Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5 warns a 'son' against the deception and destruction of the adulterous woman, contrasting her lethal path with the life-giving joy found in marital faithfulness. The chapter concludes by anchoring these ethical warnings in the reality of God's omniscience, noting that all human actions are fully known and weighed by Him.

• Solomon calls for focused attention to wisdom as a protective measure (vv. 1-2).
• He describes the seductive but ultimately fatal nature of the adulteress (vv. 3-6).
• He commands total avoidance of this woman and warns of the complete loss of wealth and reputation (vv. 7-14).
• He advocates for satisfaction in the context of lawful, monogamous marriage (vv. 15-20).
• He grounds the entire warning in the inescapable reality of divine judgment and the entrapment of sin (vv. 21-23).

• The 'strange woman' whose lips drip honey but whose end is wormwood (vv. 3-4).
• The location of her path: feet going down to 'death' and steps taking hold on 'Sheol' (v. 5).
• The consequences of loss: wealth given to others and the waste of one's years (vv. 9-10).
• The agricultural metaphor for faithfulness: drinking from one's own cistern and fountain (vv. 15-18).
• The Lord's observation: 'the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord' (v. 21).

This passage bridges abstract wisdom with concrete ethical living, showing that wisdom is not merely intellectual but involves the physical protection of one's life and household. It establishes the biblical standard for sexual integrity as a prerequisite for a life characterized by wisdom rather than ruin.

Wisdom is fundamentally protective; it guards the heart and home by fleeing from the momentary sweetness of sin, knowing that God witnesses every action and that sin binds the sinner in inevitable self-destruction.

The chapter follows a cautionary structure: it opens with an imperative to hear, moves to a descriptive warning about the danger, provides a constructive alternative in marriage, and closes with a theological assertion about God's knowledge to reinforce the command.

• The fountain of the faithful man shall be blessed (v. 18).

• Attend unto my wisdom (v. 1).
• Bow thine ear to my understanding (v. 1).
• Depart not from the words of my mouth (v. 7).
• Remove thy way far from her (v. 8).
• Rejoice with the wife of thy youth (v. 18).

• Her feet go down to death (v. 5).
• Her steps take hold on hell (v. 5).
• The end of the adulterous woman is bitter and sharp (v. 4).
• The sinner shall die without instruction (v. 23).

• The 'strange woman' (זוּר) in this context refers to a woman who is not one's own wife (an adulteress), whether a foreigner or an Israelite. The danger was both moral and social, as adultery destroyed familial and covenantal stability.

• Marriage was the center of social and economic life in ancient Israel; the waste of wealth mentioned in verse 10 refers to the loss of family inheritance and stability that inevitably accompanied illicit sexual associations.

• This is part of the first nine chapters of Proverbs, which serve as a foundational, extended parental exhortation (the 'father to son' discourse) intended to prepare the reader for the more detached proverbs that follow.

• The chapter grounds its warning in the creational design of marriage (Gen 2:24). Matthew Henry observes that 'the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord' (v. 21) is a profound warning that no secret sin is hidden from the Sovereign Judge, underscoring the reality that human accountability is not limited to public reputation.

• The mention of 'feet going down to death' (v. 5) parallels the imagery of the path of the foolish woman in Proverbs 2:18-19, connecting the theme of sexual immorality directly to the loss of life and the path to Sheol.

• son (בֵּן [H1121]): Used here in the wisdom tradition to denote the student or pupil, emphasizing that wisdom is a legacy passed from father to son.
• strange woman (זוּר [H2114]): Literally one who 'turns aside' or a foreigner; in this context, the adjective signifies a woman who is not the covenant partner.
• ponder (פָּלַס [H6424]): Means to weigh or prepare; the repetition of this word in v. 6 and v. 21 implies that while the man may try to hide his 'ways' (מַעְגָּל), God is the one who ultimately weighs or evaluates them.

• The abrupt shift in verses 15-19 from a warning about a woman to the blessing of the wife of one's youth is a structural 'cure' for the danger described. The text does not just tell the reader what to avoid; it provides a positive, God-ordained alternative for the satisfaction of desires.

• While some interpreters have historically allegorized the 'strange woman' as 'False Doctrine' or 'Idolatry,' the grammatical-historical consensus remains that the text refers to literal adultery. Allegorizing avoids the plain instruction regarding sexual ethics that the wisdom literature intends to provide.