Proverbs 5:20

20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger? [a]

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 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.
20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or a foreign woman or another man’s wife
The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially placed into the public domain