The fall of the man into the snare of the harlot seems to be the consequence of the abhorrence or wrath of Yahweh. That abhorrence is, however, the result of previous evil. The man is left to himself, and sin becomes the penalty of sin.

The mouth of strange women is a deep pit - In Proverbs 23:27, he says, A whore is a Deep Ditch:, oud a strange woman is a Narrow Pit.

The allusions in these three places are too plain to be misunderstood.

Virgil's hell has been adduced in illustration: -

- Sate sanguine Divum,

Tros Anchisiade, facilis decensus Averni;

Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis:

Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras,

Hoc Opus, hic Labor est.

Pauci quos aequus amavit

Jupiter, aut ardens evexit ad aethera virtus,

Dis geniti potuere.

Virg. Aen, lib. vi., ver. 125.

"O glorious prince of brave Anchises' line!

Great godlike hero! sprung from seed divine,

continued...

The mouth of strange women is a deep pit,.... The mouth of harlots; the kisses of their mouth, their fair speech and flattering words, their amorous talk, and lascivious and wanton language, ensnare and draw unwary persons to commit lewdness with them, which bring them into a pit of ruin and destruction; a filthy one, and very deep, out of which it is not easy nor usual to be extricated: the allusion is to beasts taken in a pit dug for them; and these are as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed;

he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein; who has been guilty of other sins, and such as have caused the Lord to abhor him, and therefore leaves him to fall into this: one sin not only leads on to another, but is the punishment of another; men are seldom guilty of this sin of whoredom, but who have been first abandoned to other vices very provoking to. God; see Ecclesiastes 7:26. Jarchi interprets all this of idolatry; and it may be very well applied to the whore of Rome, and the harlots she is mother of; who, by her fair words and false doctrines, by her mouth speaking blasphemies and lies in hypocrisy, by her golden cup in her hand full of abomination and filthiness of fornication, and by her sorceries, have deceived many, and brought them into the pit of perdition and ruin: and these are such whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life; but are rejected of God, and given up to believe a lie, that they might be damned, Revelation 17:4.

14 A deep pit is the mouth of a strange woman;

     He that is cursed of God falleth therein.

The first line appears in a different form as a synonymous distich, Proverbs 23:27. The lxx translate στόμα παρανόμου without certainly indicating which word they here read, whether רע (Proverbs 4:14), or רשׁע (Proverbs 29:12), or נלוז (Proverbs 3:32). Proverbs 23:27 is adduced in support of זרות (vid., Proverbs 2:16); זנות (harlots) are meant, and it is not necessary thus to read with Ewald. The mouth of this strange woman or depraved Israelitess is a deep ditch (שׁוּחה עמקּה, otherwise עמקה, as Proverbs 23:27, where also occurs עמוּקה

(Note: The text to Immanuel's Comment. (Naples 1487) has in both instances עמוּקה.)

namely, a snare-pit into which he is enticed by her wanton words; the man who stands in fellowship with God is armed against this syren voice; but the 'זעוּם ה, i.e., he who is an object of the divine זעם (Venet. κεχολωμένος τῷ ὀντωτῇ), indignation, punishing evil with evil, falls into the pit, yielding to the seduction and the ruin. Schultens explains 'זעום ה by, is in quem despumat indignabundus; but the meaning despumat is not substantiated; זעם, cf. Arab. zaghm, is probably a word which by its sound denoted anger as a hollow roaring, and like pealing thunder. The lxx has, after Proverbs 22:14, three tedious moralizing lines.

The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred by the LORD {k} shall fall in it.

(k) So God punishes one sin by another, when he suffers the wicked to fall into the acquaintance of a harlot.

22:14 The mouth - Her fair and flattering speeches.

14. The mouth-or flattering speeches (Pr 5:3; 7:5) ensnare man, as pits, beasts. God makes their own sin their punishment.

22:1 We should be more careful to do that by which we may get and keep a good name, than to raise or add unto a great estate. 2. Divine Providence has so ordered it, that some are rich, and others poor, but all are guilty before God; and at the throne of God's grace the poor are as welcome as the rich. 3. Faith foresees the evil coming upon sinners, and looks to Jesus Christ as the sure refuge from the storm. 4. Where the fear of God is, there will be humility. And much is to be enjoyed by it; spiritual riches, and eternal life at last. 5. The way of sin is vexatious and dangerous. But the way of duty is safe and easy. 6. Train children, not in the way they would go, that of their corrupt hearts, but in the way they should go; in which, if you love them, you would have them go. As soon as possible every child should be led to the knowledge of the Saviour. 7. This shows how important it is for every man to keep out of debt. As to the things of this life, there is a difference between the rich and the poor; but let the poor remember, it is the Lord that made the difference. 8. The power which many abuse, will soon fail them. 9. He that seeks to relieve the wants and miseries of others shall be blessed. 10. Profane scoffers and revilers disturb the peace. 11. God will be the Friend of a man in whose spirit there is no guile; this honour have all the saints. 12. God turns the counsels and designs of treacherous men to their own confusion. 13. The slothful man talks of a lion without, but considers not his real danger from the devil, that roaring lion within, and from his own slothfulness, which kills him. 14. The vile sin of licentiousness commonly besots the mind beyond recovery. 15. Sin is foolishness, it is in the heart, there is an inward inclination to sin: children bring it into the world with them; and it cleaves close to the soul. We all need to be corrected by our heavenly Father. 16. We are but stewards, and must distribute what God intrusts to our care, according to his will.