having driven sloth far away, strive for what is perfect, great, and lofty, which your state and vocation suggest to you. If you hear these things daily and do not obey; if you are daily admonished by them and are not moved; if you are aroused and do not rise up, if you undertake nothing perfect, nothing worthy of your vocation, then assuredly you are hateful to Him whose admonitions you spurn, and from whose perfection you degenerate.
Moreover, if we guard the law of God as the apple of the eye, God Himself will in turn guard and love us as the apple of His eye, according to Zechariah 2:8: "He who touches you, touches the apple of My eye." Which is indeed a matter of wondrous consolation and hope, and inestimable joy. Wherefore David earnestly prays for this, Psalm 16:8: "Guard me as the apple of the eye."
Verse 3: Bind It Upon Your Fingers
BIND IT UPON YOUR FINGERS, WRITE IT UPON THE TABLETS OF YOUR HEART. — The Septuagint, place it around your fingers, inscribe it upon the breadth of your heart, that is, so that you may bear it always in your heart and breast, as if engraved and inscribed. "So that it may always attend upon the efforts of your soul," says R. Levi. On which I have said more in chapter III, verse 3. It alludes to that saying of Moses, Deuteronomy 6:8; Exodus 13:16: "You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be and move between your eyes," which the Jews, taking crassly and literally as it sounds, affixed and bound the law of the Decalogue inscribed on small parchments to their arm, forehead, and fringes, and called them phylacteries, as is evident from Matthew 23:5.
Our Salazar better understands these words as referring to finger rings, as if to say: Insert the perfect observance of the law handed down to you by me onto your fingers in place of a ring, and it will be for you as a pledge and guarantee toward the nuptials of wisdom. For it is customary at weddings for the groom to place on the finger of the bride a ring as pledge and guarantee of the marriage: and on the ring it was formerly the custom to engrave the image of the groom, or of a friend, or of a beloved thing. The ring, moreover, is placed on the fourth finger, because in it a certain vein of blood reaches all the way to the heart, says Isidore in his book On Offices, chapter 15.
But since it does not say here: Engrave them on a ring, or insert them on your finger by means of a ring; but bind them upon your fingers, hence you may understand this more simply and plainly as a proverb, which means nothing other than, as if to say: Keep the law always before your eyes, keep it always in your mind, always remember it, just as if it were bound to your fingers: for we are accustomed, when we wish to remember something and keep it before our eyes, to tie a thread or something similar to our finger.
Second, Baynus aptly explains it thus, as if to say: Let the law always be present before your eyes and mind, just as your fingers are always present before them. Again, there are ten commandments of the Decalogue, and God gave you as many fingers. Assign therefore to each finger through imagination and memory one commandment — to the first the first, to the second the second, etc. — so that as often as you look at your fingers, so often you may see God's commandments as if bound to them, as orators do, and those who teach the art of memory.
Tropologically, bind the law on your hand and fingers, that is, carry it out and put it into practice with them. Thus Bede: "By fingers, he says, he means in deeds: by tablets of the heart, in the breadth of thought."
Verse 4: Say to Wisdom, You Are My Sister
SAY TO WISDOM: YOU ARE MY SISTER; AND CALL PRUDENCE YOUR FRIEND, THAT SHE MAY GUARD YOU FROM THE STRANGE WOMAN. — The sense is, as if to say: Love and cherish wisdom intimately as your only sister, adorned with every beauty, and "join her to yourself with sisterly love," says Bede.
Wisdom is rightly called a sister: First, on account of the purity of the love with which she loves us and we in turn love her, since "bride" among men implies a carnal embrace. Second, because wisdom is, as it were, inborn and natural to us: for God and nature have sown and implanted in us its seeds and rudiments. Third, because wisdom is the sister of the mind and reason: and man is an animal endowed with mind and reason. Christ alluded to this when He said: "Whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother," Matthew 12:50.
