Proverbs 5:2-12

2 that thou mayest keep good understanding, and the discretion of my lips gives thee a charge. Give no heed to a worthless woman;

3 for honey drops from the lips of a harlot, who for a season pleases thy palate:

4 but afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword.

5 For the feet of folly lead those who deal with her down to the grave with death; and her steps are not established.

6 For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known.

7 Now then, son, hear me, and make not my words of none effect.

8 Remove thy way far from her; draw not near to the doors of her house:

9 lest thou give away thy life to others, and thy substance to the merciless:

10 lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours come into the houses of strangers;

11 And thou repent at last, when the flesh of thy body is consumed,

12 and thou shalt say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart avoided reproofs!

Proverbs 5:2-12 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

• [a]. Gr. a more bitter thing.