Proverbs 5:15-23

15 Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone.

16 Children that you have by other women will do you no good.

17 Your children should grow up to help you, not strangers.

18 So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married -

19 pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love.

20 Son, why should you give your love to another woman? Why should you prefer the charms of another man's wife?

21 The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.

22 The sins of the wicked are a trap. They get caught in the net of their own sin.

23 They die because they have no self-control. Their utter stupidity will send them to their graves.

Proverbs 5:15-23 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.