Who is the “strange woman” mentioned in this passage?

The “strange woman” is a picture of an adulterous woman, someone who offers herself sexually outside of marriage. Her lips are compared to a honeycomb and oil, which means her words and promises seem sweet and smooth at first. But the passage shows that following her leads downward, toward death and judgment. She is not presented as a friend, but as a trap. Her ways keep changing so that a young man cannot clearly see where she is leading him until the damage is already done.

What does it mean to attend to wisdom and bow the ear to understanding?

When the father says, “My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding,” he is asking for careful, humble listening. This is not just hearing the words, but taking them to heart. To “attend” means to pay close attention and treat the instruction as serious. To “bow the ear” means to lower your pride and be teachable. The goal is that the son will gain discretion, speak with knowledge, and be ready beforehand to resist tempting words when they come.

What are the consequences of going after the strange woman in this chapter?

The passage lays out a long list of painful results. A man who follows her gives his honour and strength to others, wastes his years, and may lose his wealth to strangers. His work ends up blessing other people’s houses instead of his own. His health may be ruined, leaving him mourning when his flesh and body are consumed. Worst of all, he is left with deep regret, remembering how he hated instruction and ignored those who tried to warn him, almost falling into complete ruin in front of everyone.

What does “drink waters out of thine own cistern” mean?

“Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well” is a picture for being satisfied with your own spouse. Instead of looking for sexual pleasure with someone else, the father tells his son to enjoy the gift God gave him at home. The idea is that your own marriage is like a well or spring that God has provided. You are to draw from there, not from another person’s. It teaches faithfulness, contentment, and honouring God’s design for intimacy.

How does this passage describe joy in marriage?

After warning about adultery, the passage turns to the joy of a faithful marriage. The son is told to let his fountain be blessed and to rejoice with the wife of his youth. She is pictured as a loving hind and pleasant roe, gentle and dear. He is urged to let her love satisfy him at all times and to be carried away with her love, not with a stranger. This shows that God is not against pleasure, but wants it enjoyed in the safe, committed bond of marriage.

What does it mean that the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD?

When it says, “the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings,” it means God sees everything a person does and thinks carefully about their path. Nothing is hidden, including secret sins or private desires. This reminder is placed right in the middle of teaching about sexual sin, to show that even if people hide things from others, they cannot hide from God. Knowing that God watches should move a person to turn from sin and walk in honesty.

How do a person’s own sins become cords that hold them?

The passage says that a wicked person is taken by his own iniquities and held with the cords of his sins. This means that sin does not only break God’s law, it also traps the sinner. Habits form, consequences grow, and the person finds it harder and harder to break free. What once seemed like freedom becomes bondage. In the end, the man dies without instruction because he refused to listen. His own choices lead him astray, not because God was unclear, but because he turned away from the warnings.

How can this passage guide someone facing sexual temptation today?

This passage gives very practical help. It shows that temptation often comes with sweet and flattering words, but urges you to look ahead to the end, which is bitter. It teaches you to stay far from situations and places that feed temptation, instead of seeing how close you can get. It calls you to listen to wise teaching before you fall, so you do not end up full of regret. If you are married, it encourages you to invest in your own marriage and find joy there, remembering that God sees your path.

Prov.5.1

Proverbs 5:1

KJV

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

Avoiding Immorality

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:

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;

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.

20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

22 ¶ His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Cross References

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