Proverbs 5

2 that thy lips may keep knowledge. So as to retain wisdom as well as to impart it to others.

3 drop as a honeycomb. Rather, “drop honey,” as R.V.

4 her end. The destruction in which she involves her victims with herself.

5 hell. Heb., “Sheol”; see notes on Deut. xxxii. 22; Job xi. 8.

6. Lest thou shouldest ponder, etc. Or, “She is far from treading the way of life; her paths waver.”

8 come not nigh the door of her house. Those who would avoid sin must keep as far as possible from the haunts of sinners.

9 thine honour. Either, “thy comeliness,” as in Dan. x. 8; or “thy vigour.” Some apply the passage to the extortions practised by the confederates of unchaste women. But we may understand the whole as referring to the ruinous effects of vice, entailing disease, poverty, and remorse.

12. How, etc.! Astonishment at his own conduct, but too late!

14. I was almost in all evil. This probably means, I was well nigh brought to the extreme of evil; alluding to the public trial and punishment of his sin; see Lev. xx. 10; Ezek. xvi. 40; John viii. 5.

15. Drink waters out of thine own cistern, etc. The previous warnings against impurity are not to be understood as an injunction to celibacy or asceticism.

16. Let thy fountains, etc. Some render this verse as a remonstrance against conjugal infidelity: “Shall thy fountains be dispersed abroad?” etc. (R.V.).

19 the loving hind and pleasant roe. The figure is now changed for one which the Orientals often use for a gentle and elegant woman. Hence the name Tabitha or Dorcas, i.e., gazelle.

21 before the eyes of the Lord. A warning specially needed in reference to sins which are from their nature secret.

22 he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. Like a wild beast caught in the toils of the hunter. It is true of all sins, but most strikingly so of sensual lusts, that they enslave and punish the man who indulges them.