She laid hold on him and kissed him, both of which actions were shameless, and then, assuming the passivity and modesty befitting the woman, and disregarding morality and the law, she said to the youth:

14 "To bring peace-offerings was binding upon me,

     To-day have I redeemed my vows.

15 Therefore am I come out to meet thee,

     To seek thy face, and have found thee."

We have translated זבחי שׁלמים "peace-offerings," proceeding on the principle that שׁלם (sing. only Amos 5:22, and on the Phoenician altar at Marseilles) denotes contracting friendship with one (from שׁלם, to hold friendly relationship), and then the gifts having this in view; for the idea of this kind of offering is the attestation and confirmation of communion with God. But in view of the derivatives שׁלמנים and שׁלּוּם, it is perhaps more appropriate to combine שׁלם with שׁלּם, to discharge perfectly, and to translate it thank-payment-offering, or with v. Hofmann, a due-offering, where not directly thank-offering; for the proper eucharistic offering, which is the expression of thanks on a particular occasion, is removed from the species of the Shelamim by the addition of the words על־תּודה (Leviticus 7:12-25). The characteristic of the Shelamim is the division of the flesh of the sacrifice between Jahve and His priests on the one side, and the person (or persons) bringing it on the other side: only one part of the flesh of the sacrifice was Jahve's, consumed by fire (Leviticus 3:16); the priests received one part; those who brought the offering received back another part as it were from the altar of God, that they might eat it with holy joy along with their household. So here the adulteress says that there was binding upon her, in consequence of a vow she had taken, the duty of presenting peace-offerings, or offerings that were due; to-day (she reckons the day in the sense of the dies civilis from night to night) she has performed her duties, and the שׁלמי נדר have yielded much to her that she might therewith regale him, her true lover; for with על־כּן she means to say that even the prospect of the gay festival which she can prepare for him moved her thus to meet him. This address of the woman affords us a glimpse into the history of the customs of those times. The Shelamim meals degenerated in the same manner as our Kirmsen.

(Note: Kirmse equals anniversary of the dedication of a church, village fte.)

Secularization lies doubly near to merrymaking when the law sanctions this, and it can conceal itself behind the mask of piety. Regarding שׁחר, a more exact word for בּקּשׁ, vid., at Proverbs 1:28. To seek the countenance of one is equivalent to to seek his person, himself, but yet not without reference to the wished-for look [aspectus] of the person.

Proverbs 7:21 Parallel Commentaries

with her

Proverbs 7:5 That they may keep you from the strange woman, from the stranger which flatters with her words.

Proverbs 5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

Judges 16:15-17 And she said to him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? you have mocked me these three times...

Psalm 12:2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

forced

1 Samuel 28:23 But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he listened to their voice...

2 Kings 4:8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was...

Luke 14:23 And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Luke 24:29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

Acts 16:15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she sought us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord...

2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: