Bible Commentaries
Proverbs 5

Verses 1-14

The Path of Adultery Leads to Poverty and Destruction Proverbs 5:1-14 gives us a warning about giving our years of labour to the adulteress. The adulteress also represents the love of this world. Therefore, when we follow our own selfish path of worldliness, we depart from God's plan for our lives. In doing this, we will one day sit down in sorrow on Judgment Day and mourn, saying, “How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.” (Proverbs 5:12); for we will be rewarded on how far we have finished God's plan for our lives, and not for what we have accomplished for ourselves.

The verses in this passage speak to us in pairs, our couplets, being Proverbs 5:1-14. Proverbs 5:1-2 tell us to seek wisdom so that we will speak from a heart of wisdom. Proverbs 5:3-4 tell us the trap of seduction from a woman's lips that appear so pleasant and contrasts it with the horrible results of being led into seduction. Proverbs 5:5-6 tell us this seduction will lead down the path of death and not the path of life. Proverbs 5:7-8 tell us to stay near the path of wisdom and far from her path. Proverbs 5:9-10 tell us that our honour, our life, our wealth and our strength will be lost if we follow the path of the strange woman. Proverbs 5:11-14 give the words of a man consumed with grief.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Maintain Wisdom as a Priority Proverbs 5:1-2

2. The Lips of Seduction Proverbs 5:3-4

3. The Strange Woman Leads a Man to Hell Proverbs 5:5-6

4. Stay on the Path of Wisdom Proverbs 5:7-8

5. The Man Gives Her His Honour, Labour, and Wealth Proverbs 5:9-10

6. The Words of Grief from the Fool Proverbs 5:11-14

King Solomon and Adultery - No one taught more clearly and precisely on sexual promiscuity and chastity than did King Solomon. He was able to do so because he had fallen into this immorality. He had been down this journey and come back to God. He failure began when he took Pharaoh’s daughter as his wife (1 Kings 3:1). It was a custom in those days for kings to marry another king’s daughter in an attempt to bind them together in peace. Solomon was following tradition in attempting to gain peace, when, in fact, he was harming himself and his nation.

He allowed this wife to build her idolatrous temple of worship in Jerusalem and defile the holy city. This appeared to be a small compromise at first. Then Solomon followed tradition by taking other heathen daughters until they drew his heart away from the Lord as he attempted to keep peace in his harem (1 Kings 11:4). He never intended on backsliding, but compromise is the first step in departing from God. God would have given Solomon the victory in any battle against other nations, as He did with David his father, but Solomon was led by his fleshly desires and carnal reasoning rather than by the Word of God.

No one has fallen further in this area of sin than did King Solomon. If we will allow God to work in our lives, He will be able to take our greatest failures and turn them into our greatest anointing. How deep was Solomon’s failure in this area. Yet, God used Solomon’s utter failures to speak the message of Proverbs under a mighty anointing, which had touched the lives of mankind for centuries.

Proverbs 5:1-2 Maintain Wisdom as a Priority - Proverbs 5:1-2 tells us to seek wisdom so that we will understand what is going on around us and speak from a heart of wisdom.

Proverbs 5:1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

Proverbs 5:1 Word Study on “attend” Strong says the Hebrew word “attend” “qashab” ( קָשַׁב ) (H7181) is a primitive root meaning, “to prick up the ears, i.e. to hearken.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 46 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “hearken 27, attend 10, heed 3, hear 2, incline 1, marked 1, regarded 1, mark well 1.”

Proverbs 5:1 Comments - We are told to focus our attention upon God’s Word. If we do not focus on the Lord, we will focus upon the things of this world. Whatever we focus upon is what will eventually capture our hearts.

Proverbs 5:2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

Proverbs 5:3-4 The Lips of Seduction Proverbs 5:3-5 tells us that the trap of seduction are found in the lips of a strange woman. Something that appears so pleasant desirous (Proverbs 5:3) is contrasted with the horrible results of being led into seduction (Proverbs 5:4).

In Solomon’s day, there was nothing sweeter than honey or smoother than oil. There was nothing more bitter than wormwood. Yet the lips of a whore are sweeter and smoother than honey and oil. The sweetness of the lips appeals to our sense of taste. The smoothness of oil appeals to our sense of touch. So, the adulteress is appealing to man’s five sense gates. She is attempting to get in and capture his heart.

The battleground is the mind. It is through the mind that the heart is captured. The spoils of the victor are the wealth of a person whose heart and mind have led him down a path of bondage to sin; for whoever controls his heart gains his wealth. For a man will give his strength and wealth for what he holds dear. This is a daily battle that we must fight as long as we live in this mortal body of ours. Now the strange woman knows that she has to enter a man’s mind and heart through his five sense gates; for she has been learning these rules of warfare from her youth. Thus, she speaks soft words to his ears, she beautifies herself for his eyes, she prepares her lips so that he will desire their taste and touch, and she will apply perfume to appeal to his sense of smell. There is no entrance gate that she will leave unattended. Proverbs 7:26 will tell us that “she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.”

Illustration - Note how Job understood this power of temptation. He said, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1) He made a quality decision in his heart before he encountered temptation that he would not gaze and stare upon a woman. A man cannot stop himself from seeing things and observing people. But a person can make a decision not to focus his attention upon it. A person can turn his eyes away from temptation and focus his thoughts upon something else. This is the decision that Job made. Note that Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount that gazing upon a woman will turn our hearts towards adulterous thoughts. This is what Job was avoiding.

Matthew 5:27-28, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

Proverbs 5:3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

Proverbs 5:3 “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb” - Comments - The adulteress is called a “strange” woman in Proverbs 5:3. It is the strangeness of a whore that stands in direct contrast to “knowing” one's wife.

There was nothing sweeter on earth than honey. Yet, the lips of a woman are sweeter. This refers to the sense of taste. A man can seduce a man with the taste of her lips.

We could paraphrase the statement, “the lips of a strange woman drop as a honey comb” into saying it means a person who is able to sweet-talk someone into doing something.

Proverbs 5:3 “and her mouth is smoother than oil” - Comments - Just as there are no tangible materials more valuable than gold and nothing sweeter than honey, so is the Word of God more valuable than these (Psalms 19:10). Likewise, no earthly substance is more slippery, smoother and lubricating than oil, yet a strange woman’s lips surpasses even this.

Psalms 19:10, “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

Proverbs 5:3 Comments - We see in Proverbs 5:3 the method of a woman's seduction over a man. A man is able to rule over others by his strength, but a woman, because she is weak, is only able to rule over a man through seducing him. We find later in the book of Proverbs that her mouth is a like a pit that men fall into. Note:

Proverbs 22:14, “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.”

Proverbs 23:27, “For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.”

Proverbs 5:3 Scripture References - Note a similar verse.

Song of Solomon 4:11, “Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.”

Proverbs 5:4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

Proverbs 5:4 Word Study on “wormword” Strong says the Hebrew word ( לַעֲנָה ) (H3939) means , “wormword (regarded as poisonous, and therefore accursed),” and it comes from a root verb meaning, “to curse.” Its New Testament counterpart is the Greek word άψινθος. Holladay says it is “the plant Artemisia absinthium, containing a bitter taste, always used metaphorically as ‘bitter (ness)’.” Webster says that worm word is “a strong smelling plant that yields a bitter tasting, dark green oil used in making absinthe. Also, a bitter, unpleasant, or mortifying experience.”

Proverbs 5:4 Comments - Bitterness and sharpness are used symbolically to describe what the spirit of man experiences when his conscience shows to him his sin. The grief and pain in a man’s soul who has been overcome by sin is enormous.

Proverbs 5:5-6 The Strange Woman Leads a Man to Hell With Her Unpredictable Decisions Proverbs 5:5-6 tell us this seduction will lead down the path of death and not the path of life, and that it is an unpredictable path to follow.

From Soothing Lips to a Broken Heart - To hear her talk to you sounds soothing and sweet to the soul (Proverbs 5:3), but when your heart follows hard after her, she desires you no more. You have not predicted such a moveable person (Proverbs 5:6). How sharp the pain is of a broken heart. It is like a sword piecing you and the taste of that ordeal is bitter (Proverbs 5:4). During the time that you have tried to please her, she has led you further away from God (Proverbs 5:5).

Proverbs 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

Proverbs 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

Proverbs 5:6 “Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life” Word Study on “ponder” - Strong says the Hebrew word “ponder” ( פָּלַס ) (H6424) means, “ to roll flat, to prepare, to revolve, i.e. to weigh (mentally).” The Enhanced Strong says it is used six times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “ ponder 3, weigh 2, made 1.”

Comments - In Proverbs 5:6 This verb could be translated as the second masculine singular (i.e., you):

YLT, “The path of life--lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths--thou knowest not.”

Or it could be translated as the third feminine singular (i.e., she):

WEB, “ She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.”

JPS, “Lest she should walk the even path of life, her ways wander, but she knoweth it not.”

Either translation is valid because these two different meanings have the same structure in the Hebrew text.

The LXX reads as the second masculine singular, as does the KJV:

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

Proverbs 5:6 “her ways are moveable” - Comments - This kind of woman, also figuratively of this world, can love you one instant and hate you the next instant.

Illustrations:

1. Judges 6:0 - Delilah's love and hate for Samson.

2. Ammon loved Tamar one minute, then hated her the next. ( 2Sa 13:2 ; 2 Samuel 13:4; 2 Samuel 13:15)

2 Samuel 13:4, “And he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king's son, lean from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar , my brother Absalom's sister.”

2 Samuel 13:15, “Then Amnon hated her exceedingly ; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.”

Watch a man who is chasing a loud, whorish woman. She leads him about, constantly changing her mood. He cannot figure her out, no matter how hard he tries. She does not want anything permanent. She is restless and wants constant change. She wants to satisfy her flesh and this requires greater and greater depths of sin and indulgences. One relationship with one man cannot satisfy her cravings.

Proverbs 5:7-8 Stay on the Path of Wisdom, and Far from the Path of the Strange Woman Proverbs 5:7-8 tell us to stay on the path of wisdom and far from her path. Do not be sidetracked by the lures of our senses. We must follow our hearts where the voice of wisdom is heard.

Proverbs 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Proverbs 5:7 “and depart not from the words of my mouth” - Comments - The mouth of wisdom in Proverbs 5:7 is contrasted with the mouth of the strange woman in Proverbs 5:3.

Proverbs 5:3, “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:”

Proverbs 5:8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

Proverbs 5:8 Comments - To ignore this warning of Proverbs 5:8 brings regret and sorrow (Proverbs 5:12-14) that comes from falling into a lifestyle of promiscuity and sin (Proverbs 5:9-11). Yet, this is exactly what the simply young man did in Proverbs 7:8, “Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house.” He thought he had the strength to confront the adulteress, but found out he was weak.

Paul gave the church at Corinth a similar warning to “flee fornication”.

1 Corinthians 6:18, “ Flee fornication . Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”

Paul told young Timothy to stand and fight the good fight of faith. But on one issue he is told to flee, and that is when he is around things that inflame youthful lusts.

2 Timothy 2:22, “ Flee also youthful lusts : but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Paul knew that this was an area that believers could quickly be overcome by the sinful nature of the flesh and thus, they did not even need to be near such temptations. Wisdom is telling us not to get into a place where our senses are being aroused. We are not to be deceived into thinking that we are strong enough to overcome temptations.

Proverbs 5:9-10 The Man who Follow the Strange Woman will Give Her His Honour, Labour, and Wealth Proverbs 5:9-10 tell us that our honour, our life, our wealth and our strength will be lost if we follow the path of the strange woman and ignore the warnings of wisdom. We are told in other verses in Proverbs that riches, honour, life and health are the blessings of wisdom (Proverbs 3:16).

Proverbs 3:16, “Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.”

The path of death will cause us to lose all of these blessings, spiritual, mental, physical and financial. Solomon looked upon Pharaoh’s daughter and pondered her beauty, but it was a setup, a trap that Solomon thought he could discern and avoid.

Proverbs 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

Proverbs 5:9 Comments - A man who follows whorish women loses his honour within his community. A man gives honor unto others by giving his best efforts to please them. Giving a person’s years “unto the cruel” is giving one’s life and effort to evil people, especially to the devil.

Proverbs 5:10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

Proverbs 5:10 Comments - The objective of the evil man and the strange woman is to gain their victim’s wealth. The devil will craftily steal and have you waste your substance. While newspapers, billboards, radios, and televisions advertise a perverse life style with alcohol, cigarettes and other sinful delights, the businesses are become rich from the victim's wealth. Those who yield to these enticements find themselves in bondage, and spend their wealth on such pleasures, while the advertisers get rich off of their substance. When a man goes to the nightclub to satisfy his fleshly lusts, the owner of the club get his wealth while the man’s life is slowly destroyed. A man gives his “labours,” or his best strength to others, i.e., the most active years of one’s life as a young man.

Many wrong marriages resulting in divorce have left a man’s hard earned wealth in another’s household. I watched my beloved father, who gave his life to Jesus in his later years, go through two such divorces in which he left most wealth in the houses of his ex-wives.

