Bible Commentaries
Proverbs 5

Verses 1-2

Pro 5:1-2

Proverbs 5:1-2

Jamieson’s short summary of this chapter is: "Here is a warning against the seductive arts of wicked women, enforced by considering the blessings and advantages of chastity, and the miserable end of the wicked,”

Walls subdivided the chapter as follows:

(1) the teacher’s appeal for strict attention (Proverbs 5:1-2),

(2) a description of the loose woman (Proverbs 5:3-6),

(3) an injunction to avoid her (Proverbs 5:7-8),

(4) a warning of that which befalls her victims (Proverbs 5:9-14), a call to cherish holy love in marriage (Proverbs 5:15-19), a reminder that adultery is a sin against God (Proverbs 5:20-23).”

THE TEACHER’S APPEAL FOR STRICT ATTENTION

Proverbs 5:1-2

"My son, attend unto my wisdom;

Incline thine ear to my understanding:

That thou mayest preserve discretion,

And that thy lips may keep knowledge."

This solemn plea for strict attention indicates the importance of the severe warning against adultery that is about to be given, a subject briefly mentioned in 2:15-19. "The writer, in addition, will return to this subject again in the latter part of Proverbs 6 and in all of Proverbs 7.”

The emphasis given this subject in Proverbs is significant. "If a young man would take to heart the warnings and prohibitions in Proverbs and add those qualities mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount, he would be a perfect man. In Proverbs, the sins of the flesh, gluttony, wine-bibbing and fornication are presented in graphic detail with clear and specific warnings against them.” There is a possibility that Solomon, the author of these warnings, gave them such overwhelming emphasis because these were the very sins that ruined him.

Proverbs 5:1. Life’s experiences and learning bring to a father a degree of wisdom and understanding that he passes onto this children. Here is the same instruction found variously worded in Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 2:1-2; Proverbs 3:1; Proverbs 3:21; Proverbs 4:1-2; Proverbs 4:10-13; Proverbs 4:20-21; Proverbs 6:20-21; Proverbs 7:1-3; Proverbs 7:24.

Proverbs 5:2. “Discretion” is “good judgment in conduct and especially in speech”. “Preserve” and “keep” are interchangable in the two statements of this verse. Great care should be exercised in our speech so that it always reflects discretion and knowledge.

STUDY QUESTIONS - Proverbs 5:1-2

1. Why should a father teach his son (Proverbs 5:1)?

2. How does Proverbs 5:2 say wisdom will show up?

Verses 1-14

Pro 5:1-14

Solomon Warns against a Strange Woman (Proverbs 5:1-14):

"My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding: That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge" (Proverbs 5:1-2). Solomon is on a quest to have man attend to the business of obtaining wisdom and understanding. If we as fathers had one thing to do over with our children as they grew up what would it be? It seems that most ought to say that I would spend more time encouraging my son or daughter to gain wisdom and understanding. The consequences of such work is "discretion" i.e., "to be discreet... having or showing a judicious reserve in one’s speech or behavior; prudent... lacking ostentation or pretension; modest" (AHD 403). We defined discretion at Proverbs 3:21 as prudence, forethought, judgment, and carefulness. One with discretion will have lips that keep knowledge. The wise man is what he is and does not try to appear to be something .

"For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil: But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol; So that she findeth not the level path of life: Her ways are unstable, and she knoweth it not" (Proverbs 5:3-6). Solomon had instructed his readers to obtain wisdom at chapter 2 so that they would be delivered "from the strange woman, even from the foreigner that flatters with her words; that forsake the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God: for her house inclines unto death, and her paths unto the dead; none that go unto her return again, neither do they attain unto the paths of life:" (Proverbs 2:16-19). Her mouth is once again considered. Solomon warned of her words of flattery at chapter 2. He now warns against her smooth words that drop as honey. Her work of seduction may appear desirable at the first; however, when one takes hold of her she becomes bitter as wormwood and sharp as a two-edged sword in that she pierces one through with many bitter sorrows of life. To a married man she is strange because she does not belong to you and neither is she available to you. Those who imbibe of her will be brought to death. Solomon says that such a woman who is willing to take a married man in adultery or unmarried man in fornication has not found the level path of life. She is unstable in the realm of faith and so foolish she doesn’t even know it. Women who seek after sexual companions are a cancer to society.

"Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me, And depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house; Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel; Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, And thy labors be in the house of an alien" (Proverbs 5:7-9). Solomon pleads again with the reader regarding attaining, holding, and giving head to wisdom and instruction. Don’t let a strange woman ruin your existence. Solomon admonishes man to "remove thy way far from her... come not nigh the door of her house..." Those who flirt with disaster will taste disaster in their lives. The wise should run "far from her" (see 1 Corinthians 6:13-20).

To go to the door of a strange woman is to:

"Give thine honor unto others." The meaning may be one’s reputation is ruined...

Give "thy years unto the cruel" may be an allusion to the wrath that the adulterated woman’s husband would exercise on the young man that went her way.

"Lest strangers be filled with thy strength." The 1901 ASV has a footnote that reads "wealth" rather than "strength." All that a man works for may be taken by this strange woman. One’s hard earned money from labor will be spent on one that is strange and unlawful.

"And thou mourn at thy latter end, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof; Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was well-nigh in all evil In the midst of the assembly and congregation" (Proverbs 5:10-14). One can scarcely imagine the sorrow and tears that are the byproduct of fornication and adultery. When the strange woman succeeds in bringing one to spiritual death there will be great mourning in the latter end. The mental anguish of knowing that you have violated God’s laws, turned your head to your parents instructions, caused great sorrow within the home, and lost your hard earned money to a harlot is a sorrow that will burn within one’s being. When it is too late, when your family is torn, when your children are ashamed of you, when your wife’s heart is broken you will say, "why didn’t I listen and apply wisdom to my life." The moment of pleasure will not be worth the agony your carelessness caused.

Study Questions – Proverbs 5:1-14

1. Why should a father teach his son (Proverbs 5:1)?

2. How does Proverbs 5:2 say wisdom will show up?

3. Comment on the 2 figures used in Proverbs 5:3.

4. How is the “end” in Proverbs 5:4 different from what we read in Proverbs 5:3?

5. Where does the evil woman’s way go (Proverbs 5:5)?

6. What kind of person is this woman (Proverbs 5:6)?

7. What is the purpose of Proverbs 5:7 being where it is?

8. Why is the instruction in Proverbs 5:8 so pertinent?

9. How deeply does such a person usually get involved (Proverbs 5:9)?

10. How would strangers be filled with his strength (Proverbs 5:10)?

11. What does such living often do to one’s body (Proverbs 5:11)?

12. Whose instructions had not been heeded (Proverbs 5:12)?

13. People learn, but sometimes it is too .............. (Proverbs 5:13).

14. What is the meaning of Proverbs 5:14?

Verses 3-6

Pro 5:3-6

Proverbs 5:3-6

DESCRIPTION OF THE LOOSE WOMAN

"For the lips of a strange woman drop honey,

And her mouth is smoother than oil.

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death;

Her steps take hold on Sheol;

So that she findeth not the level path of life:

Her ways are unstable, and she knoweth it not."

"The lips of a strange woman" (Proverbs 5:3). "This is any woman who is not thine own, whether Jewess or heathen.”

"Drop honey" (Proverbs 5:3). This is a metaphor to describe the attractive proposals by which a prostitute solicits her victim. "Her suggestions sound reasonable, and what she is offering appears desirable; but such indulgence leads to remorse and death." "Her very strangeness and looseness make her exciting and tempting. Such a person presents the young man, yes, any man, with a powerful sexual attraction.”

"Her mouth is smoother than oil" (Proverbs 5:3). "David used the very same words of the metaphors found in this and in Proverbs 5:4 to describe the treachery of his friend Ahithophel in Psalms 55:21.”

The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. - Psalms 55:21 AV.

"In the end she is bitter as wormwood" (Proverbs 5:4). The terrible consequences of sinful gratification of sexual desire are plainly stated in this chapter. "She may seem like honey; but those who have dealings with her find the abiding taste is wormwood, an insecticide exceedingly bitter.” "Wormwood comes from a shrub of bitter taste, used in the preparation of absinthe, which is traditionally used as medicine for deworming (whence the name).” "In Revelation, Wormwood became an eschatological abstraction Revelation 8:10-11," standing for the unspeakable sorrows falling upon the rivers and fountains of earth.

"In the end" (Proverbs 5:4). Yes, indeed, there is an end that follows sinful sexual gratification "There is an end (KJV), an afterward; and Proverbs does not allow us to forget it"! No human activity should be judged merely upon the basis of its initial result; it is the ultimate consequences, the final result, that must also be considered. And when such judgment is applied to this vice, only a fool could willingly indulge in it.

