What is the meaning of Proverbs 7:12? Now in the street Solomon pictures the seductive woman stepping right into the open roadway. Temptation does not always wait behind closed doors; it meets us out where we live and work. • Public settings can feel harmless, yet sin can surface there just as easily. Proverbs 5:8 warns, “Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house”. • The apostle’s counsel echoes this street-level vigilance: “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). • Like wisdom in Proverbs 1:20–21 that “calls aloud in the streets,” temptation also raises its voice; we decide which voice to heed. now in the squares The lure advances into the social center—city squares where people gather, transact business, and relax. • Sin often masks itself as ordinary social interaction; its setting feels respectable, even religious at times (compare Proverbs 9:14: “She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the heights of the city”). • Joseph faced this daily pull in Potiphar’s house, yet “he refused … to be near her” (Genesis 39:10). He chose distance over dialogue. • James 1:14–15 reminds us that temptation’s approach is relentless; yielding begins when desire is allowed to linger in the “square” of our thoughts. she lurks at every corner The language shifts from visibility to stealth—she “lurks.” What was open is now ambush. • Corners suggest decision points. Each turn we take offers obedience or compromise, so Scripture counsels, “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked … turn from it and pass on by” (Proverbs 4:14–15). • The predator imagery ties to 1 Peter 5:8: “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Whether through a person, an image, or a thought, evil waits for the unguarded moment. • The next verses in Proverbs 7 paint the tragic result: “He follows her … like an ox going to the slaughter” (vv. 22–23). What felt like a secret corner becomes a deadly snare. summary Proverbs 7:12 exposes how temptation operates: it is public (“in the street”), socially acceptable (“in the squares”), and strategically hidden (“at every corner”). God’s Word calls us to stay alert, keep our distance, and choose the paths of wisdom before the ambush is set. |
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