Proverbs 5:1-11

1 My child, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,
2 so that you may hold on to prudence, and your lips may guard knowledge.
3 For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol.
6 She does not keep straight to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7 And now, my child, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house;
9 or you will give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless,
10 and strangers will take their fill of your wealth, and your labors will go to the house of an alien;
11 and at the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,

Proverbs 5:1-11 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 2

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.