Proverbs 5:20

20 Son, why should you give your love to another woman? Why should you prefer the charms of another man's wife?

Proverbs 5:20 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 5:20

And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman,
&c.] Or "err with her" F25; after all those inconveniences and miseries that follow upon a conversation with a harlot, and all those advantages of a marriage state set before thee; why wilt thou be, so foolish and mad as to have a fondness for an harlot and dote upon her, and neglect entering into a marriage state, or forsake the wife of youth? and yet though things are so clearly stated and aptly represented, and the expostulation made in the most tender and affectionate manner; it is suggested as if after all it would not be attended unto, but a harlot be preferred to a wife of youth, a filthy beast to a loving hind, and dirty puddles of water in a ditch to running streams from a well or fountain; and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
that is not thy wife; a description of unlawful love and impure embraces, which are dissuaded from.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 "Errares", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "aberrares", Cocceius.

Proverbs 5:20 In-Context

18 So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married -
19 pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love.
20 Son, why should you give your love to another woman? Why should you prefer the charms of another man's wife?
21 The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.
22 The sins of the wicked are a trap. They get caught in the net of their own sin.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.