Proverbs 5:11-14 The Words of Grief from the Fool Proverbs 5:11-14 give voice to the words of a man consumed with grief. It is only in the midst of utter despair that a fool will finally admit his errors. In other words, when your body is used up, you grieve and realize how much you have wasted your life and hated the instruction of God. It is only when the fool has no more strength to continue in his foolishness does he stop to consider his condition. Only when judgment becomes unbearable will the fool finally sit down and acknowledge his sin.

God has a way of taking a person through judgment that intensifies until a person repents. At this time, God is more concerned about his eternal soul than his temporal gain. We see a series of increasing judgments in the book of Revelation as God gives the world a final opportunity to repent before the Second Coming of the Lord. However, in chapter 19 of the book of Revelation there are those who do not repent because of the hardness of their hearts.

Verses 1-23

The Three Paths to Destruction - Once we receive the call from wisdom in chapter 1, and are shown how to find it in chapter 2, and what blessings come as a result of answering the call of wisdom in chapter 3, and we learn how wisdom transforms our lives in chapter 4, both spirit, soul and body, we are then shown how sin enters our lives and transforms us in chapter Proverbs 5:1 through Proverbs 6:11. Sin will first enter our hearts (Proverbs 5:1-23), then it will corrupt our minds (Proverbs 6:1-5) and finally, it will defile our bodies (Proverbs 6:6-11).

Proverbs 5:1 thru Proverbs 6:11 can be entitled “The Three Paths to Destruction.” This passage of Scripture gives us warnings about some of the most common paths of destruction that people fall into. Man's heart can lead him into bondage through the path of the adulteress (Proverbs 5:1-23). Man's lack of understanding can bring him into bondage because of his tongue, which is coming into agreement with the wisdom of this world (Proverbs 6:1-5). Man's body can bring him into the bondage of poverty through slothfulness (Proverbs 6:6-11). We are taken behind the scenes to see the fearful end of those who follow these three deceitful paths.

Just as the three paths of wisdom manifest themselves in the lives of those who follow her path, so does the fool show outward manifestations of the path that he is on.

Heart - If a person with a transformed heart (Proverbs 4:1-9) will manifest a “crown of glory” (Proverbs 4:9) with an outward peace and anointing, then the corrupted heart of the person who is on the path of adultery (Proverbs 5:1-23) is manifested by being in bondage to sins (Proverbs 5:22).

Mind - For those who have a renewed mind (Proverbs 4:10-19), their lives reflect someone who is able to make wise decisions in which they do not stumble (Proverbs 4:12; Proverbs 4:18). But those with a corrupted mind (Proverbs 6:1-5) will be manifested as a person who cannot make sure decisions, but is constantly agreeing to things to please others (Proverbs 6:1-2).

Body - Those who allow the Word of God to direct their bodies (Proverbs 4:20-27) will be manifest as those who live a long and health life (Proverbs 4:22). In contrast, those who do not yield their bodies to serve the Lord become people who indulge in fleshly passions, which addictions cause a person to become a sluggard (Proverbs 5:6-11). This is manifested as poverty (Proverbs 6:11), which will be seen in the life of the sluggard.

As we step back and evaluate the lessons that we have learned thus far, we find a common factor in each of these sections. They all begin with wisdom calling us to take heed to God’s Words. Every one of these sections, the three paths of wisdom as well as the three paths of the fool, all begin with this same charge. This is because when we take time each day to mediate and study God’s Word, we allow our minds and hearts to become established in the truth so that we will not be deceived by all of the noise from the world.

Outline - Note the proposed outline:

1. The Heart - Warnings of the Adulteress Proverbs 5:1-23

2. The Mind - Warnings of the Loose Tongue Proverbs 6:1-5

3. The Body - Warnings against Laziness Proverbs 6:6-11

Verses 15-19

The Remedy: A Happy Marriage - This passage is describing the institution of holy matrimony. Marriage is called a well of water, running waters, fountains, rivers of waters, a loving hin and a pleasant roe. Water refreshes the soul, and sex refreshes the flesh; but genuine love in marriage refreshes the spirit, soul and body.

The pleasures of marriage outweigh the pleasures of fornication. The remedy for avoiding the strange woman is to pay attention to wisdom, staying far from the house of the adulteress, and focus on your wife as God's source of satisfaction.

Contrasting the Adulteress with the Wife - The book of Proverbs gives a number of contrasts between the adulteress and the wife.

1. If the wife is called fresh, clean water in this passage, the whore is contrasted as a dirty ditch. Note:

Proverbs 23:27, “For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.”

