Proverbs 5:17

17 May they be yours alone, and not for strangers [who are] with you.

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 ) .

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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 and flowing waters from inside your own well.

16 Shall your springs be scattered outward? In the streets, [shall there be] streams of water?

17 May they be yours alone, and not for strangers [who are] with you.

18 May your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth.

19 [She is] a deer of love and a doe of grace; may her breasts satisfy you {always}; by her love may you be intoxicated continually.