Proverbs 5:16-23

16 Should your 1springs be scattered abroad, streams of water 2in the streets?
17 3Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your 4fountain be blessed, and 5rejoice in 6the wife of your youth,
19 a lovely 7deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts 8fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated[a] always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with 9a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of 10an adulteress?[b]
21 For 11a man's ways are 12before the eyes of the LORD, and he 13ponders[c] all his paths.
22 The 14iniquities of the wicked 15ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 16He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is 17led astray.

Proverbs 5:16-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 5

The general instruction of this chapter is to avoid whoredom, and make use of lawful marriage, and keep to that. It is introduced with an exhortation to attend to wisdom and understanding, Pr 5:1,2; one part of which lies in shunning an adulterous woman; who is described by her flattery, with which she deceives; by the end she brings men to, which is destruction and death; and by the uncertainty of her ways, which cannot be known, Pr 5:3-6. Wherefore men are advised to keep at the utmost distance from her, Pr 5:7,8; lest their honour, strength, wealth, and labours, be given to others, Pr 5:9,10; and repentance and mourning follow, when too late, Pr 5:11-14. And, as a remedy against whoredom, entering into a marriage state is advised to, and a strict regard to that; allegorically expressed by a man's drinking water out of his fountain, and by his wife being as a loving hind and pleasant roe to him, the single object of his affections, Pr 5:15-19. As also the consideration of the divine omniscience is proposed, to deter him from the sin of adultery, Pr 5:20,21; as well as the inevitable ruin wicked men are brought into by it, Pr 5:22,23.

Cross References 17

  • 1. See Psalms 68:26
  • 2. [Jeremiah 9:21; Zechariah 8:5]
  • 3. [Proverbs 14:10]
  • 4. [See ver. 15 above]
  • 5. Deuteronomy 24:5
  • 6. Malachi 2:14
  • 7. Song of Songs 2:9, 17; Song of Songs 8:14
  • 8. [Jeremiah 31:14]
  • 9. See Proverbs 2:16
  • 10. See Proverbs 2:16
  • 11. Psalms 119:168
  • 12. Hosea 7:2; Hebrews 4:13; See Job 14:16; Psalms 11:4
  • 13. ver. 6
  • 14. See Psalms 7:15, 16
  • 15. Proverbs 6:2
  • 16. See Job 4:21
  • 17. [Job 12:24]

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20
  • [b]. Hebrew a foreign woman
  • [c]. Or makes level
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.