Just as filthy water in a ditch is a source of worms and disease, so is a filthy whore a source of infectious disease.

2. The adulteress is called a “strange” woman. It is the strangeness of a whore that stands in direct contrast to “knowing” one's wife.

Proverbs 5:15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

Proverbs 5:15 Word Study on “cistern” Strong says ( בּוֹר ) (H953) means, “a cistern, pit, well.”

Proverbs 5:15 Comments - Note that in this time period, a man that owned a well was truly blessed. For many neighbours did not have this privilege. Therefore, they find themselves always coming to the house of the one blessed with water and having to purchase it.

My wife grew up in a poor neighbourhood where many small houses were built together. Her father was one of the few homes with running water. The other neighbours were constantly coming over to purchase water from him, but the wicked person attempted to steal some water. This is symbolic of adultery. Note:

Proverbs 9:17, “ Stolen waters are sweet , and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.”

Proverbs 5:16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

Proverbs 5:16 Comments - For those who had their own well, they found enough for themselves and for others to be blessed also.

If the fountain of water represents the man and woman in marriage, then the rivers of water represent their offspring and their overflow of blessings into the society. Rivers of water represent a multitude of children and the divine blessings that overflow into the lives of others. Their offspring will as well become blessings to others in the community.

1. The nation of Judah is said to have come forth out of the waters of Judah.

Isaiah 48:1, “Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah , which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.”

2. We see a similar picture of a river being dispersed from the throne of God in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 22:1, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

In the book of Revelation, these waters represent the life, or provision, from God.

3. In contrast to the blessings of having many children from a loving wife, the man who commits whoredom will not be producing children, as noted in Hosea 4:10.

Hosea 4:10, “For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase : because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.”

Proverbs 5:15-16 Comments A Man’s Source of Refreshing - A man’s wife is his true source of refreshing, just as the well in his own yard is the proper source of physical refreshment with water (Proverbs 5:15). There is enough refreshment in a godly relationship with his wife to overflow and bless a multitude of others (Proverbs 5:16).

Proverbs 5:17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

Proverbs 5:17 Comments - Children produced in a holy marriage are loved by the father and honoured by the community. But both often despise children produced in harlotry. We see this illustrated in the Scriptures where Jephthah, the son of Gilead and the son of a harlot, was rejected by his half brothers.

Judges 11:1-2, “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.”

We see this illustrated in the relationship of Ishmael with his father Abraham. Ishmael, the son of Abraham's handmaid, was cast out of the family after he began to despise Isaac, his half brother.

Proverbs 5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Proverbs 5:18 “and rejoice with the wife of thy youth” - Comments - The phrase “the wife of thy youth” occurs in others places in the Scriptures.

Ecclesiastes 9:9, “ Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun , all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.”

Malachi 2:14-15, “Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth , against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth .”

Proverbs 5:19 Comments - There is a joy in early marriage, where the young wife is excited about taking care of her husband and giving him pleasure. They do things together and enjoy the hope of future happiness together. Unfortunately, the husband can easily take advantage of a wife’s desire to serve him and neglect to meet her needs. Such years of neglect leave a woman depressed and less responsive to her husband, so that she loses her beauty and youthful joy. Such immaturity in the husband leads him to look for a new wife, in whom is such youth and excitement. He blames his first wife, when in fact, he has been the cause of her demise.

Proverbs 5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

Proverbs 5:19 “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe” Comments - The NIV reads, “A loving doe, a graceful deer…” Because of the grace of these animals, women were even named after them (Acts 9:36). The Aramaic name “Tabitha” and its Greek equivalent “Dorcas” mean “a gazelle.”

Acts 9:36, “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha , which by interpretation is called Dorcas : this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.”

Matthew Henry notes that the wealthy men would often keep these animals as pets in their homes to entertain them. [68] We see an illustration of this type of pet in 2 Samuel 12:3.

[68] Matthew Henry, Proverbs, in Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1991), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), notes on Proverbs 5:15-23.

2 Samuel 12:3, “But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.”

Note other Scriptural references to the roe in relation to love:

Song of Solomon 2:9, “My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.”

Song of Solomon 2:17, “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.”

Song of Solomon 8:14, “Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.”

Proverbs 5:19 “let her breasts satisfy thee at all times” Comments - The breasts are both the seat of a woman’s emotions and the source of a man’s attraction. If a man is satisfied with his wife, then he will not be looking for the breasts of another. His affection for his wife’s breasts satisfies her sexual needs. Thus, a man’s physical attraction for his wife is an indicator of the strength of his relationship with her.