"Her feet go down to death ... Sheol" (Proverbs 5:5). Sinful sexual relations literally bring death to myriads of mankind. Such diseases as syphilis and aids are almost exclusively acquired through illicit sex contacts; and it is simple truth that the prostitute’s (one of the offenders in this passage) feet go down to death, and her steps take hold of Sheol. "The word Sheol here is used as a synonym for death. The KJV renders this word as hell; but the New Testament word for the lake of fire is Gehenna, which does not appear in the Old Testament.”

"She findeth not the level path of life" (Proverbs 5:6). "This verse may refer either to the pupil (as in KJV) or the adulteress (as in ASV), for the Hebrew does not distinguish.”

"Her ways are unstable, etc." (Proverbs 5:6). Cook noted that, "This verse describes the state of heart and soul which prostitution brings upon its victims: - the reckless blindness that will not think, tottering on the abyss, yet loud in defiant mirth, ignoring the dreadful future.”

Proverbs 5:3. Several lengthy sections of the first chapters of Proverbs are given to warning against immorality. Immorality has proven to be one of people’s greatest pitfalls. Psalms 55:21 also speaks of wicked people’s “smooth” speech (“smooth as butter,” “softer than oil”), False teachers also employ “smooth and fair speech” to succeed at their perverse ways (Romans 16:17-18). The warning of our verse about this woman’s “lips” and “mouth” may be relative to her flattering words (see Proverbs 2:16; Proverbs 6:24), or it may be relative to her kisses (Proverbs 7:13).

Proverbs 5:4. Sinners fall for the pleasure involved while wisdom (the father in this verse) sees the “end”. The bitter end of such indulgence (“bitter as wormwood”, “sharp as a two-edged sword”) is to be contrasted with the “honey” and “oil” of Proverbs 5:3. Solomon said, “I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her” (Ecclesiastes 7:26).

Proverbs 5:5. A triple parallel: “her feet” and “her steps”, “go down” and “take hold on”, and “death” and “Sheol”. Before we go with somebody, it is the part of wisdom to find where she is going. Sin always leads to death: “In the day that thou eatest these of thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17); “They that practice such things are worthy of death” (Romans 1:32); “As through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12); “the end of these things is death” (Romans 6:23); “Sin and death” (Romans 8:2); “Sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). The body would come to “death” at which time the spirit would depart to “Sheol” (Hades). Proverbs 7:27 says, “Her house is the way to Sheol, Going down to the chambers of death.”

Proverbs 5:6. Consider Proverbs 4:26 in connection with this verse: “Make level the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.” Our verse says such a woman never knows this way: she is “unstable”, undependable, and has nothing that she can hold onto. Man likes level ways to travel (they are so much easier than to be going up and going down hills), but such a woman knows nothing of the good road of life. And yet her kind has never neared extinction!

STUDY QUESTIONS - Proverbs 5:1-14

1. Comment on the 2 figures used in Proverbs 5:3.

2. How is the “end” in Proverbs 5:4 different from what we read in Proverbs 5:3?

3. Where does the evil woman’s way go (Proverbs 5:5)?

4. What kind of person is this woman (Proverbs 5:6)?

Verses 7-8

Pr0 5:7-8

Proverbs 5:7-8

AN INJUNCTION TO AVOID THE STRANGE WOMAN

"Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me.

And depart not from the words of my mouth.

Remove thy way far from her,

And come not nigh the door of her house."

There are some temptations that must be avoided in order to be successfully resisted; and fornication, adultery and related vices are in that category. The New Testament echoes the same admonition. "Flee youthful lusts" (2 Timothy 2:22). "Obedience to this injunction might very well require that we should change our job, break with a set of friends," or renounce certain entertainment.

Proverbs 5:7. Another return to “my sons” (plural) instead of the customary “my son” (singular). The plural is used 3 times in Proverbs: here, Proverbs 4:1; Proverbs 7:24. “Hearken to me,” says the father and not to “her”! “Depart” from her but not from the “words of my mouth”.

Proverbs 5:8. The best way to keep from getting caught is to stay away from the trap. Quarantines are to keep people isolated from the problem. Eve said they were not even to “touch” the tree (Genesis 3:3). We are told to “come...out from among them”, to be “separate”, not even to “touch” the unclean thing (2 Corinthians 6:17). The pure Joseph did not even want to be around the seductive Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:10).