Again, by sister understand a bride and wife; for in order to call the young man away from the harlot, he offers him wisdom as a bride, as if to say: If you seek a bride, seek wisdom, seek virtue: for whether you seek wisdom, she is most wise; whether nobility, she is most noble; whether riches, she is most wealthy; whether beauty, she is most beautiful. This is what Solomon says in Wisdom 8: "Her have I loved from my youth, and I sought to take her for my bride, and I became a lover of her beauty."
Learn here both from physics and ethics that the study of wisdom is the best remedy for fleeing lust and preserving chastity: both because a mind occupied with study does not think of carnal pleasure, and because wisdom is diametrically opposed to lust, just as spirit is opposed to flesh, heaven to earth, and an Angel to a brute beast.
Well known is the example of St. Gregory Nazianzen, to whom in a vision wisdom and chastity presented themselves, as it were, as friends, in the form of two virgin sisters, because he was zealous for chastity as much as for wisdom. So today in monasteries, where the study of letters and wisdom flourishes, chastity and Religious discipline likewise flourish: where that declines, these decline also.
5. THAT SHE MAY GUARD YOU FROM THE STRANGE WOMAN, AND FROM THE FOREIGN WOMAN WHO MAKES HER WORDS SWEET. — In Hebrew, who smooths her words. St. Ambrose, expounding these things mystically, says: "For when women dwell with each of us, quarreling with enmities and discord, filling, as it were, the house of our soul with certain contentions of jealousy. One of them is sweet and loveable to us, the winning procuress of blandishing grace, who is called Pleasure. We think her our companion and domestic, and believe the other to be harsh, rough, and wild, whose name is Virtue."
Verse 6: From the Window of My House I Looked Out
FOR FROM THE WINDOW OF MY HOUSE I LOOKED OUT THROUGH THE LATTICE. — Because examples, by giving pleasure, move more than precepts, here Solomon brings forward an example of what frequently occurs, by which he shows how great the danger is for young men from a harlot; and at the same time graphically describes the harlot's character and methods of enticing and seducing. He says therefore: "I looked through the lattice." Lattices are usually narrow and netted, so that one who looks through them sees others but is not seen by them. Solomon therefore, in order to observe the habits of young men, looks through the lattice, so that seeing them he might not be seen by them. For so a teacher looks through a lattice into the school and at the pupils, so that they, not knowing they are being watched, may act freely and reveal their character and habits. Let Superiors do the same, but let them be mindful of the saying: "Nothing too much." God does the same; for He sees all things, and yet is seen by no one, except by God-fearing and perfect men.
Hear St. Bernard in his Formula for an Honest Life: "The ninth, he says, is that whoever is involved in any business should strive to hold God memorially in his heart, and always place the honor of God before all things; but let him especially endeavor always to understand God as present, as if he were seeing Him who is present in His essence: and so let him fear and reverence Him, and be carried toward Him with intense love."
Verse 7: I See the Little Ones
AND I SEE THE LITTLE ONES, I CONSIDER THE FOOLISH YOUNG MAN. — For "little ones" the Hebrew is pethaim, that is, as the Chaldean has it, foolish; the Septuagint, stupid; Vatablus, simple, inexperienced, untried. The sense is, as if to say: I, looking through the lattice, saw many young men walking through the street, incautious, imprudent, inexperienced, and among them one above the rest who was foolish; the Hebrew, lacking heart; the Chaldean, deficient in understanding.
This foolishness of youth is skillfully represented by an old emblem. For the ancients depicted youth as a naked adolescent, having his eyes covered with a certain veil, whose right hand was bound behind his back, and whose left was free: time pursued him, supplying many occasions, and each day drew one thread from the veil that covered his face. The naked adolescent signified that that age lacks judgment and reason; he has veiled eyes, because like a blind man he often stumbles; he has his right hand bound and his left free, because he does nothing rightly and considerately, but everything wrongly; time pursues him to death; and daily draws one thread from the veil, because his life is gradually diminished day by day. See the example of Chrysaorius crying out: "A truce until morning," in St. Gregory, Dialogues IV, chapter 38.
