like the apple of your eyes The pupil of the eye, which is like darkness, like the darkness of night.

“You are my sister” (Draw her near to you.)

a kinsman Heb. מדע, a kinsman, as in (Ruth 3: 2): “Boaz our kinsman (מדעתנו),” our close relative; i.e., draw her near to you always.

I discerned Heb. אבינה, I discerned and I saw.

next to her corner The corner of the harlot and of the pagan house of worship.

And behold a woman As its apparent meaning. Another explanation: One of the enticers.

the nakedness of a harlot Heb. שית, as in (II Sam. 10:4): “their buttocks (שתותיהם),” i.e., the nakedness of a harlot.

with her heart besieged Heb. ונצרת לב. As a besieged city is surrounded by bulwarks, so is this one’s heart surrounded by lewdness and foolishness.

and rebellious Heb. וסררת, turning away from the road.

I had to bring peace offerings I prepared a great feast, for today I sacrificed my vows and my peace offering.

and I have found you In order that I find you.

covers Heb. מרבדים. Garments of freedom and beauty; a similar term is found at the end of the book (31:22): “She made covers for herself.”

I have bedecked my couch Heb. רבדתי, I have adorned.

with superior braided work of Egypt Heb. חטבות אטון מצרים, praiseworthy, high quality linen garments coming from Egypt, where linen is common, as it is written in the Book of Isaiah (19: 9): “And those who work at flax... shall be ashamed.” braided work Heb. אטון. The Aramaic translation of מיתריהם, their ropes (Num. 4:32), is אטוניהון.

I fanned Heb. נפתי. I fanned the scent as one fans with a scarf in a perfumery to bring the scent from above down below. Dunash (Teshuvoth Dunash p. 22) defines it as an expression of smoking, which he states has no comparison.

For the man is not at home You have seen that the Holy One, blessed be He, has removed His Shechinah and has given all good to the pagans.

the bag of money He has slain the righteous among them.

on the appointed day Heb. ליום הכסא. At the fixed appointed time, and similarly (Ps. 81:4), “At the appointed time for the day of our festival.”

She swayed him the one devoid of sense, to her.

with all her talk with which she is accustomed to familiarize men.

she entices him from the road.

and as a viper Heb. וכעכס. This is the venom of a snake.

to the chastisement of a fool Like a snake that runs quickly as an agent of the Holy One, blessed be He, to chastise the fool who is condemned by the Omnipresent, blessed be He, so does this one run after her until he stumbles on her, and her arrow splits his liver.

as a bird hastens to run to a snare, and it does not know that the snare was spread out there for the life of the bird.