STUDY QUESTIONS - Proverbs 5:7-8

1. What is the purpose of Proverbs 5:7 being where it is?

2. Why is the instruction in Proverbs 5:8 so pertinent?

Verses 9-14

Pro 5:9-14

Proverbs 5:9-14

WARNING OF WHAT BEFALLS VIOLATORS OF THIS LAW

"Lest thou give thine honor unto others,

And thy years unto the cruel.

Lest strangers be filled with thy strength,

And thy labors be in the house of an alien.

And thou mourn at thy latter end,

When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

And say, How have I hated instruction,

And my heart despised reproof;

Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

I was well-nigh in all evil

In the midst of the assembly and congregation."

"The evil results of relations with the strange woman fall into three divisions. (1) Loss of wealth and position (Proverbs 5:9 f), (2) physical deterioration (Proverbs 5:11), and (3) certain legal penalties.”

The thrust of the whole passage is that unlawful and promiscuous sex destroys the participant socially, financially, morally, and even physically. Such activity is a sin against society, against the family, against one’s own body, against the church and against God Himself.

"Lest strangers be filled with thy strength" (Proverbs 5:10). The AV has `wealth’ instead of `strength,’ which makes better sense. Such activities as prostitution and adultery "bring poverty"; and there are many ways in which this is brought about. Severe legal penalties accompany violations in this sector; but evil men prefer to blackmail offenders rather than penalize them. Prostitutes are victimized by crooked policemen who charge them `protection money.’ Etc. The schemes are unlimited.

"When thy flesh and thy body are consumed" (Proverbs 5:11). Yes, the physical destruction that is identified with this sin is epic in its proportions. In this writer’s boyhood, the strongest youth in the community could tear a deck of cards in two, chin himself with either hand, and perform other amazing things; but he went to work in the oil fields, indulged his lust with prostitutes, contracted syphilis, and returned in a wheel-chair ("locomotor ataxia"), and to an untimely death. Almost invariably the fatal disease of aids is directly the result of indulging in this sin. "Then (when Proverbs was written) as now, terrible disease was the result of this sin.”

"And say, How have I hated instruction" (Proverbs 5:12). Even more terrible than other results of this wickedness is the bitter remorse that tortures the violator in his latter days. "Even more bitter than slavery, poverty and disease will be the bitterness of that self-reproach, and the hopeless remorse that works death.”

"Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers" (Proverbs 5:13). "The profligate admits that he was not without teachers and advisers, and that he gave no heed to their warnings and reproofs.”

"I was well nigh in all evil" (Proverbs 5:14). "This vice, like a whirlpool, sweeps all others into its vortex.” Falsehood invariably, and murder occasionally are directly associated with this evil. As DeHoff wrote, "This vice leads one into all others. Every sin has a group of cousins who always come to visit.” We might add that they stay a long time!

Proverbs 5:9. Fornication is seldom a one-time matter (unless one repents). Usually (like with alcohol) one gets involved for “years”, and his good name (“honor”) is sacrificed. Immorality is “cruel” in what it does to the guilty, to his mate, and to his family.

Proverbs 5:10. Others will have the substance earned through strength and labor. Proverbs 6:26 says, “On account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread.” The Prodigal Son had devoured his inheritance with harlots (Luke 15:13; Luke 15:30).

Proverbs 5:11. God has seen fit to visit immorality with the plague of various social diseases (venereal diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, and lymph granuloma). The father had foreseen the mourning sure to come, but a young man might not consider it because of the sinful pleasure that precede it.

Proverbs 5:12. A man suffering his last would have learned, but it would be too late to profit him. His father would probably be dead and gone by the time the prodigal wakened up to reality with a disease-ridden and ruined body, but his father’s words would return to his mind with greater meaning. As he looks back, he sees that he actually “hated” and “despised” his father’s instruction. Other instances of such: Proverbs 1:25; Proverbs 1:29; Proverbs 12:1.

Proverbs 5:13. “Teachers” implies that others besides his father had tried to counsel him. Surely his mother would have been one of them (“Forsake not the law of thy mother”—Proverbs 1:8). He had had good teachers (like many), but he was “smarter” than his teachers—he followed his own ways!