Moreover, harlots are shrewd in recognizing and attacking a foolish young man, not a wise and chaste one; and they discern this from his dress and countenance, but especially from his eyes. Whence Palladius in the Life of St. Chrysostom: "Wretched prostitutes recognize and flee from chaste men by the very movement of their eyes; no less than a weak eye flees the brightness of the sun."
Verse 8: Who Passes Through the Street
WHO PASSES THROUGH THE STREET NEAR THE CORNER, AND WALKS NEAR THE WAY OF HER HOUSE, IN THE DARK, WHEN THE DAY GROWS DIM. — For thus suitors and rivals are accustomed to visit and walk around the houses of their mistresses by night, and to walk along the corners, so that they may either hide themselves in them, or escape through byways. For lust is light-shunning, and seeks darkness, being guilty in its own conscience, shameful and infamous.
Verse 10: A Woman in Harlot's Attire
AND BEHOLD A WOMAN MEETS HIM IN HARLOT'S ATTIRE, PREPARED TO CATCH SOULS, TALKATIVE AND WANDERING. — He describes the allurements of the harlot: The first is the attire and adornment of a harlot; for by the law and custom of the Romans and other nations, harlots were distinguished from honest matrons by their disreputable dress. Moreover, harlots adorn themselves above their means and station; and their adornment is light, alluring, breathing love. St. Cyprian, in his book On the Dress of Virgins: "The insignia of ornaments and clothing, and the allurements of beauty are fitting only for prostituted and unchaste women."
The second is that she is prepared to catch souls, that she knows a thousand arts and daily devises a thousand more, by which she entices and seduces the unwary.
The third is that she is talkative and wandering. Moreover, this woman is called wandering (vaga) as if empty (vacua), because she runs about hither and thither aimlessly without business; or wandering as if driven by force: for she is driven by the heat of desire, as cows are driven by the gadfly.
On the other hand, an honest matron and a virgin adorns herself modestly; she is of few words and an oikouros, that is, a keeper of the house, as the Apostle says, Titus 2:5: for she who wanders like Dinah often "goes out a Penelope and returns a Helen," as the Poet says.
Verse 11: Impatient of Rest
IMPATIENT OF REST, UNABLE TO STAY AT HOME WITH HER FEET. NOW OUTSIDE, NOW IN THE STREETS, NOW LYING IN WAIT NEAR CORNERS. — The fourth condition and allurement of the harlot is this, that since she burns with lust and eagerness to entice lovers, she is restless and cannot stay at home; but now at the door, now in the streets, now at the corners she displays herself, and shamelessly lies in wait for the chastity of young men. This restlessness and wandering and running about of mind and feet is a clear sign of a harlot. Whence Tiraquellus teaches that she is presumed to be a harlot who is accustomed to enter the houses of others, now this one, now that.
Verse 13: She Seizes and Kisses the Young Man
AND SEIZING HIM SHE KISSES THE YOUNG MAN, AND WITH A BRAZEN FACE FLATTERS HIM, SAYING. — The fifth condition and allurement of the harlot is this, by which she openly betrays her shamelessness and lust through impure kisses, flatteries, and words: for just as hands grow hard with calluses through use and exercise, so the forehead, rubbed smooth by habitual wickedness, puts on the callus of shamelessness.
Wisely St. Basil, in his treatise On Virginity, teaches that even the kisses of brothers and sisters must be avoided: "For it suffices as a sin, even through the touch of a brother's hand, and through the kiss of peace and love, to secretly arouse the sense of the flesh."
