Proverbs 5:5

5 Her feet go down [to] death; her steps take hold [of] Sheol.

Proverbs 5:5 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 5:5

Her feet go down to death
The ways in which she walks, and in which she leads others, issue oftentimes in corporeal death; and always in eternal death, if grace prevent not; and unless men are brought to a sense of sin, to repent of it and leave it. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "the feet of imprudence" or "folly", in opposition to wisdom; that is, the feet of the foolish woman, such an one the harlot is; and such is the whore of Rome, notwithstanding all her boasted knowledge and wisdom. And into perdition, or the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death, she goes herself, and hither she brings all that follow her idolatrous practices, ( Revelation 17:8 ) ( 19:20 ) ( 21:8 ) ; her steps take hold on hell;
make sure of it; hell is the certain portion of the harlot, and of all those that follow her lewd courses, unless reclaimed by the grace of God; and this will be the case of the worshippers of antichrist, or who give into the idolatries of the church of Rome, or commit fornication with her, ( Revelation 14:9-11 ) . Or, "her steps support hell" F8; keep it up, and fill it with inhabitants; millions are carried into it by her means: or, reach unto hell; she stops not till she comes there, and her followers with her. The word may be rendered "the grave", and may respect such whores who haunted burying places, and prostituted themselves among the graves; and were called from hence "bustuariae moechae" F9.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 (wkmty) "sustentabunt", Montanus; "sustinant", Vatablus; "sustentent", Mercerus, Gejerus.
F9 Vid. Turnebi Adversar. l. 13. c. 19. & Sept. vers. in Jer. ii. 23.

Proverbs 5:5 In-Context

3 For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey, and smoother than oil is her mouth.
4 But her end is bitter as the wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down [to] death; her steps take hold [of] Sheol.
6 She does not observe the path of life; her ways wander, [and] she does not know [it].
7 Now, O children, listen to me; do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.