Proverbs 5:14. “Such was my shamelessness that there was scarcely any wickedness which I did not commit, unrestrained even by the presence of the congregation and assembly. The fact which the ruined youth laments is the extent and audacity of his sins” (“Pulpit Commentary”).

STUDY QUESTIONS - Proverbs 5:9-14

1. How deeply does such a person usually get involved (Proverbs 5:9)?

2. How would strangers be filled with his strength (Proverbs 5:10)?

3. What does such living often do to one’s body (Proverbs 5:11)?

4. Whose instructions had not been heeded (Proverbs 5:12)?

5. People learn, but sometimes it is too .............. (Proverbs 5:13).

6. What is the meaning of Proverbs 5:14?

Verses 15-19

Pro 5:15-19

Proverbs 5:15-19

THE CALL TO CHERISH HOLY LOVE IN MARRIAGE

"Drink waters out of thine own cistern,

And running waters out of thine own well.

Should thy springs be dispersed abroad,

And streams of waters in the streets?

Let them be for thyself alone,

And not for strangers with thee.

Let thy fountain be blessed;

And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.

As a loving hind and a pleasant doe,

Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times;

And be thou ravished always with her love."

"Here the teacher passes to positive instructions on the sacred joy of a pure and happy marriage in terminology similar to the Song of Solomon." "These verses are the heart of the chapter. They exalt the marriage relationship." This emphasizes the God-given purpose of sexual powers and God’s containment of this blessing within the context of the family and his absolute prohibition of its promiscuous and sinful use otherwise. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is God’s commandment in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

"Thine own cistern ... thine own well ... thy fountain" (Proverbs 5:15; Proverbs 5:18). All of these metaphors are for one’s wife; and the "springs" and "streams" of Proverbs 5:16 are metaphors for one’s children. The adulterer’s children are "dispersed abroad" and found in the streets (Proverbs 5:16). He never knows where or how many they may be. "Promiscuous and unlawful sex relations throw doubt upon the paternity of children.”

"The language here is frankly erotic, a rare emphasis in Scripture, but it is highly important to see sexual delight in marriage as a God-given blessing; and history confirms that when marriage is viewed merely as a business arrangement, not only is God’s bounty misunderstood, but human passion seeks other outlets."

"As a loving hind and a pleasant doe" (Proverbs 5:19). Here we have other figurative references to a loving wife. "In the whole cycle of Arabian and Persian poetry the antelope (deer) and the gazelle are the chosen images of beauty.” ; Acts 9:36 tells us of a Christian woman named Dorcas, which means `gazelle’; and Tabitha is the Aramaic version of the same name.

Proverbs 5:15. Instead of carrying on immorally, he counsels his son to get married, have his own mate, and partake of his own well and cistern. This is what he will do in other fields of life. He will have his own garden—he will not steal out of his neighbor’s garden. He will have his own flowers—he won’t steal from his neighbor’s flower garden. Hebrews 13:4 says, “Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled”—that which is sin outside of marriage is innocent within the bounds of marriage-“for fornicators and adulterers God will judge”—those who carry on immorally apart from or outside of the marriage bounds.

Proverbs 5:16. “The figurative language is still continued, and under the terms ‘fountains’ and ‘rivers of waters’ are to be understood children, the legitimate issue of lawful marriage…The meaning appears to be: ‘Let thy marriage be blessed with many children, who may go abroad for the public good” (“Pulpit Commentary”). Psalms 127:3-5 pictures such: “Children are a heritage of Jehovah; And the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, So are the children of youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.” And Psalms 128:3 : “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, In the innermost parts of thy house; Thy children like olive plants, Round about thy table.” The question form of our verse shows that a man should not beget illegitimate children.

Proverbs 5:17. Do not consent to living with a wife who is unfaithful. This verse puts the thought into commandment form: it says, “Don’t share your mate with anybody else;” and observation confirms that it seldom works out to keep living with an unfaithful mate in the hope that everything will ultimately turn out all right. Mate-trading is not only forbidden by this, but it is inevitably the ruin of marriage.

Proverbs 5:18. This carries the same thought as Proverbs 5:15, only in more explicit language. God has created you so you have all the possibilities of love and enjoyment at home. Ecclesiastes 9:9 says, “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest.” But people who lacked the character, conviction and conscience to behave themselves during their courtships often tire of one another during the years of marriage, and then the same lack of character and control causes them to become “grumpy” with each other and to seek immoral connections with others.

