Paragraph 7:21–23
This paragraph gives the result of the woman’s flattering and persuasive words in 7:14–20. Some translations make this explicit at the beginning of verse 21. For example:
And so… (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
So… (New Living Translation (2004))
7:21
The Hebrew has parallel parts that are similar in meaning. They form a chiasm. The parts in 7:21a occur in the opposite order from the parallel parts in 7:21b, as can be seen in the New International Version below.
21a
With persuasive words she led him astray ; (New International Version)
21b
she seduced him with her smooth talk. (New International Version)
If a chiasm is not natural in your language, you may need to reorder the parallel parts, as the Berean Standard Bible does. Here is another way to reorder the parts:
21a
she led him astray with persuasive words ;
21b
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
7:21a–b
With her great persuasion…with her flattering lips: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as great persuasion usually means “learning” or “teaching” (see 1:5a–b, 4:2a), but it also has the connotation of persuasion. In 16:21 the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “instruction.” In describing the words of the immoral wife as “teaching” or “instruction,” the author is using irony. He intends the reader to contrast the true teaching of Wisdom with the false or so-called “teaching” of the adulteress.
In some languages, it may be possible to convey this irony by putting the word “teaching/instruction” in quotes or by adding the words “so-called” or an expression with similar meaning. If it is not possible to convey the irony in the text, it is suggested that you add a footnote similar to the following:
The Hebrew word used here is the same as the word used in 1:5 and 16:21 (instruction/teaching). The writer intends us to understand that the teaching of the adulteress is not really teaching at all.
With her great persuasion: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as With her great persuasion is more literally “with the abundance of her teaching/persuasion.” The New International Version has left the word “abundance” implied. Some English versions, like the Berean Standard Bible, have made it explicit. For example:
With much seductive speech (New Revised Standard Version)
You will need to decide whether to make this emphasis explicit in your translation.
flattering lips: The phrase flattering lips is literally “smoothness of her lips.” Here it is a figure of speech (metonymy) that refers to enticing or flattering words. For similar expressions, see the notes on 2:16b, 5:3a–b and 6:24a–b.
she lures him: The verb translated here as lures is used elsewhere in the OT of God “banishing” or “scattering” the nation of Israel into exile. In this verse, both verbs mean “to cause someone to go astray” or “to turn someone from the right path.”
7:21a
General Comment on 7:21a–b
In Hebrew poetry, the chiastic arrangement of parallel parts in parallel lines is used for poetic effect. In some languages, it may be ungrammatical or may sound unnatural to reorder parts of the sentence chiastically. If that is true in your language, use a natural word order, and try to preserve the beauty of the poetic form in other ways.
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel lines. For example:
So it was that she caused him to turn from the right path by means of her flattery and persuasive “teaching.”
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