Proverb 2:16

“To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,”

We’ve already learned that they—wisdom and understanding—deliver us from the man who speaks perverse things (2:12). Today, we’re introduced to the woman they protect us from. She is immoral. A seductress who flatters with her words. 

One speaks perversity, the other seduces. Both use tactics which have a magnetic pull on the recipient of their ploy; a pull that is equal to the strength of sexual drive as they grasp for our attention.

As a woman craves the attention of man. As a man gleans the consent of his prey to satisfy his perverse nature. Both are on the prowl. You are their target. It’s your consent he is after. It’s you she seeks to seduce.

Their pursuit is fierce and intense. If we consent just a little, they demand a lot. If we experiment with them, we become enslaved to them and a shift occurs: we begin to crave their ways, and they no longer have to pursue. We oblige on our own, even begin to initiate.

Just as the enemy would have it.

But there is a way out, and that way is spelled out in Proverbs. Rather than attuning our senses to the bait that’s thrown in our path, we must use our discernment to stay focused. Use wisdom to make our decisions. Rely on knowledge to remember the truth and dodge the lies.

Do not cave to her words which lead astray. Do not be tempted by his speech.

Stay on the path ahead and block out their voices.