Proverbs 5:4

4 but the last things [of her] be (as) bitter as wormwood, and her tongue is (as) sharp as a sword carving, (or cutting,) on each side.

Proverbs 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 5:4

But her end is bitter as wormwood
Which is opposed to the honeycomb her lips are said to drop; so that, as Juvenal says ^F7, "plus aloes quam mellis habet": the end which she brings persons to, or the issue of complying with her, is bitterness; such as loss of credit, substance, and health, remorse of conscience, and fear of death, corporeal and eternal; see ( Ecclesiastes 7:26 ) ; sharp as a twoedged sword;
which cuts every way; as committing sin with an harlot hurts both soul and body; and the reflection upon it is very cutting and distressing, and destroys all comfort and happiness. This is the reverse of her soothing and softening speech, which is as oil. Such also will be the sad case of the worshippers of the beast, or whore of Rome; who will gnaw their tongues for pain, and be killed with the twoedged sword that proceedeth out of the mouth of Christ, ( Revelation 16:10 ) ( Revelation 19:15 Revelation 19:21 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Satyr. 6. v. 180. "Lingua dicta dulcia dabis, corde amara facilis", Plauti Truculentus, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 77. Cistellaria, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 70, 71, 72.

Proverbs 5:4 In-Context

2 (so) that thou keep thy thoughts (proper), and thy lips keep teaching (and thy lips speak knowingly).

3 Give thou not attention to the falseness of a woman; for the lips of an whore be an honeycomb dropping (for a whore's lips be like a dripping honeycomb), and her throat is clearer than oil;

4 but the last things [of her] be (as) bitter as wormwood, and her tongue is (as) sharp as a sword carving, (or cutting,) on each side.

5 Her feet go down into death; and her steps pierce to hells. (Her feet go downward unto death; and her steps shall lead thee unto Sheol, or the land of the dead/and her steps shall lead thee to hell.)

6 Those go not by the path of life; her steps be uncertain, and may not be sought out. (They do not go on the path of life; her steps be uncertain, and should not be followed.)