Scripture References - Note other similar Scriptures references:

Song of Solomon 1:13, “A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.”

Song of Solomon 4:5, “Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.”

Song of Solomon 7:3, “Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.”

Proverbs 5:19 “be thou ravished always with her love” - Comments - Here, we see the heart of a man in passionate love with his young bride. In order to keep this passion alive, we must follow the remedy that God gives us in this passage of Scripture. Otherwise, a man will find his eyes wandering to other fountains.

Proverbs 5:19 Comments - The word “let” used in Proverbs 519 indicates that it is a matter of a man’s will to decide whether to keep his bond strong with his wife, or to let his eyes and heart wander to a stranger. Thus, when someone says that his passions were beyond his control, he is denying the fact that he chose that path initially of his own free will, although this path may have led him into his passions and bondages.

The secular media today is trying to get the seductive woman in front of the eyes of the man so that he will watch their programs, or read their literature and thus, purchase the products that they advertise. The media simply wants his wealth and they use seduction to get access to it. But they must get the man’s eyes off of his wife and on other seductive women. They could care less if it destroys a marriage as long as they get their wealth.

I learned as a single man to turn my eyes away from seduction and not to meditate upon it. Otherwise, it could easily bring me into bondage.

Put simply, Proverbs 5:19 tells the husband to keep the fires of romance burning. A man’s physical attraction to his wife is an indication of the health of the marriage. Take her on a date. Do things for her to keep her beautiful and sexy. Buy her something romantic to wear for the bedtime hours. Because if the husband does not do it for his wife, then he may become tempted to do it for someone else, even if it is only in his imagination. A man must not neglect the romantic part of a marriage. My experience in marriage shows me that it is the man’s responsibility to keep romance alive, and if he does, the wife will follow his leading by acting and becoming sexy for her husband.

Verses 20-23

The Punishment for Adultery Proverbs 5:20-23 gives us a preview of the punishment awaiting those who go down the path of adultery.

Proverbs 5:20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Proverbs 5:20 Word Study on “ravished” Strong says the Hebrew word “ravished” ( שָׁגָה ) (H7686) means, “to stray, mislead,” and figuratively, “to mistake, to transgress, to be raptured.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 21 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “ err 11, ravished 2, wander 3, deceiver 1, cause to go astray 1, sin through ignorance 1, go astray 1, deceived 1.”

Comments - It serves to say that a man become lost in his passions and fails to listen to reason any more. However, this same Hebrew word is used in a positive way in the preceding verse, “ be thou ravished always with her love”, in order to contrast the desire of a man for his wife.

Proverbs 5:20 Comments - Wisdom is now trying to reason with us in this area. Job knew the struggle of overcoming this type of temptation. Note:

Job 31:1, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?”

Proverbs 5:20 Scripture Reference - Note:

Proverbs 6:27, “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?”

Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

Proverbs 5:21 Word Study on “pondereth” - Strong says the Hebrew word “pondereth” ( פָּלַס ) (H6424) means, “ to roll flat, to prepare, to revolve, i.e. to weigh (mentally).” The Enhanced Strong says it is used six times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “ ponder 3, weigh 2, made 1.”

Proverbs 5:21 Comments - Not only does the Lord see our ways, He weighs our works on the scales of judgment. Note:

BBE, “ For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he puts all his goings in the scales.”

Note other references to the scales of judgment:

1 Samuel 2:3, “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed .”

Daniel 5:27, “TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”

Psalms 62:9, “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.”

Also, note other similar verses:

Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

Revelation 22:12; Revelation 22:15, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be….For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers , and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”

Proverbs 5:21 Comments - As a young Christian in the early 1980's, the Lord gave me a dream with the words, “The Stage and the Scales.” It means that we live this life on a stage before God's eyes. When we die, we will be weighed on God's scales of judgment for everything that we have done in this life.

Proverbs 5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

Proverbs 5:22 “he shall be holden with the cords of his sins” Comments - When a man continues in a certain sin, it becomes a bondage that he cannot break, such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc. The sin of sexual perversion is perhaps one of the greatest bondages that a man can fall into.

Proverbs 5:23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Proverbs 5:23 Comments - We know that Proverbs 5:23 refers to the judgment of the sinner. But we see this judgment on believers clearly illustrated in Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians when he was discussing God's chastisement. Note:

1 Corinthians 11:30-32, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”