Prov 7:13 [ESV] She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him
Extract from my Auto-Biography…
We had a new night-manager at work, and he was full of adventure and fun, not all that much older than me. I liked hanging out with him. There was always something happening, and he was always in some sort of scheme to make money. We had fun when we hung out and did stuff together that made you feel like you were living.
We would go to the homeless shelters at five in the morning and have breakfast with the guys there and chat to them. We would go out to the car auctions and he would look for bargains that he could respray and sell on quickly for a profit.
He had friends that owned nightclubs and restaurants and bars, he was known everywhere. The nightlife people of the city were a different sort of species, coming alive at one in the morning, going to bed at sunrise and sleeping till midday. Every day was an adventure. I loved the sense of doing the unknown everyday I think. I was young and impressionable.
But there was another side to him as well. A temper and a violence that could come out anywhere, was unpredictable and unstoppable.
One day we decided to go to London, so we drove through the night for around ten hours to get there and spent the day in London. The next night we drove back to Scotland again. We pulled off the motorway to fill the car with petrol and grab some food.
At the petrol station another driver came round in front of us facing us to fill their small van. They were facing the wrong way to get back onto the motorway, but their petrol cap was on the different side of the car. We finished filling our car, paid and then were blocked in a bit with the guy in front. My friend called to him to move to let us out, and he asked us to wait a couple of minutes till he was finished. Although my interpretation of his rude gesture maybe is a little too gracious.
My friend was out of the car in a flash and next second was laying into this man, punching him several times in the face through the side window of his van. This was 1970’s road rage, long before road rage was really even a thing.
He got back into our car and manoeuvred out of the tight space we were in, and as we finally got past the van blocking us, in his anger pulled the gear stick out of the gear box, it was a Ford Granada manual car we had.
So for the next three hundred miles we had to have a pile of our clothes over the hole in the floor (to stop the wind coming in) where the gearstick went, and every time we were slowing down we had to remove the clothes and somehow wrangle the gearstick back into its position while we navigated the changes in gear.
It was a long night, and if I remember correctly it was snowing as we crossed the border back into Scotland.
I think that was the turning point for me, I had seen flashes of the anger before but I did not really want to be in these situations any more, no matter how much fun it was to hang out. It was only a matter of time until we ended up in serious trouble.
KNOWLEDGE – There is a place for boldness, and a right sort of boldness. This verse however is highlighting an interesting thought. If we had made better decisions earlier on, we would not right now be in the proximity of this temptation that is about to seize hold of us and lead us into deeper difficulties. There are some “bold” people that we should give a wide margin to.
UNDERSTANDING – Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word for bold in Hebrew is pronounced as “‘azaz here, and it appears ten times in the Old Testament. It’s translated as “prevailed; overpowered, power, refuge, strong, bold, and established”
In the LXX it reads as “Then, taking hold, she fondles him; with impudent face she says to him” – the word used for impudent is “αναιδεί – anaidei” and this word appears only once in the New Testament – ἀναίδεια in Luje 11:8 [ESV] “I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence [ἀναίδεια] he will rise and give him whatever he needs.”
So we can gather the idea that this “boldness” is not from a place of health, and is well translated as “brazen” as well.
WISDOM – What are you “bold” about in life?
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Competition as a Gallup Talent strives for first place and is bold in measuring its progress against others.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – She grasps him strongly, and with her brazen presence she speaks
She seizes him – She grasps him strongly
and with bold – with her brazen
face – presence
she says to him – she speaks
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to to be bold in demosntrating your love, and your ways today!
To chat to me as a professional coach/mentor – allan@theallankey.com
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