Memorable is what we read in the Life of Pope Gregory VII, that he was deprived of the grace of compunction because he had handled the necklace of his niece with his hand. Finally St. Ephrem, against wicked women: "O evil, the worst of evils is a wicked woman! A decorated snare, a shipwreck on land, a fountain of wickedness, a treasury of uncleanness." Whence against her he suggests this remedy: "Consider that what you admire is earth; ashes, by which your insane desire will be kindled and suppressed. Uncover also the skin of her face in your thought, and you will see then that all her beauty is worthlessness."
Verse 14: I Vowed Victims for My Welfare
I VOWED VICTIMS FOR MY WELFARE, TODAY I HAVE PAID MY VOWS. THEREFORE I CAME OUT TO MEET YOU, DESIRING TO SEE YOU, AND I HAVE FOUND YOU. — The sixth allurement of the harlot and adulteress is this: namely the sacrifice together with a feast, to which she invites the young man in order to lead him to wantonness; for the belly, boiling with food and wine, foams over into lusts, as St. Jerome says. And St. Paul, 1 Timothy 5:6, speaking of the widow: "She who lives in pleasures is dead while living," as if to say: A pampered body is the tomb of chastity.
Verse 16: I Have Woven My Bed with Ropes
I HAVE WOVEN MY BED WITH ROPES, I HAVE SPREAD IT WITH PAINTED TAPESTRIES FROM EGYPT. — As if to say: So that you may lie more softly, I have laid and woven my bed not with wooden boards, and therefore hard, but with linen or woolen ropes, and therefore soft. That these coverings or spreads were costly is evident from the Hebrew marbaddim, which our Vulgate translates in chapter 31, verse 22 as embroidered garments.
Morally, learn here that the softness of a bed is the pillow of the devil; for it incites to wantonness and lust. Whence Amos 6:4 threatens: "Woe to you who are wealthy in Zion, who sleep on ivory beds, and are wanton on your couches!" St. Chrysostom, in Homily 1 On Lazarus, teaches the faithful to imitate David and his royal bed: "Behold, I show you the bed of Blessed David. It was not adorned with silver and gold, but on every side with tears and confession."
Verse 17: I Have Sprinkled My Couch with Myrrh
I HAVE SPRINKLED MY COUCH WITH MYRRH, AND ALOE, AND CINNAMON. — The seventh is this allurement of spices and perfumes, which softens and effeminates the body and mind with its sweetness: "For pleasure is the bait of evils," says Plato. Wherefore Clement of Alexandria, book II of the Pedagogue, chapter 8, teaches that a Christian must flee from luxurious odors and ointments: first, because they excite softness and lust; second, because St. Magdalene the penitent had offered them to Christ, anointing His feet; third, because it befits the faithful to be fragrant with virtues, not with spices.
St. Ambrose agrees: "Pleasure scatters its odors, because it does not have the odor of Christ." And St. Chrysostom: "You are a spiritual soldier: such a soldier does not sleep on an ivory bed, but on the ground; he is not smeared with ointments. You should not smell of ointment, but breathe virtue."
Blessed Peter Damian narrates a horrible example about the wife of the Doge of Venice, who lived so delicately that she washed herself with dew from heaven collected by her servants from all around. For she, with the divine avenging this softness, putrefied in her whole body, to such a degree that none of her servants could bear her stench.
Verse 18: Come, Let Us Be Inebriated with Breasts
COME, LET US BE INEBRIATED WITH BREASTS, LET US ENJOY THE DESIRED EMBRACES, UNTIL THE DAY DAWNS. — Note the word "let us be inebriated," that is, let us be sated, let us fulfill our lust to satiety. But indeed lust truly intoxicates the mind, that is, it deranges it, so that the lustful person, like a drunkard, says and does unspeakable things, which a sober person in possession of a sound mind would not dare to say or do, indeed not even to think, as St. Chrysostom teaches in Homily 3 Against the Jews.
