Proverbs 7:15 kjv
Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
Proverbs 7:15 nkjv
So I came out to meet you, Diligently to seek your face, And I have found you.
Proverbs 7:15 niv
So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you!
Proverbs 7:15 esv
so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
Proverbs 7:15 nlt
You're the one I was looking for!
I came out to find you, and here you are!
Proverbs 7 15 Cross References
Verse | Text | Reference Note |
---|---|---|
Prov 2:16-19 | ...to deliver you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words... | General warning against the alluring but destructive path of the adulteress |
Prov 5:3-4 | For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood... | Her seductive and deceptive smooth talk |
Prov 6:24-25 | ...to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your heart... | Warning against her enticing words and appearance |
Ps 27:8 | You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, LORD, I will seek." | Righteous seeking God's face, contrasting the harlot's perversion |
Ps 63:1 | O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you... | Earnest seeking of God, highlighting the twisted sincerity of her pursuit |
Ps 105:4 | Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his face continually! | Command to continually seek God's presence, exposing her counterfeit pursuit |
Jer 17:9 | The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? | Deceitfulness of heart, exemplified by her manipulative speech |
Matt 6:33 | But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. | The priority of genuine seeking for God's purposes (contrast) |
Matt 23:27-28 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs... | Hypocrisy: outward show of righteousness masking inner corruption |
Luke 11:10 | For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds... | Principle of seeking and finding, twisted here to fulfill illicit desires |
Rom 16:18 | For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. | Describes those who use smooth talk and flattery for self-serving ends |
2 Cor 11:13-15 | For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. | Deceptive appearances and intentions, often masquerading as light or good |
Gal 5:19-21 | Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife... | List of carnal works that the harlot's seduction ultimately leads to |
James 1:14-15 | But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin... | Describes the process of enticement and temptation leading to sin |
Hos 5:6 | With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. | Example of wrong or superficial seeking that fails to find God |
Isa 55:6 | "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near." | Call to genuine, timely seeking of God (contrast) |
Amos 4:4-5 | "Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression... Bring your sacrifices every morning..." | Ritualistic religious practice without true heart for God, similar to her "peace offerings" |
Titus 1:16 | They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. | Actions that betray professed piety, relevant to her "peace offerings" |
Prov 2:18-19 | For her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; none who go to her return... | Her ultimate path and consequences |
Prov 7:26-27 | For she has cast down many wounded, and all her victims are strong men. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death. | The destructive outcome of yielding to her seduction |
Lev 7:11-21 | And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings... whoever eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings... having his uncleanness on him, that person shall be cut off... | Original instructions for peace offerings, contrasting her corrupt use of it |
Phil 3:19 | Their end is destruction, their god is their appetite, and they glory in their shame... | People whose ultimate focus is earthly desires, leading to destruction |
Proverbs 7 verses
Proverbs 7 15 Meaning
The harlot, having completed her "peace offerings" (Proverbs 7:14), claims this act as the reason for her intense, purposeful search for the young man. Her words are crafted to flatter him, presenting herself as one who earnestly desired and "found" him as if by destiny, elevating a base encounter to a seemingly special and divinely arranged meeting. She misuses religious vocabulary ("diligently seeking your face") to conceal her immoral intent and make her prey feel uniquely desired.
Proverbs 7 15 Context
Proverbs chapter 7 presents a poignant warning from a father to his son against the deceptive allure of the adulterous woman. The preceding verses (Proverbs 7:6-12) paint a picture of the naive youth wandering near the harlot's abode and her brazen initiative to intercept him. Verse 13 depicts her direct, impudent embrace and kiss. Immediately prior to this verse, Proverbs 7:14 describes her claim of having just completed peace offerings, a religious sacrifice meant for fellowship with God. Proverbs 7:15 then leverages this alleged religious purity, presenting her coming out and "finding" the young man as a pre-ordained or blessed outcome of her piety. The subsequent verses (Proverbs 7:16-23) detail her full array of physical enticements and persuasive speech, ultimately luring the young man to his ruin. Culturally and historically, for a woman to publicly seek out a man with such overt aggression was a serious transgression of societal norms, emphasizing her deviant character. Her use of religious vocabulary further highlights her profound deception.
Proverbs 7 15 Word analysis
- Therefore (עַל־כֵּן - `‘al-ken`): This conjunction indicates a cause or reason. The harlot uses it to connect her seemingly religious act (peace offerings in v.14) with her pursuit of the young man, fabricating a spiritual justification for her illicit behavior and suggesting divine favor for their rendezvous.
