What Does Proverbs 7:16 Mean in the King James?

I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

Proverbs 7:16 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The bed is dressed in Egyptian luxury, yet Egypt’s name carries the pressure of constriction: the lure is already shaped like a narrow place.

THE MEANING

The verse shows desire furnished to feel sumptuous, with coverings and fine linen from Egypt. Its lavish surface carries the image of a constricted place, so the reader sees how an inviting setting can draw them toward an entanglement that narrows life.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Luxury does not prove that an invitation leads to freedom; a lavishly arranged welcome can still lead into a snare.

THE ROOT

מִצְרַיִם

Mitsrayim

GROWS FROM

צרר

tsarar

To bind, press in, or confine.

The name Egypt carries the shape of the narrow place. Here, fine linen gives that place a luxurious surface, but ornament does not undo the constriction beneath the invitation.

ALSO GROWS

tsar: Narrow, tight; a narrow place or distress.

צַר

This branch gives Egypt’s name its contour: constriction can be a place one enters, not only a feeling one has.

metsar: A strait or confined place; distress.

מֵצַר

This branch shows how narrowness becomes distress, even when the setting is dressed to appear desirable.

THE PATTERN

An inviting surface can conceal a path that narrows toward loss.

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

Proverbs 5:3 · KJVHoneyed sweetness makes the invitation attractive, as the richly prepared bed does here.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Matthew 7:13 · KJVThe broad way appears spacious, yet it leads to destruction, showing that apparent room can conceal a narrowing end.

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

James 1:15 · KJVDesire’s finished path leads to death, revealing the danger behind an appealing invitation.

THE THREAD

Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

Proverbs 7:23 · KJV

The fine coverings belong to an invitation whose next image is a snare. The verse reveals that the prepared bed promises pleasure while the path it opens threatens life.

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