Proverbs 5
Warning Against the Adulteress
1My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
2that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
3For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
4but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.
6She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
7Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
8Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
9lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.
11You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.
13I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
14I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”
Marital Fidelity and Its Rewards
15Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
20For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
Proverbs 5 presents a father's urgent warning to his son about the dangers of adultery, contrasting the temporary allure of the adulteress with her destructive consequences. The chapter vividly describes how her seductive words lead to spiritual death, financial ruin, and public shame. In contrast, the father celebrates marital fidelity, using beautiful imagery of cisterns and springs to encourage exclusive devotion to one's wife and the lasting joy found in faithful marriage.
Context
Following the general wisdom instructions of chapters 1-4, this chapter begins a series of specific warnings about particular temptations that continue through chapter 7.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-2Call to WisdomThe father opens with an appeal for his son to listen carefully to wisdom and understanding.
- 3-6The Adulteress's Deceptive AppealDespite her smooth words and honey-sweet lips, the adulteress leads ultimately to death and destruction.
- 7-14Consequences of AdulteryThe father warns of the devastating results: loss of honor, wealth, health, and the bitter regret of rejecting instruction.
- 15-19The Joy of Marital FidelityUsing water imagery, the father celebrates exclusive devotion to one's wife and the satisfaction found in faithful marriage.
- 20-23Divine Accountability and Final WarningThe chapter concludes by reminding that God sees all paths and that sin ultimately ensnares and destroys the foolish.
Warning Against the Adulteress
5:1–5:14A warning against adultery, describing how the adulteress appears attractive but leads to death and destruction, resulting in shame and ruin for those who ignore instruction.
theme_rarity
The Hebrew word for "instruction" (musar) appears seven times in this passage, creating an intensive literary pattern that contrasts disciplined learning with the chaos of sexual folly.
Marital Fidelity and Its Rewards
5:15–5:23An exhortation to marital fidelity, using imagery of cisterns and springs to encourage exclusive devotion to one's spouse while warning that God sees all human ways.
theme_rarity
Solomon's water metaphors for marital intimacy ("cistern," "well," "springs") create a rare biblical intersection where domestic fidelity directly connects to divine sovereignty through God's omniscient observation.
Proverbs 5:1
Proverbs 2:2lexicalso as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
Jeremiah 51:15lexical“He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom. By his understanding he has stretched o…
Jeremiah 10:12lexicalGod has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretch…
Proverbs 4:20lexicalMy son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.
Proverbs 5:3
Song of Solomon 4:11lexicalYour lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The smell of your garments is like t…
Proverbs 24:13lexicalMy son, eat honey, for it is good, the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste;
Proverbs 5:5
Proverbs 7:27lexicalHer house is the way to Sheol, going down to the rooms of death.
Isaiah 38:18lexicalFor Sheol can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth.
Proverbs 5:6
Isaiah 26:7lexicalThe way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.
Proverbs 4:26lexicalMake the path of your feet level. Let all of your ways be established.
Proverbs 5:12
Proverbs 15:5lexicalA fool despises his father’s correction, but he who heeds reproof shows prudence.
Proverbs 15:10lexicalThere is stern discipline for one who forsakes the way. Whoever hates reproof shall die.
Proverbs 12:1lexicalWhoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
Interlinear
Word-by-word original language