16.  To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. 18.  For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. 19. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

Footnote:

Chapter 5:3-20; 6:24; 7:5-23; 22:14; 23:27. Some commentators give an allegorical interpretation to these pictures, as descriptive of idolatry or false doctrine. ‘But surely,’ as Holden well observes, ‘if there be any dependence to be placed upon the language of the sacred writer, any propriety in his expressions, it is to be understood in its literal sense, as a warning against the seduction of harlots. The spirit of allegorical interpretation may make the Scriptures speak whatever is prompted by the wildest fancy, or the deepest fanaticism.’ — Holden in loco. Compare Scott in loco.

 

 

Proverbs 5:3-20

1 ¶ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. 3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: {mouth: Heb. palate} 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. 7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: 10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; {thy wealth: Heb. thy strength} 11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. 15 ¶ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. 16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. 17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. 18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. {satisfy...: Heb. water thee} {be thou...: Heb. err thou always in her love} 20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

 

Proverbs 6:24

24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. {of the...: or, of the strange tongue}

 

Proverbs 7:5-23

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, From the foreigner that {1} flattereth with her words. {1) Heb maketh smooth her words} 6 ¶ For at the window of my house I looked forth through my lattice; 7 And I beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, A young man void of understanding, 8 Passing through the street near her corner; And he went the way to her house, 9 In the twilight, in the evening of the day, In the {1} middle of the night and in the darkness. {1) Heb pupil (of the eye)} 10 And, behold, there met him a woman With the attire of a harlot, and {1} wily of heart. {1) Or close; Heb guarded} 11 (She is {1} clamorous and wilful; Her feet abide not in her house: {1) Or turbulent} 12 Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, And lieth in wait at every corner.) 13 So she caught him, and kissed him, {1} And with an impudent face she said unto him: {1) Heb She hardened her face, and said} 14 Sacrifices of peace-offerings {1} are with me; This day have I paid my vows. {1) Or were due from me} 15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 16 I have spread my couch with {1} carpets of tapestry, With striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt. {1) Or cushions} 17 I have {1} perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. {1) Or sprinkled} 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; Let us solace ourselves with loves. 19 For the man is not at home; He is gone a long journey: 20 He hath taken a bag of money with him; He will come home at the full moon. 21 With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield; With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along. 22 He goeth after her {1} straightway, As an ox goeth to the slaughter, Or as one in {2} fetters to the correction of the fool; {1) Heb suddenly 2) The Hebrew is obscure.} 23 Till an arrow strike through his liver; As a bird hasteth to the snare, And knoweth not that it is for his life.

 

Proverbs 22:14

14 ¶ The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

 

Proverbs 23:27

27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

Footnote:

Compare Job 31:1, and our Lord's rule: — Matthew 5:28.

 

 

Job 31:1

1 ¶ I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

 

Matthew 5:28

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Footnote:

The strange woman — a stranger. Two different words in the Hebrew, the latter appearing to mark a foreigner. Compare Deuteronomy 23:17; Leviticus 19:29. It is, however, but too evident that this abandoned class was not confined to foreigners. Compare Genesis 38:15-16; Judges 11:1; 1 Kings 3:16.

 

 

Deuteronomy 23:17

17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. {whore: or, sodomitess}

 

Leviticus 19:29

29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. {prostitute: Heb. profane}

 

Genesis 38:15-16

15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. 16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

 

Judges 11:1

1 ¶ Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.

 

1 Kings 3:16

16 ¶ Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

Footnote:

Though an harlot, she might be (Chapter 7:5, 10, 19) or might have been (John 4:17, 18) a married woman.

 

 

Proverbs 7:5, 10, 19

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. 10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

 

John 4:17, 18

17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

Footnote:

Malachi 2:14-16. Compare Ezekiel 16:59, 60. Does not this sacred view of the marriage ordinance rebuke the legislative sanction which has now degraded it to a mere civil contract?

 

 

Malachi 2:14-16

14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. {residue: or, excellency} {godly...: Heb. seed of God} {treacherously: or, unfaithfully} 16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. {that he...: or, if he hate her, put her away} {putting...: Heb. to put away}

 

Compare

Ezekiel 16:59, 60

59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. 60 ¶ Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

Proverbs 5:3

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: {mouth: Heb. palate}

 

Proverbs 7:5, 21

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. 21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

Proverbs 5:5

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

Galatians 5:19-21

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

Ephesians 5:5

5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

 

Revelation 21:8

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

 

Revelation 22:15

15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Footnote:

‘The dead.’ — Scott and Bishop Patrick in loco. Compare chapter 9:18. Heb. Mede's Learned Discourse, vii.

 

 

Proverbs 9:18

18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Footnote:

Solomon's own case. Compare Luke 7:37-50; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

 

 

Luke 7:37-50

37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, 38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. 40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? 50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

 

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

9 ¶ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Footnote:

None in comparison, very few. Compare Isaiah 59:4; 64:7.

 

 

Isaiah 59:4

4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

 

Isaiah 64:7

7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. {consumed: Heb. melted} {because: Heb. by the hand}

Ecclesiastes 7:26

26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. {whoso...: Heb. he that is good before God}

1 Corinthians 3:15

15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Zechariah 3:2

2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?