Proverbs 5:19. “Pulpit Commentary” says, “The loving hind and pleasant roe...descriptive of the grace and fascinating charms of the young wife…She is to be the object of thy love and devotion, the one in whom thine affections are to find the fulfillment of their desires.” The correctness of the above is brought out by the fact that the “hind” and the “roe” enter often into the erotic poetry of the East.

STUDY QUESTIONS - Proverbs 5:15-19

1. What does Proverbs 5:15 mean?

2. What is the meaning of Proverbs 5:16?

3. Is it all right for a man to share his wife with others (Proverbs 5:17)?

4. Proverbs 5:18 is a restatement of what previous verse?

5. What is a “hind”, and what is a “roe” (Proverbs 5:19)?

Verses 15-23

Pro 5:15-23

A Call to Faithfulness (Proverbs 5:15-23):

"Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well. Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, And streams of water in the streets? Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee" (Proverbs 5:15-17). Wives are sometimes referred to as a cistern (Isaiah 51:2) or vessels with which one would drink (see 1 Thessalonians 4:4; 1 Peter 3:7). The sexual act is completely lawful within the confines of marriage (see Hebrews 13:4) and is actually encouraged by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 7:1 ff). The faithful child of God is to be faithful to their mate and never seeking intercourse outside of marriage.

"Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth. As a loving hind and a pleasant doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love" (Proverbs 5:18-19). Marriage is generally for the young. Solomon commands that man always "rejoice in the wife of thy youth." Our wives ought to continue to please and make us happy even in our older ages. Man is commanded to be satisfied with the breast of his own wife. One should never even look lustfully at the breast of another woman (see Matthew 5:27-28). Man is also instructed to "always be ravished with her love." The word "ravished" means to be overwhelmed with emotion. A man’s wife should cause him to be overwhelmed with emotion when thinking of her, being with her, and making a home with her. She is everything to him in this life and he would not give her up for anything (like a strange woman).

People today seem to get bored with the wife of their youth. When children come along they feel the reality of age setting in and decide to go back out into the world. What a sickening sight it is for a man in his forties to be chasing women and attending events that single people would be doing. Some refuse to accept their age. Some refuse to accept maturity. Some are bent on destroying homes for selfish pleasure.

"For why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah; And he maketh level all his paths. His own iniquities shall take the wicked, And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction; And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray" (Proverbs 5:20-23). The Holy Spirit enjoins the emotion of being ravished with love only by one’s wife (or husband) "why" would someone want to be ravished by a "strange woman" or "embrace the bosom of a foreigner?" If it is God’s laws not to do so yet you do this you exercise a spirit of selfishness and dishonor the name of Jehovah God. Always remember, "the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah" (see Jeremiah 23:23). Nathan had made a similar comment to David when he tried to secretly conceal his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah her husband (see 2 Samuel 12:12). Then end of an adulterous relationship is to live in sin (i.e., holden with the cords of sin). Due to the adulterer’s folly he shall die for lack of instruction.

Verses 20-23

Pro 5:20-23

Proverbs 5:20-23

A REMINDER THAT ADULTERY IS A SIN AGAINST GOD

"For why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman,

And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah;

And he maketh level all his paths.

His own iniquities shall take the wicked,

And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.

He shall die for lack of instruction;

And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray."

"Why ... be ravished with a strange woman" (Proverbs 5:20)? In the previous verse the pupil is commanded to, "Be ravished always with her love"; and Tate identified this word (ravished) as the, "Key word in the chapter.” He defined it as "infatuation"; but "intoxicated" is also said to be a synonym.

"The ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah" (Proverbs 5:21). "Here the teaching assumes a higher tone, rising above the lower law that regulates fidelity on the basis of personal attraction to that higher Law which brings the husband’s conduct into relation with that duty that he owes to God.”

When Joseph was sorely tempted by Potiphar’s wife, he refused, saying, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God"? (Genesis 39:9). We noted earlier that there is a recoil from this particular "great wickedness" against society, against one’s spouse, against the family, against the church, against one’s own body, etc.; but over and beyond everything else, IT IS A SIN AGAINST GOD! "This will be examined and judged by the Universal Judge, and will bring with it its own Nemesis and retribution.”

"His own iniquities shall take the wicked ... in the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray" (Proverbs 5:22-23). It is important to note that, "These verses place the blame where it belongs, not particularly upon the woman, but upon the man whose wickedness is spelled out"!

