Proverbs 5:17

17 They should be for you alone and not for you [to share] with strangers.

Proverbs 5:17 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 5:17

Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
] Or "they shall be thine own" F21, as the Targum; meaning not the cistern, the well, or the wife, but the fountains and rivers, or the children; by a man's cleaving to his own wife, who is a chaste and virtuous woman, he is satisfied that the children he has by her are his own, and not another's; whereas if he has to do with a common harlot, it is uncertain whose children they are, she prostituting herself to many: it may be applied to the peculiar possession and steadfast retention of the truths of the Gospel, in opposition to all divers and strange doctrines propagated by others; see ( Revelation 2:25 ) ( 3:11 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F21 (Kl wyhy) "erunt tui", Mercerus, Cocceius; "erunt tibi", Baynus; "existent tibi", Schultens.

Proverbs 5:17 In-Context

15 Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well.
16 Should your springs flow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17 They should be for you alone and not for you [to share] with strangers.
18 Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn- let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever.
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