- I came out (יָצָאתִי - `yatsa'ti`): A Qal perfect verb meaning "I went out" or "I came forth." This highlights her proactive and intentional departure from her home specifically to find him. Her initiative and public forwardness would have been considered scandalous for a respectable woman in ancient Near Eastern society, underscoring her immodest character.
- to meet you (לִקְרָאתֶךָ - `liqra'tekha`): This prepositional phrase, "to meet you," specifically identifies the young man as her intended target. It is a calculated piece of flattery designed to make him feel uniquely singled out and desired, appealing to his ego and sense of importance.
- diligently seeking (שַׁחַרְתִּי - `shacharti`): A Piel perfect verb from `shachar`, meaning "to seek early," "to seek earnestly," or "to seek diligently." This term is frequently used in scripture to describe a fervent and earnest seeking of God (e.g., Ps 63:1; Isa 26:9). Her application of this sacred terminology to her lustful pursuit is a profound distortion, imbuing a base intention with the gravity of spiritual devotion.
- your face (פָּנֶיךָ - `paneykha`): Literally "your face," this Hebrew idiom (`biqqesh panim`) signifies seeking a person's presence, favor, audience, or intimate access, often applied to seeking a king or God (e.g., Ex 33:11; Ps 24:6). By using this phrase, she flatters the young man by suggesting an intense personal longing for him, an intimate pursuit that goes beyond casual interest, wrapping carnal desire in elevated, seemingly profound language.
- and I have found you (וָאֶמְצָאֶךָּ - `va'emtza'ekha`): This conjunction and Qal perfect verb signifies completion: "and I found you." It concludes her seductive speech by portraying their encounter as the predestined culmination of her ardent search, not a chance meeting. This further disarms the young man, making him feel like a unique discovery and the fated object of her fervent desire, reinforcing the illusion of a special connection.
Words-group analysis
- Therefore I came out to meet you: This opening statement attempts to legitimate her morally questionable public behavior. By linking her coming out to her preceding religious offerings, she implies her actions are blessed or divinely intended. This clever deception creates an immediate context of purpose and justification for her aggressive approach, making the young man less wary of her transgression against social norms.
- diligently seeking your face: This is the manipulative core of the verse. Her use of `shacharti paneykha`, language strongly associated with zealous spiritual seeking of God, demonstrates a deep-seated hypocrisy. She perverts a term of holy devotion to describe her lust-driven pursuit, cloaking carnal desire in spiritual rhetoric. This tactic aims to elevate his self-importance and diminish any moral objections he might have by making him feel incredibly unique, esteemed, and the object of her fervent desire, effectively mirroring true devotion in a profane context.
- and I have found you: This concluding phrase adds a sense of inevitability and triumph to her supposed quest. It removes the notion of a random encounter, presenting their meeting as a "discovery" and the destined fulfillment of her intense search. This serves to flatter the young man, convincing him that he is special and that their liaison is a unique, perhaps even fated, event, making him more receptive to her further seductions.
Proverbs 7 15 Bonus section
- The adulteress's behavior, especially "coming out" to seek a man, challenges the societal norms of modesty and proper female conduct in ancient Israel, emphasizing her deviant and dangerous nature.
- The phrase "peace offerings" (Proverbs 7:14) often included a meal shared as an act of fellowship. Her perversion of this sacred ritual highlights the deep spiritual depravity underlying her actions; she uses religious cover for the promotion of sin.
- This verse illustrates a fundamental aspect of temptation: it rarely appears overtly evil but often cloaks itself in appeals to desire, ego, destiny, or even a twisted form of spiritual justification.
- The intense personal nature implied by "seeking your face" makes the young man the unique focus of her "devotion," which is a highly effective, though malevolent, form of psychological manipulation.
Proverbs 7 15 Commentary
Proverbs 7:15 encapsulates the dangerous and deceptive nature of sin, particularly as personified by the adulterous woman. The verse reveals a master of manipulation who uses sophisticated flattery and religious distortion to ensnare her victim. Her claim of having made "peace offerings" (v.14) is key: it provides a pseudo-religious pretext for her forward pursuit, implying a state of ritual purity or even divine blessing upon her subsequent actions. By proclaiming, "I came out to meet you, diligently seeking your face," she casts her active, inappropriate hunt in the language of earnest spiritual devotion. The Hebrew term shacharti paneykha
("diligently seeking your face") evokes the intense desire one should have for God's presence, yet she grotesquely twists it to describe her carnal quest. She thereby makes the young man feel extraordinarily important, uniquely sought, and as though their encounter is not an illicit affair, but a pre-ordained "finding," the culmination of her sincere efforts. This skilled weaving of feigned piety, deep personal desire, and manufactured destiny is designed to bypass his conscience, inflate his ego, and make him susceptible to her full enticements that follow, leading him directly down the path to destruction.