18 Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
19 My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took his purse filled with money
and will not be home till full moon.”
Now that she has brought down the senseless youth’s defenses, the adulteress invites her prey into her home. “Now is the time for pleasure” temptation implores, “it’s just this once, and you deserve it!” She calls this thing love but it is really exploitation; an empty act of shameless gratification.
“My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.” She reassures him that they won’t be caught, casting aside for a moment the worry of consequences. “Nobody will know,” temptation says, but there is always more at stake than being caught in the act. The simple youth’s life is about to become a lot more complicated, this night will cost him much more than he thinks.
