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You Cannot Escape the Cruel, Vicious, Brutal, Ruthless Violence that Leads to Your Fatality

Proverbs 7:26-27 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
²⁶For many are the fatally wounded[1] she has made fall,[2]
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is the way to Sheol,
descending to the chambers of death.

For many are the fatally wounded she has made fall: Here is the Hebrew noun (חָלָל chalal) is literally rendered fatally wounded but elsewhere it is rendered victim (ESV) or slain (LEB). The sense of this line is that this immoral wayward woman has mortally wounded and brought death to many men.

And all her slain are a mighty army: Solomon is trying to stress the danger by using military language to describe the fatal results of interacting with this wayward woman. Fatally wounded can refer to casualties and the slain (הָרַג harag) here are a mighty throng (עָצוּם atsum) and can be seen as a mighty army. The verb for slain can mean with cruel, vicious, brutal, ruthless violence.

Her house is the way to Sheol: Here her house is not simply the building or home that she lives in but rather, it has the sense of what it is that is going on in her house as the focus. (See 2:18 and 5:5. Compare also 9:18) Here Sheol: (Heb. sheol) occurs sixty-six times in the UASV. The Greek Septuagint renders Sheol as Hades. It has the underlying meaning of a place of the dead, where they are conscious of nothing, awaiting a resurrection, for both the righteous and the unrighteous. (Gen. 37:35; Psa. 16:10; Ac 2:31; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15) It corresponds to “Hades” in the NT. It does not involve torment and punishment.

Descending to the chambers of death: The Hebrew verb (יָרַד yarad) rendered descending is to move downward or lower with an ominous sense. Chambers of death is an expression similar to, equivalent to Sheol, and similar to Proverbs 2:18 and 5:5. The Hebrew (cheder) Chambers is a rendering for a word meaning rooms that are located in the inner part of a house or building. Here Sheol is seen as a house that has many rooms.

This strange woman’s beauty and seductive power are quite deceptive because she has slain many that have entered her house. To naively believe that you can somehow escape the cruel, vicious, brutal, ruthless violence that leads to your fatality while a throng of others has not is simply foolish. Some temptations are so consuming that the best recourse is to stay as far removed as one can. The terminology of verse 26 is military in nature. Thus, the young one needs to see the world of humankind that is alienated from God, his own weaknesses, leanings, and Satan as a war zone. Therefore, he needs to be ever vigilant in his environment.

[1] Or the victims

[2] Or laid low or cast down