Proverbs 5
Avoid adulterous relationships
Unpardonable sin 21
.
Text
Explanation
 1 ¶ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
.2  That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
   1 - My son The advice seems directed to men.
   2 - Discretion ... lips may keep knowledge Advice to avoid what we call affairs. Sharing personal feelings with a person who is not one's spouse leads into adultery.
.3  For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
.4  But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
 5  Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
 6  Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
   3 - Lips For both kisses and enticing words.
   3 - Strange woman Some translations say, harlot or adulterous woman. The KJV here is the literal translation. To understand, compare ge0401.
   4 - Her end is bitter With many concubines, we assume that Solomon writes about vice that he has finally got victory over 1ki1103.
.7  Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
 8  Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
 9  Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
 10  Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
 11  And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
.12  And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
 13  And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
 14  I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
   7 - Children or "Sons." I like to think that Solomon recognized that his advice to avoid adultery is also for women. Although God has generally called men to leadership roles, it seems to me like Jewish custom overemphasized their importance – a quite different quality.
   8 - Remove thy way We may pray for protection from temptation, but we must also avoid things that would drag our minds down mt0613, is3315.
 15 ¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
 16  Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
 17  Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
.18  Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
 19  Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
.20  And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
   15 - Drink ... own cistern Read a few more verses to see that Solomon is writing about more than water. In friendships between a man and woman outside of marriage it is tempting to discuss things that are not appropriate. Drinking is also a metaphor here for adulterous physical relationships.
   18 - Wife of thy youth I like this verse. It turns my mind back to remember the love of the woman I've been married to for many years. So what is the message?
   20 - Strange woman See on v.3.
.21  For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
.22  His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden [held] with the cords of his sins.
 23  He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
   22 - His own iniquities ... take wicked Others fall by association with sinners.
   22 - Holden Rather than freedom, sin leads to bondage. Compare mt1231.
Previous
Next
Proverbs home
Commentary home
Get commentary CD
Contact