Proverbs 7:20
“He has taken a bag of money with him. He will come home at the full moon.””
What does Proverbs 7:20 mean?
This verse describes a deceived husband's absence, as told through the perspective of a woman trying to seduce a young man. She's explaining to him that her husband has left on a business trip with cash in hand and won't return until the full moon, creating what she sees as a perfect window of opportunity for infidelity. The passage is part of a longer warning in Proverbs about how temptation often presents itself with carefully calculated justifications and false assurances of safety. Understanding the husband's specific timeline is meant to make the proposition seem foolproof to the young man being tempted, showing how seduction works by removing apparent obstacles and creating a sense of consequence-free opportunity. The broader chapter uses this scene to warn readers that those who chase forbidden desires often rationalize their choices by believing they've thought through all the risks, when really they're just being led deeper into harm.