The eighth allurement is this, of breasts and embraces, and as it is the most shameless and open, so also the most supremely enticing and powerful; for lustful embraces are the proximate disposition to intercourse. Moreover, how fiery and venomous is the embrace, indeed the mere touch, of a woman, is clear from what St. Gregory writes about the priest Ursinus, who, as he lay dying, cried out: "Go away from me, woman, the little spark still lives; take away the straw."
Verse 19: The Man Is Not in His House
FOR THE MAN IS NOT IN HIS HOUSE, HE HAS GONE A VERY LONG WAY. HE TOOK A BAG OF MONEY WITH HIM; HE IS TO RETURN HOME ON THE DAY OF THE FULL MOON. — This is not so much the adulteress's allurement as her way of removing all fear from the young man. For "on the day of the full moon," the Hebrew is leiom hackese, that is, on the day of covering, namely of the moon, that is, at the full moon, when the moon is fully covered and overlaid with solar light.
Mystically, Hugo understands Christ by the man or husband. "The man is not," that is Christ, "in his house," that is, in the world in visible form; "he has gone a distant way," namely He ascended into heaven; "he is to return home on the day of the full moon," that is, on the day of judgment. Hence sinners think they may sin with impunity until the day of death and judgment. Wherefore Christ warned all, saying: "Watch, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come," Matthew 24:42.
Verse 21: She Entangled Him with Many Words
SHE ENTANGLED HIM WITH MANY WORDS, AND DREW HIM AWAY WITH THE FLATTERY OF HER LIPS. — It signifies that the flattering and captious words of the harlot so bait, bind, and derange the love and concupiscence of the young man, that they draw him as if with ropes and violently propel him to satisfy her desires. St. Ambrose says: "She displays treasures, she promises kingdoms, she pledges continual loves, she offers secret unions, lessons without a tutor, conversations without a monitor, life without anxiety, soft sleep, insatiable desire. Seducing him with much flattery of words, and binding him with the snares of her lips, she drew him all the way to her house."
Wherefore let young men, when solicited by harlots, immediately collect their spirits and fortify them in chastity, and imitate St. Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester in England, who, when provoked to baseness by a noble and beautiful woman, making the sign of the cross said: "Flee, kindling of lasciviousness, daughter of death, vessel of Satan." For there is no more effective remedy against temptations of the flesh than the veneration and invocation of the Mother of God.
Aptly Plutarch, in his treatise That Love Is Not Judgment, teaches that the riddle and symbol of love is the sphinx. For just as the sphinx in face and hands resembled a beautiful maiden, in body a dog, in wings a bird, in claws a lion, in tail a dragon: so this alluring woman has the beautiful face of a maiden, but in body she is forward, shameless, and wanton like a dog; she has the wings of a bird, because she flies to the gatherings of young men; the claws of a lion, because she tears her lovers; the tail of a dragon, because she entangles them in her coils, destroys, kills, and devours them like a dragon. What then is more complicated than the sphinx? The harlot. What is more rapacious than a Harpy? The harlot.
Second Part of the Chapter, in Which He Shows the Foolishness of the Young Man Blind with Love
Verse 22: Like an Ox Led to Slaughter
IMMEDIATELY HE FOLLOWS HER LIKE AN OX LED TO SLAUGHTER, AND LIKE A FROLICKING LAMB, NOT KNOWING THAT A FOOL IS DRAWN TO BONDS. — Here is described the madness of the young man caught by the allurements of the harlot. The Septuagint translates, and he followed her kephotheis — the kepphos is a species of very light sea bird, which is easily turned about by any wind, and which is easily deceived and caught, says Hesychius, and therefore is foolish and stupid. Whence kepphos is proverbially taken for one deceived and stupid. Suidas adds: "The cepphus is a kind of bird called a gull. The sons of fishermen first throw foam from a distance, then closer, and finally hold it in their hand, and so they deceive and catch the cepphus gaping at the foam."
