proverbs 5

Read Proverbs 5 at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Pro 5:1-6 {p} An immoral woman seems sweet but is bitter/ her unstable path leads to death + hell
Pro 5:7-23 {p} Hold fast to the wife of your youth, for destruction waits for those who reject my words

Pro 5:19a As a loving deer and a graceful doe, {n}
Pro 5:19b Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love. {s}

Pro 5:1-23 structure:

1a) Pro 5:1-2, My son, pay attention to my wisdom that you may preserve discretion;

1b) Pro 5:3-6 {p} The pitfall of the immoral woman: her feet go down to death;

3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;
4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword;
5 Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell;
6 {p} Lest she should walk the even path of life—her ways are unstable, but she knows it not;

2a) Pro 5:7, Hear me now, my children + do not depart from the words of my mouth;

2b) Pro 5:8-23 {p} The pitfall of the immoral woman: do not go near her door, lest total ruin;

1a.1) Pro 5:8, Remove your way far from her + do not go near the door of her house;

1a.2) Pro 5:9-14, The pitfall + its end result of ruin, because he hated instruction;

1a) Pro 5:9-11, Lest you forfeit your honor + years + wealth + health;
1b) Pro 5:12, And say: “How I have hated instruction + my heart despised correction!
2b) Pro 5:13, I have not obeyed my teachers + not inclined my ear to my instructors;
2a) Pro 5:14, I was on the verge of total ruin in the midst of the assembly + congregation;”

1b) Pro 5:15-19, Be enraptured with + embraced by the wife of your youth;

1a) Pro 5:15, Drink water from your own cistern + running water from your own well;
1b) Pro 5:16, Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?
central axis) Pro 5:17, Let them be only your own + not for strangers with you;
2b) Pro 5:18a, Let your fountain be blessed;
2a) Pro 5:18b-19, Be satisfied + enraptured with the wife of your youth;

18b And rejoice with the wife of your youth, 19a as a loving deer and a graceful doe; {n}
19b Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love;

2b) Pro 5:20, Why should you be enraptured by an immoral woman + embraced by a seductress?

2a.1) Pro 5:21, For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD + He makes even all his paths;

2a.2) Pro 5:22-23 {p} The pitfall + its end result of death, because he lacked instruction;

1a) Pro 5:22, His own iniquities entrap the wicked man + he is caught in the cords of his sin;
central axis) Pro 5:23a, He shall die for lack of instruction;
2a) Pro 5:23b {p} In the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

The biblical definition of adultery is any intimate relationship outside of the covenant of marriage. Therefore premarital relations as well as extramarital relations both fall under the definition of adultery. The marriage covenant is the umbrella and the enclosure, within which intimacy blesses and unifies. But outside of that umbrella and enclosure, intimacy, as we are learning from this chapter, brings destruction. Solomon was the son of an adulterous couple, David and Bathsheba, so he had first hand knowledge of the ruin into every area of life adultery brings.

It is interesting that as Solomon got older, he abandoned his own instruction. The Scripture records that he had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and his pagan wives were his downfall, who turned his heart away from the Lord God (1 Kin 11:1-6). The wife of his youth was the daughter of Pharaoh.

The life of Solomon is a warning for us: no matter how blessed someone is, no matter how gifted or anointed in their calling, no matter how well versed in God’s word they are, they must keep their heart with all diligence, for from it flow the wellsprings of life (Pro 4:23). If they do not, even the greatest can fall and be led astray. And it begins with breaking one command of Torah (in Solomon’s case, adultery), and thinking it will not matter because look how strong I am in the LORD, or look at my great ministry, or great knowledge, or mighty ways that God has used me. This is how famous pastors and evangelists get involved in sin and scandals. They forget, like Solomon forgot, that they are not invincible or invulnerable, and they will continue to be blessed only as long as they keep their heart knit with God’s heart.

That was David’s success. He was not perfect, he sinned and made many mistakes. But he kept his heart soft and submitted to the LORD, and knit with the LORD’s heart. He kept God’s word in his heart and did not get slack about that (Pro 4:20-23). If we do the same, His word will refresh our hearts and guard our feet from stumbling.