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The Proverbs

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- Chapter 5 -

Admonition to marriage. Warning against unchastity

(Leviticus 20:10-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1-8)
1
My son, pay attention to my wisdom, and incline your ear to my prudence,
2
so that you may guard your thinking, and so that your lips may preserve discipline. Do not pay attention to the deceit of a woman.
3
For the lips of a loose woman are like a dripping honeycomb, and her voice is smoother than oil.(a)
4
But in the end, she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet descend into death, and her steps reach even to Hell.
6
They do not walk along the path of life; her steps are wandering and untraceable.
7
Therefore, my son, listen to me now, and do not withdraw from the words of my mouth.
8
Make your way at a distance from her, and do not approach the doors of her house.
9
Do not give your honor to foreigners, and your years to the cruel.
10
Otherwise, outsiders may be filled with your strength, and your labors may be in a foreign house,
11
and you may mourn in the end, when you will have consumed your flesh and your body. And so you may say:
12
“Why have I detested discipline, and why has my heart not been quieted by correction?
13
And why have I not listened to the voice of those who guided me? And why has my ear not inclined to my teachers?
14
I have almost been with all evil in the midst of the church and of the assembly.”

Married life

15
Drink water from your own cistern and from the springs of your own well.
16
Let your fountains be diverted far and wide, and divide your waters in the streets.(b) (c)
17
Hold them for yourself alone, and do not let strangers be partakers with you.(d) (e)
18
Let your spring be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth:(f)
19
a beloved doe and most pleasing fawn. Let her breasts inebriate you at all times. Be delighted continually by her love.
20
Why are you seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and why are you kept warm by the bosom of another?
21
The Lord beholds the ways of man, and he considers all his steps.
22
His own iniquities take hold of the impious, and he is bound by the cords of his own sins.
23
He shall die, for he has not held to discipline. And by the multitude of his foolishness, he shall be deceived.

Footnotes

(a)5:3 The word ‘meretricis’ can mean prostitute, but it can also, more often, refer to a woman who behaves like a prostitute: either a kept woman with only one lover, or a promiscuous woman with many lovers. The translation as ‘loose woman’ is a better fit for the meaning of the text. As is clear from the previous verse, this passage is not merely warning against prostitution, but against loose living.(Conte)
(b)5:16 This verse seems to contradict the previous and subsequent verses. The original Douay-Rheims version has a note that relates water to doctrine. My understanding of that note: distribute good doctrine far and wide among men of sincere intention, but not to those who make themselves to be foreigners to the truth.(Conte)
(c)5:16 The previous verse (5:15) refers to drinking water from ones own well. This can refer to doctrine, as verses 12 to 14 indicate. This can also refer to chastity and marriage, as the subsequent verses indicate. However, verse 5:16 cannot be taken to refer to sexuality, but only to doctrine. It often happens, as Scripture weaves together comments on a variety of related subjects, that some verses are to be understood more narrowly, and others more broadly.(Conte)
(d)5:17 When applied to doctrine, this verse and the previous one can be understood in a number of ways. Concerning doctrine, one can distribute it far and wide, sharing it in the streets. Or one can keep it to oneself, so that only you and God know your thoughts about the Faith. But in either case, one cannot ‘let strangers be partakers’ casting the pearls of true doctrine before those swine who ridicule and despise the truth.(Conte)
(e)5:17 It is not so unusual to have two consecutive verses that seem to contradict one another. This technique of writing causes the reader to think about the correct meaning of each verse. This is also seen later in Proverbs when the topic is responding to the foolish according to their folly.(Conte)
(f)5:18 So then, rejoice in true doctrine with your beloved wife. Share the Faith with her. But also, this verse refers in a figurative manner to marital relations.(Conte)

Admonition to marriage. Warning against unchastity

(Leviticus 20:10-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1-8)
1
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
2
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
3
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
4
but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.(a)
6
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
7
Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
8
Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
9
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;
10
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.
11
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12
and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof.
13
I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
14
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”

Married life

15
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19
A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
20
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21
For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
22
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.

Footnotes

(a)5:5 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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