Proverbs 5:1-12

1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, incline thine ear to my understanding;

2 that thou mayest keep reflection, and that thy lips may preserve knowledge.

3 For the lips of the strange woman drop honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;

4 but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on Sheol.

6 Lest she should ponder the path of life, her ways wander, she knoweth not [whither].

7 And now, children, hearken unto me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

9 lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel;

10 lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and the fruits of thy toil [come] into the house of a stranger;

11 and thou mourn in thine end, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed;

12 and thou say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!

Proverbs 5:1-12 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

• [a]. Or 'well-considered thoughts,' it is plural: for singular see ch. 1.4, 'discretion.'
• [b]. Lit. 'palate.'
• [c]. Or 'paths:' see Note i, ch. 2.9.
• [d]. Or 'Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are changeable: thou canst not know [them].'
• [e]. Or 'of another.'