Proverbs 5:1-11

1 My son, perceive thou my wisdom, and bow down thine ear to my prudence; (My son, pay attention to my wisdom, and listen to my understanding of things;)

2 (so) that thou keep thy thoughts (proper), and thy lips keep teaching (and thy lips speak knowingly).

3 Give thou not attention to the falseness of a woman; for the lips of an whore be an honeycomb dropping (for a whore's lips be like a dripping honeycomb), and her throat is clearer than oil;

4 but the last things [of her] be (as) bitter as wormwood, and her tongue is (as) sharp as a sword carving, (or cutting,) on each side.

5 Her feet go down into death; and her steps pierce to hells. (Her feet go downward unto death; and her steps shall lead thee unto Sheol, or the land of the dead/and her steps shall lead thee to hell.)

6 Those go not by the path of life; her steps be uncertain, and may not be sought out. (They do not go on the path of life; her steps be uncertain, and should not be followed.)

7 Now therefore, my son, hear thou me (And so now, my son, listen to me), and go thou not away from the words of my mouth.

8 Make far thy way from her (Make thy way far away from her), and nigh thou not to the doors of her house.

9 Give thou not thine honour to aliens (Give thou not thy honour to strangers), and thy years to the cruel;

10 lest peradventure strangers be filled with thy strengths, and lest (the rewards of) thy travails be in an alien's house; (lest perhaps strangers take all thy wealth, and the rewards of all thy efforts be in someone else's house;)

11 and thou bewail in the last days, when thou hast wasted thy flesh, and thy body;

Proverbs 5:1-11 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.