First, therefore, this foolish young man is compared to a cepphus; second, to an ox: "He follows the harlot like an ox led to slaughter." For when butchers wish to lead fierce bulls to the slaughterhouse, they send cows ahead, and the bull, driven by lust for them, stupidly follows, and so is deceived, bound, and slaughtered. In entirely the same way this young man, following the harlot, is deceived by her, and by her alluring words is bound as if by ropes, and led to the ruin of both body and soul.
Third, he compares the lustful young man to a lamb. "And like a lamb, frolicking." First, because lambs are simple and stupid. Indeed Columella says that lambs are so stupid that when newly born they do not recognize their own mother, but follow the first sheep they meet, and even sometimes foxes and wolves, as mothers: so this young man follows she-wolves, that is, harlots, to be devoured by them.
Fourth, this young man "does not know that a fool is drawn to bonds." Others translate the Hebrew eches as a bell or rattle, which formerly harlots attached to their shoes, so that by its sound they might attract young men to look at them and provoke them to love. This young man, captivated by the bell of the harlot's shoes, becomes foolish: whence he deserves to wear bells like a fool, and be branded with infamy.
Therefore Solomon, to represent the foolishness and madness of the lustful young man, compares him: first, to a cepphus or gull; second, to an ox led to slaughter; third, to a frolicking lamb; fourth, to the fetters of a madman; fifth, to a stag with its liver pierced by an arrow; sixth, to a bird caught in a snare.
Verse 23: Until an Arrow Pierces His Liver
UNTIL AN ARROW PIERCES HIS LIVER; AS IF A BIRD SHOULD HASTEN TO A SNARE, AND NOT KNOW THAT ITS SOUL IS IN DANGER. — This young man is pierced by a double arrow: the first of harlot love, which wounds his liver. For the liver is the seat of love and concupiscence, according to that famous verse: The heart discerns, the lung speaks, gall stirs up anger, the spleen makes laughter, the liver compels love.
The second, of the pain that love begets. He alludes to stags, which burn with love for hinds, and are thereby caught and pierced with arrows. For hunters, to catch stags, imitate the voice of lustful hinds: the stags immediately run to it; soon the hunters hiding among the bushes pierce them with arrows. Just as therefore a stag struck by an arrow flees, but does not escape death; indeed by running it increases and aggravates the wound and accelerates its death: so he who is struck in the heart by the arrow of love runs hither and thither, and increases the wound of love and death.
For from the wound of love the wound of grief will immediately follow; for one does not live in love without pain: both of remorse and anguish of conscience; both of diseases, quarrels, poverty, infamy, dangers, and a thousand miseries; both of death, which is prepared for him either by the husband, or by the judge; and of hell and eternal damnation.
Mystically, a stag struck by an arrow, eating the herb dittany, shakes off the arrow. So let the young man struck by the arrow of love shake it off through penance and mortification. Whence Tertullian, in his book On Penance: "The stag, pierced by an arrow, knows that it must be healed by dittany. The swallow, if it has blinded its chicks, knows how to restore their eyes with its own celandine. Will the sinner, knowing the exomologesis instituted by the Lord for his restoration, pass by that which restored the Babylonian king to his kingdom?"
AS IF A BIRD SHOULD HASTEN TO A SNARE. — This is the sixth and last comparison, as if to say: Just as a bird flies to bait and is there caught by the fowler, so this young man, carelessly pursuing the allurement of the harlot, is caught, ensnared, and destroyed by the same.
AND DOES NOT KNOW THAT HIS SOUL IS IN DANGER. — O the remarkable stupidity of the young man, who follows the adulteress and does not know that by following her he casts himself into certain danger of his soul, that is, of his life, both present and eternal.
