Proverbs 5:16-23

16 deriventur fontes tui foras et in plateis aquas tuas divide
17 habeto eas solus nec sint alieni participes tui
18 sit vena tua benedicta et laetare cum muliere adulescentiae tuae
19 cerva carissima et gratissimus hinulus ubera eius inebrient te omni tempore in amore illius delectare iugiter
20 quare seduceris fili mi ab aliena et foveris sinu alterius
21 respicit Dominus vias hominis et omnes gressus illius considerat
22 iniquitates suae capiunt impium et funibus peccatorum suorum constringitur
23 ipse morietur quia non habuit disciplinam et multitudine stultitiae suae decipietur

Proverbs 5:16-23 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.

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