Proverbs 5:4

4 but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.

Proverbs 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 5:4

But her end is bitter as wormwood
Which is opposed to the honeycomb her lips are said to drop; so that, as Juvenal says ^F7, "plus aloes quam mellis habet": the end which she brings persons to, or the issue of complying with her, is bitterness; such as loss of credit, substance, and health, remorse of conscience, and fear of death, corporeal and eternal; see ( Ecclesiastes 7:26 ) ; sharp as a twoedged sword;
which cuts every way; as committing sin with an harlot hurts both soul and body; and the reflection upon it is very cutting and distressing, and destroys all comfort and happiness. This is the reverse of her soothing and softening speech, which is as oil. Such also will be the sad case of the worshippers of the beast, or whore of Rome; who will gnaw their tongues for pain, and be killed with the twoedged sword that proceedeth out of the mouth of Christ, ( Revelation 16:10 ) ( Revelation 19:15 Revelation 19:21 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Satyr. 6. v. 180. "Lingua dicta dulcia dabis, corde amara facilis", Plauti Truculentus, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 77. Cistellaria, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 70, 71, 72.

Proverbs 5:4 In-Context

2 that thou mayest keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives thee a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman;

3 for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases thy palate:

4 but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.

5 For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established.

6 For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known.

Footnotes

• [a]. Gr. a more bitter thing.