Proverbs 5 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Proverbs 5

Warning Against Adultery

5:1   My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    incline your ear to my understanding,
2   that you may keep discretion,
    and your lips may guard knowledge.
3   For the lips of a forbidden¹ woman drip honey,
    and her speech² is smoother than oil,
4   but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
    sharp as a two-edged sword.
5   Her feet go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to³ Sheol;
6   she does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7   And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8   Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
9   lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
10   lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11   and at the end of your life you groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
12   and you say, “How I hated discipline,
    and my heart despised reproof!
13   I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
14   I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”
15   Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
16   Should your springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
17   Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
18   Let your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19     a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
  Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated⁴ always in her love.
20   Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?⁵
21   For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
    and he ponders⁶ all his paths.
22   The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23   He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is led astray.

Footnotes

[1] 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20
[2] 5:3 Hebrew palate
[3] 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of
[4] 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20
[5] 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman
[6] 5:21 Or makes level

Commentary

Chapters 5 - 7 deal much with issues of purity and adultery, a vital area for young men to consider. As in the previous chapters, the sections are introduced by key phrases;

my son, pay attention (5.1);
now then, my sons, listen to me (5.7);
my son, if you...(6.1);
my son, keep your father's commands (6.20);
my son, keep my words (7.1);
now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention (7.24).

One can imagine father and mother providing such guidance, first to their oldest son, and then to all their children.

v1-14: Keep clear of the immoral woman.

v1: Pay attention and lend your ears; we need wisdom and understanding of others. Here comes an important warning, and we are foolish to think that we already have all the answers.

v2: Preserve knowledge, or discretion, keep understanding; in particular, we must maintain a life of purity and integrity.

v3: Beware the deceitful mouth (4.24), making sin attractive (7.5, 13-21). It is with her enticing speech that she caused the simple (ignorant) man to yield to her temptations.

v4-5: Consider the end; destruction, sorrow, death. Look beyond the immediate, short-term, experience and enjoyment; consider the inevitable end of her ways.

v6: Do not even ponder her way of life, for just to think about such things can excite sin; we are commanded to ponder the way of truth (4.26). The immoral woman is ignorant of truth; she does not know that she is going to disaster, nor that she takes others there too.

v7: As in v1, listen and obey.

v8: Avoid the place of temptation; this advice is utterly practical.

v9-11: The future of regret, having fallen into adultery.

v12-14: The after-effects of adultery; realising the folly of not obeying the truth. Having fallen, it is impossible to turn the clock back, and the damage is done.

v15-20: Keep close at home. The answer to temptation is to stay close; we can do something to avoid sin. This implies that sexual sin is powerful as well as dangerous, and Scripture lists many who fell into this sin.

v15: Personal relationship, demanding utter faithfulness.

v16: Private relationship; to be kept secret.

v17: Unique relationship, exclusive to a man and woman.

v18: A permanent relationship, lasting throughout life.

v19: A satisfying relationship; real enjoyment together, "always...ever."

v20: Such closeness helps to keep us form adultery; purity promotes godly pleasure. The scripture brings both teaching (6.23-24) and warning (6.26,32). The wise man is careful in his choice of wife (12.4; 18.22; 19.14; 31.10-31).

In a similar way, we must maintain a proper relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, staying faithful to Him, enjoying His presence and His love.

v21: The Lord knows and understands, so we can commit all our ways to Him.

v22: The natural man is readily trapped in sin; without the Lord, he is utterly impotent to break free.

v23: Lack of instruction; the man who misses the warnings of scripture will fall into sin.