"He shall die for lack of instruction" (Proverbs 5:23). "In this verse, the Revised Standard Version is much to be preferred. It reads, `He shall die for lack of discipline.’" Instruction he had; discipline he had not; and in that condition his death was assured.

Proverbs 5:20. Two great thoughts involved here: (1) Be ravished with your own wife; embrace your own sweet wife; who should be dearer to you than the one who is for you alone? (2) Don’t be ravished by and don’t embrace any other; it is wrong to do so; and the whole affair will let you down in time.

Proverbs 5:21. Many passages show that no man, though he may try to slip around behind the back of his wife and carry on with some other woman, can conceal his deeds from God: “The eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth” (2 Chronicles 16:9); “Doth not he see my ways?” (Job 31:4); “His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And he seeth all his goings” (Job 34:21); “The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, Keeping watch upon the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3); “Mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity concealed from mine eyes” (Jeremiah 16:17); “...whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 32:19); “They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness; now have their own doings beset them about; they are before my face” (Hosea 7:2). For the statement, “he maketh level all his paths,” the Margin seems to fit the context and sense better: He “weigheth carefully” all his paths.

Proverbs 5:22. “Most people who follow unlawful pleasures think they can give them up whenever they please, but sin repeated becomes customary, custom soon engenders habit, and habit in the end assumes the form of necessity; the man becomes bound with his own cords and so is led captive by the devil at his will” (“Clarke”). Iniquity is like an outlaw who overpowers a person and then keeps him by chaining him. Christ came to release all such: “He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives” (Luke 4:18).

Proverbs 5:23. Not that he didn’t have instruction but that he had instruction that he didn’t heed, for in Proverbs 5:12 he admitted, “How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof; Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!” Sin is here called “folly” (a “great” folly) that takes one out of the path (“astray”) like a lost and wandering sheep and gets one off-course (like a wandering star for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever—Judges 1:13). Both God and decent people have always considered fornication and adultery a “great” sin.

STUDY QUESTIONS - Proverbs 5:20-23

1. Why should one embrace the bosom of a foreigner and be ravished with a strange woman (Proverbs 5:20)?

2. What does Proverbs 5:21 mean?

3. How is the bondage of sin brought out in Proverbs 5:22?

4. What is sin called in Proverbs 5:23?

Warning against Adultery - Proverbs 5:1-23

Open It

1. In what way have you found society encourages or discourages personal discipline?

2. What makes a good marriage work?

Explore It

3. Why did Solomon tell the reader to listen to his words? (Proverbs 5:1-2)

4. What is this chapter about? (Proverbs 5:1-23)

5. What did Solomon say about the lips and speech of an adulteress? (Proverbs 5:3-4)

6. Where do the steps of an adulteress lead? (Proverbs 5:5)

7. What thought does an adulteress give to the long-term consequences of her way of life? (Proverbs 5:6)

8. What did Solomon encourage us to do? (Proverbs 5:7-8)

9. Why should a person keep away from the adulteress? (Proverbs 5:9-10)

10. What happens to the person who does not stay away from the adulteress? (Proverbs 5:11-14)

11. How should a person satisfy his or her thirst? (Proverbs 5:15)

12. Where should a person seek sexual fulfillment? (Proverbs 5:15-20)

13. What did Solomon say about intimacy in marriage? (Proverbs 5:16-17)

14. What is one of the reasons a person should stay faithful to his or her spouse? (Proverbs 5:21)

15. What sort of damage can the evil deeds and sin of a wicked person do? (Proverbs 5:22)

16. What did Solomon say was the downfall of a wicked man? (Proverbs 5:23)

Get It

17. What has God provided for us in the marriage relationship?

18. Why do you think people fall into sexual sin?

19. What makes sexual sin so tempting?

20. How can adultery destroy a person’s life?

21. How do people show they hate discipline?

22. Why is it difficult to live a disciplined life and resist sin?

23. Why might someone be tempted to satisfy his or her longings outside his or her marriage relationship?

24. What does it mean to be captivated by your spouse’s love?

25. What can we do to avoid being enticed by adultery?

26. How does the fact that your ways are in full view of the Lord make you feel?

27. How can a wicked person’s evil deeds and sin ensnare him or her?

Apply It

28. What steps can you take to guard against sexual temptation?

29. What can you do today to renew your love relationship with your spouse?

30. What is one thing you can do to affirm the marriage relationship?