Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words. – Proverbs 2:16

Today's Scripture Reading (December 14, 2025): Proverbs 2

I am not sure, in the "Me-too" era, that I am allowed to say this, but our culture often views sexual predation as a one-way street, with the man as the predator and the woman playing the role of the victim. While that is usually true, I am not convinced it is always true; I believe it can sometimes be more of a two-way process than we might want to consider. And once in a while, the woman even takes the lead in such predation. History is littered with women who have seduced their way to power and have been very successful at it.

One of those women was Cleopatra. Cleopatra was the last active Hellenistic Pharaoh of Egypt. She was a Queen who was willing to do anything to protect her Kingdom. Anything included pursuing a relationship with Julius Caesar, the upstart Roman Emperor. She even bore a son with Julius Caesar: Ptolemy XV Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion. Caesarion would be the last Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, though he served only a few days after his mother's death.

After the death of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra pursued a relationship with the man whom she hoped would be the successor to the Roman throne. It is probably the relationship for which Cleopatra is best remembered. The would-be Roman dictator's name was Mark Antony, but Antony would lose the race to lead Rome to Octavian. Cleopatra, with no more cards left to play, would commit suicide, and her son Caesarion would end his rule over Egypt a few days after Cleopatra's death with his execution by Octavian, who would rule over the expanding Roman Empire as Caesar Augustus. Cleopatra made the most of what she had to try to protect her Kingdom. It is not that the men didn't get anything out of the relationship, but there was definitely a two-way street. Other women who seduced their way into power would include Eva Peron, Elizabeth Woodville, and even the famous Anne Boleyn.

It was not what Solomon wanted for his son. The story of Cleopatra is essential to our understanding of this passage because the word we have here, "adulterous," also carries the meaning of "foreigner." An alternate translation of this verse might be, "Wisdom can save you from the female stranger in your midst, from the foreign woman with her seductive words" (Proverbs 2:16 – Garry Mullen). Adulterous is implied by the phrase at the end of the passage, "with her seductive words." But what we shouldn't miss is that this woman is coming to Solomon's heir with the needs of a foreign nation.

Wisdom also protects us from being enslaved to our desires. It demands that we think through our romantic relationships rather than letting our emotions decide for us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Proverbs 3