I read this chapter this morning - and decided to spend the day with it before writing anything. Like Sue, I'm really struggling with the gender imagery here. Though I don't have the same personal issues interfering with these particular verses - the overall struggle is hard to relate to.
I thought about re-writing the chapter with different imagery- choosing between the Wise Man and the "Bad Boy" - but I had a hard time getting these parallels to relate to the two women of Proverbs. When I think of what a "wise man" might be - I think of wisdom, tenderness, fatherhood, and (to be honest) something that relates to "good provider" or reliable. When I think of the "Bad Boy" in contrast - there are definite appeals that would be similar to the adultress of Proverbs. But there are power differences between men and women now (and most definitely between men and women then) that make these parallels not quite right.
And if I expand this issue drastically - try to read the words of Proverbs as a more general set of advice - not necessarily tied to sexual morality - then I can look at they ways I am called to pursue the difficult and pure and deny the easy and attractive route. But what then do I do with the words of Augustine (admittedly not scripture) who tells us that what God calls us to do is our own heart's deepest desire? How do I learn to distinguish between the soul-deep desire for Wisdom and the gut-deep desire for the Adultress?
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