Proverbs 5:10-23

10 Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
11 In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.”
15 Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife.
16 Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?
17 You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers.
18 Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.
20 Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?
21 For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes.
22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.
23 He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

Proverbs 5:10-23 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.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew Drink water from your own cistern, / flowing water from your own well.
  • [b]. Hebrew Why spill your springs in the streets, / your streams in the city squares?
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.