Man may not be at home, but God is always at home, whose house is the world: man may be gone a far journey, but God's journey is at once to be everywhere; His farthest off, to be present always. . . . She talketh that the goodman was not at home, but the good woman was not at home either; she saith that her husband was gone a far journey, but she herself was gone much farther from her duty. If she had been at home, to have heard her conscience the home reprover of wickedness, the goodman, though not at home, had not been so much wronged; if she had not gone far from her covenant, her husband, though gone far, had still been near and present in her heart.--_Jermin._ Our hearts must be guarded against the admission of sin by stronger motives than the fear of detection and disgrace, for artful solicitors to evil will easily baffle such restraints as these. Joseph might have expected his master's favour by complying with the wishes of his mistress, but the motive that induced him to decline her company was irresistible,--"How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"--_Lawson._ Verse 22. He goeth to the slaughter when he thinketh he goeth to the pasture; or as those oxen brought forth by Jupiter's priests, with garlands unto the gates, but it was for a slain sacrifice (Acts xiv. 13).--_Trapp._ The butcher's yard would show the meaning of this first similitude. In every sort of way the ox may be coaxed, and apparently to no purpose. But though he may stand, ox-like, like a rock, yet the experienced herdman knows that he will suddenly start in. This is his nature. One inch may cost a hurricane of blows; but at a dash, as the butcher expects, he will suddenly rush in to his doom.--_Miller._ Verse 25. Cut off the beginnings of desire. The first trickling of the crevasse is the manageable, and therefore, more culpable, period of the difficulty.--_Miller._ Verse 26. As Solomon himself subsequently was (Neh. xiii. 26). So Samson and David previously. It is better to learn by the awful example of others than by our own suffering. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.--_Fausset._ The house of the harlot had been compared before to the grave, to the world of the dead; now it is likened to a battle-field strewn with the corpses of armed men. The word speaks rather of the multitude than of the individual strength of those who have perished.--_Plumptre._ In a figurative sense, some of the greatest teachers of Christendom have been seduced by the allurements of heresy, and have been cast down from their place in the firmament of the Church, like stars falling from heaven.--_Wordsworth._ The valour of men hath oft been slaved by the wiles of a woman. Witness many of your greatest martialists, who conquered countries, and were vanquished of vices. The Persian kings commanded the whole world, and were commanded by their concubines.--_Trapp._