“For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.” (Proverbs 7:24-27, NASB)

One of the famous “notorious woman killers” was Aileen Wuornos, typically called America’s first female serial killer. Between 1989 and 1990, Wuornos murdered seven men in Florida while working as a hitchhiking sex worker along highways. She was executed by a lethal injection in 2002. In 2003, Hollywood made a movie about her story called “Monster.” In today’s reading, Solomon warned the people about a “notorious woman killer” of his day who claimed many victims. He writes,

“Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths. For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.”

The killer is the adulterous “woman” described in the previous passage, Proverbs 7:6-23. Solomon may have used a real woman that he saw, but based on the context, we can see that he was using her as a symbol of sexual immorality. The language he used suggests a broader application than a single woman’s action. Phrases like “many are the victims” and “numerous are all her slain” use philosophical language rather than referring to literal killing. Also, her house is not a literal gateway to “Sheol” and “death.” More likely, he saw a young man being seduced by an adulterous woman one day and decided to use it as a metaphor to teach people about the dangers of sexual immorality. Furthermore, even though the text focuses on a woman committing adultery, the broader message concerns any sexual choices outside of God’s will that ultimately cause devastation.

The book of Proverbs doesn’t pull punches. It speaks with urgency of a father trying to keep his loved ones from walking off a cliff. It provides a vivid description of the wreckage sexual sin leaves behind. Today’s statistics show this to be true. How many marriages have been destroyed because of infidelity? How many people’s lives have been destroyed because of sexually transmitted diseases? How many unborn babies have been slaughtered because people chose abortion for convenience? Sin always over-promises and under-delivers, and sexual sin is no exception. What begins as a harmless flirtation or a secret click online will often end in the shattering of a marriage covenant. The collateral damage will also include broken homes, traumatized children, and a legacy of mistrust for the victim. Surely, “many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain.” Like Solomon, Apostle Paul exhorts us as our spiritual father, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thess.4:3).

So, how does one avoid being her victim? Solomon answers, “Listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths.” In this statement, he suggests three things. First, we must treasure and heed God’s words, which teach us the right way to go. At the beginning of this chapter, it says, “My son, keep my words, and treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” Making God’s words a part of our lives will keep us from naively wandering away from God’s will. Second, we must protect the gateway of our hearts. How does one’s “heart turn aside to her ways?” It is because we do not protect what goes in and out of our hearts. Sin starts in the imagination before it turns into action. For this reason, Jesus warned, “Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Mt.5:28). Protect the gateway of your heart and don’t let your imagination wander into “her ways.” Third, we must establish clear boundaries where we can go and cannot go. The idea of straying into her path implies that the young man had no boundaries. He was a young man lacking sense and naïve. Had he known that her house was the “way to Sheol” and a “chamber of death,” do you think he would have entered that path in the first place? The words of God provide boundaries, and they help us to stay on the highway of righteousness.

• What did Solomon mean by the phrase “many are the victims” and “numerous are all her slain?”
• What do you think is the most destructive consequence of sexual sin?
• How can we teach our people to value God’s words more than their impulses?