Verse 24: Now Therefore, My Son, Hear Me
NOW THEREFORE, MY SON, HEAR ME, AND ATTEND TO THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH. LET NOT YOUR MIND BE DRAWN AWAY IN HER WAYS, NOR BE DECEIVED BY HER PATHS. — In Hebrew, do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, nor stray in her paths. He names paths, because harlots, especially the secretive ones who wish to be considered honest in public, are accustomed to dwell in retreats, caves, and dens. Indeed even those who publicly prostitute their modesty sit in the byways to catch passersby, and hence are called semitariae (path-dwellers).
Verse 26: She Has Cast Down Many Wounded
FOR SHE HAS CAST DOWN MANY WOUNDED, AND THE STRONGEST HAVE ALL BEEN SLAIN BY HER. — He says this so that no one may trust in his own strength, in his past chastity: because the woman has in old age cast down, corrupted, and destroyed those who were strong, aged, chaste throughout their whole lives. Thus "the daughters of men," that is, the daughters of Cain, enticed and corrupted "the sons of God," namely the sons of Seth, Genesis 6. Who destroyed Hector, Troy, and the entire kingdom of Asia? One Helen. Who delivered the mighty Samson to the Philistines? Delilah. Who drove the most holy David to adultery and murder? The beauty of Bathsheba. Who drove the wisest Solomon mad? His concubines.
"How many and what kind of bishops," says St. Cyprian in his treatise On the Singularity of Clerics, "as well as clergy and laity, after the trodden-down contests of confessions and victories, after great deeds and wonders and signs shown everywhere, are known to have shipwrecked with all these! How many lions has that delicate weakness of woman tamed, which, though vile and wretched, makes great ones its prey!" Therefore Martyrs who had conquered torments were afterwards conquered by women. Confessors who had overcome every trial were overcome by a woman. Who then would be so mad as not to be wise by the example of so many and such great heroes? As to consider himself alone stronger than all the rest? As to trust that he will remain unharmed in fire? "Fire, sea, woman — three evils," says Menander — indeed one single evil. For a woman is fire and sea, which swallows and absorbs even the most numerous and the strongest.
Verse 27: Her House Is the Way of Hell
HER HOUSE IS THE WAY OF HELL, LEADING DOWN TO THE INNER CHAMBERS OF DEATH. — In hell death has its innermost bedchamber, its inner sanctum, its throne and palace. If therefore you ask: "What is hell?" I will aptly answer: "Hell is the inner chamber and palace of death," because in it eternal death rules with full right over all the damned, both demons and men. The reprobate therefore in this life are, as it were, in the vestibule of death; in hell they will be in the very inner chambers and bowels of death. Just as conversely the elect in this world are in the vestibule of life, and in heaven they will be in the very inner chambers of life, where life dominates and reigns forever.
The sense therefore is: The harlot adorned her couch and sprinkled it with aloe and myrrh: but these are not so much signs and harbingers of feasting and pleasure as of death and burial: for with these the bodies of the dead are customarily anointed. Know therefore for certain, O young man, that when you enter the house of the harlot, you are going to the house of death and hell.
Tropologically, the harlot and adulteress is concupiscence and heresy: she lies in wait for all, and all who follow her she kills: she too leads straight to hell.
Moreover, how fearsome hell and judgment are, St. Cyril of Alexandria graphically depicts: "I fear death, because it is bitter for me. I fear hell, because it is eternal. I fear the abyss, because it has no color. I fear the darkness, because it has no light. I fear the venomous worm, because it is eternal. I fear, when I consider the terrible and unbribable council of that day, the horrible tribunal and the incorruptible judge."
And St. Ephrem: "Revolving this day in their minds, the holy martyrs of God did not pity their bodies, but underwent every kind of torment, rejoicing in the hope of crowns. Others, in wildernesses and mountains and caves, contended in fasting and virginity; and indeed now not only men contend, but also women, the weaker part, and walking through the narrow gate and the strait way, they seize the heavenly kingdom. Who then would suffer himself to be suffused with that blush, that when women are crowned at that hour, many men are condemned? For there is there neither male nor female; but each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor."