Admonition to Avoid Seduction to Evil

¹My child, be attentive to my wisdom,[#tn The text again has “my son.” In this passage perhaps “son” would be the most fitting because of the warning against going to the adulterous woman. However, since the image of the adulterous woman probably represents all kinds of folly (through personification), and since even in this particular folly the temptation works both ways, the general address to either young men or women should be retained. The text was certainly not intended to convey that only women could seduce men.]

pay close attention to my understanding,

²in order to safeguard discretion,[#tn Heb “keep, protect, guard.”; #sn This “discretion” is the same word in 1:4; it is wise, prudential consideration, careful planning, or the ability to devise plans with a view to the best way to carry them out. If that ability is retained then temptations to digress will not interfere.]

and that your lips may guard knowledge.

³For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,[#sn “Lips” is a metonymy of cause, referring to her words. Dripping honey is an implied comparison between the product and her words, which are flattering and smooth (cf. Song 4:11). See M. Dahood, “Honey That Drips. Notes on Proverbs 5:2-3,” Bib 54 (1973): 65-66.]

and her seductive words are smoother than olive oil,

⁴but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,[#sn Heb “her end” (so KJV). D. Kidner notes that Proverbs does not allow us to forget that there is an afterward (Proverbs [TOTC], 65).; #sn The verb “to be bitter” (מָרַר, marar) describes things that are harmful and destructive for life, such as the death of the members of the family of Naomi (Ruth 1:20) or finding water that was undrinkable (Exod 15:22-27). The word indicates that the sweet talking will turn out badly.; #tn The Hebrew term translated “wormwood” refers to the aromatic plant that contrasts with the sweetness of honey. Some follow the LXX and translate it as “gall” (cf. NIV). The point is that there was sweetness when the tryst had alluring glamour, but afterward it had an ugly ring (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 74).]

sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.

⁶Lest she should make level the path leading to life,[#tn The particle פֶּן (pen) means “lest” (probably from “for the aversion of”). It occurs this once, unusually, preceding the principal clause (BDB 814 s.v.). It means that some action has been taken to avert or avoid what follows. She avoids the path of life, albeit ignorantly.; #tn Heb “the path of life.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “of life”) functions as a genitive of direction (“leading to”).]

her paths are unstable but she does not know it.

⁷So now, children, listen to me;[#tn Heb “sons.”]

do not turn aside from the words I speak.

⁸Keep yourself far from her,[#tn Heb “your way.”; #sn There is a contrast made between “keep far away” (הַרְחֵק, harkheq) and “do not draw near” (וְאַל־תִּקְרַב, vÿ’al-tiqrav).]

and do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your vigor to others[#sn The term הוֹד (hod, “vigor; splendor; majesty”) in this context means the best time of one’s life (cf. NIV “your best strength”), the full manly vigor that will be wasted with licentiousness. Here it is paralleled by “years,” which refers to the best years of that vigor, the prime of life. Life would be ruined by living this way, or the revenge of the woman’s husband would cut it short.]

and your years to a cruel person,

¹⁰lest strangers devour your strength,[#tn Or “are sated, satisfied.”; #tn The word כֹּחַ (coakh, “strength”) refers to what laborious toil would produce (so a metonymy of cause). Everything that this person worked for could become the property for others to enjoy.]

and your labor benefit another man’s house.

¹¹And at the end of your life you will groan[#tn Heb “at your end.”; #tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive; it is equal to a specific future within this context.sn The verb means “to growl, groan.” It refers to a lion when it devours its prey, and to a sufferer in pain or remorse (e.g., Ezek 24:23).]

when your flesh and your body are wasted away.

¹²And you will say, “How I hated discipline!

My heart spurned reproof!

¹³For I did not obey my teachers[#tn The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.; #tn The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).]

and I did not heed my instructors.

¹⁴I almost came to complete ruin[#tn The expression כִּמְעַט (kim’at) is “like a little.” It means “almost,” and is used of unrealized action (BDB 590 s.v. 2). Cf. NCV “I came close to”; NLT “I have come to the brink of.”; #tn Heb “I was in all evil” (cf. KJV, ASV).]

in the midst of the whole congregation!”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern

and running water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs be dispersed outside,[#tn The verb means “to be scattered; to be dispersed”; here the imperfect takes a deliberative nuance in a rhetorical question.]

your streams of water in the wide plazas?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone,[#tn The ל (lamed) preposition denotes possession: “for you” = “yours.” The term לְבַדֶּךָ (lÿvadekha) is appositional, underscoring the possession as exclusive.]

and not for strangers with you.

¹⁸May your fountain be blessed,[#sn The positive instruction is now given: Find pleasure in a fulfilling marriage. The “fountain” is another in the series of implied comparisons with the sexual pleasure that must be fulfilled at home. That it should be blessed (the passive participle of בָּרַךְ, barakh) indicates that sexual delight is God-given; having it blessed would mean that it would be endowed with fruitfulness, that it would fulfill all that God intended it to do.]

and may you rejoice in your young wife –

¹⁹a loving doe, a graceful deer;[#tn The construct expression “a doe of loves” is an attributive genitive, describing the doe with the word “loves.” The plural noun may be an abstract plural of intensification (but this noun only occurs in the plural). The same construction follows with a “deer of grace” – a graceful deer.sn The imagery for intimate love in marriage is now employed to stress the beauty of sexual fulfillment as it was intended. The doe and deer, both implied comparisons, exhibit the grace and love of the wife.]

may her breasts satisfy you at all times,

may you be captivated by her love always.

²⁰But why should you be captivated, my son, by an adulteress,[#tn In the interrogative clause the imperfect has a deliberative nuance.]

and embrace the bosom of a different woman?

²¹For the ways of a person are in front of the Lord ’s eyes,[#tn Heb “man.”]

and the Lord weighs all that person’s paths.

²²The wicked will be captured by his own iniquities,[#tn The suffix on the verb is the direct object suffix; “the wicked” is a second object by apposition: They capture him, the wicked. Since “the wicked” is not found in the LXX, it could be an old scribal error; or the Greek translator may have simply smoothed out the sentence. C. H. Toy suggests turning the sentence into a passive idea: “The wicked will be caught in his iniquities” (Proverbs [ICC], 117).; #tn The word is the subject of the clause, but the pronominal suffix has no clear referent. The suffix is proleptic, referring to the wicked.; #tn Heb “his own iniquities will capture the wicked.” The translation shifts the syntax for the sake of smoothness and readability.]

and he will be held by the cords of his own sin.

²³He will die because there was no discipline;[#tn The preposition בּ (bet) is used in a causal sense: “because” (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).]

because of the greatness of his folly he will reel.