Solomon has seen it all. While at her pinnacle the Kingdom of Israel was never large enough to be called an empire, she was the single most stable and prosperous nation in a sea of instability. Previous empires had already declined and those not yet born suffered internal chaos. The timing was perfect for a man of unprecedented wisdom and good fortune to draw the attention of numerous foreign powers there at the crossroads of three continents. What he had not seen directly, Solomon learned from the constant flow of traffic seeking his court.
If the New Testament hammers home the message that human sexuality is easily one of the greatest gifts of God, and at the same time, the single greatest threat to personal holiness, the authors learned it from the likes of Solomon. If any man knew such danger, it was the man with far too many wives and concubines. In the midst of this, he still found such a severe threat from adultery that he continues to hammer on it from every possible angle. In this chapter, it’s all about the personal weakness to temptation.
He begins by echoing the symbolic references in the Law of Moses about tying God’s revelation on your arms and writing it on your forehead. However, Solomon makes the point that if you don’t write it on your heart — if you aren’t fully committed with a strong moral fiber — all the revelation in the world won’t help you. Make God’s truth your best friend, he says.
Please note that, while he might imagine he has cause for demeaning women in general, Solomon is careful to confine his repeated warnings to adulterous women. This translates well into the modern recognition of what some behavioral scientists refer to as “hypergamy.” While our modern Western culture denies it, woman are wired to always seek a better mate. Feminine ambition in nest-building is popularly portrayed as an anomaly, as if it’s some kind of perversion from the more natural “pure” female instincts. Mosaic Law recognized the truth by building barriers against that very normal instinct. However, with all the strictures, we see that Hebrew society remained relaxed enough for adultery to be a problem.
It’s not as if Solomon portrays women as the greater threat to social stability. Rather, it is the difference between how the two sexes threaten shalom. It’s easy to forget that the Law of Moses came from the mouth of our Creator. It reflects reality as He made it. When it comes to sexual immorality, the biggest problem with men is their passivity. In the Hebrew society, there was a complete absence of the mythology of a man pursuing a woman’s favor. Lacking that myth, men were more likely to restrain themselves than women.
Thus, the archetype for adultery is the wily woman seducing a foolish man. Solomon paints a very sharp, detailed portrait of this. As is typical of Hebrew literature, there are elements of hyperbole. Still, the essence of the image rings true, particularly in the final result. In ancient Hebrew society, the man who surrendered to such enticements was doomed in every way. If he wasn’t executed outright with her, he became financially liable to the husband. The fool was making himself a slave to the woman and her husband’s justified wrath. That his wife was fundamentally the cause didn’t change things; it was hardly unknown for a man to marry a loose woman as a social pretense to cover his predatory scheming.
Solomon finally warns his readers to keep their hearts in charge, and not allow the mind and lusts to take control. The mind has no inherent morality, and will simply serve to implement whatever the will chooses. If the heart is silenced from its moral awareness, all that’s left is mere logic, and that’s not enough to keep us from sin. Further, we dare not forget that adultery itself is also an image of idolatry in general. All kinds of sweet temptations can turn into an adulteress-in-effect.
