Proverbs 2:16

Pro 2:16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, [even] from the stranger [which] flattereth with her words;

Ver. 16. From the strange woman.] Forbidden thee by God, as strange fire, strange gods, &c.

Which flattereth with her words.] Whose lips are nets, whose hands are bands, whose words are cords to draw a man in as a fool to the stocks, or an ox to the slaughter.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro_2:16

To deliver thee from the strange woman.

Sensual temptation

Gaze not on beauty too much, lest it blast thee; nor too long, lest it blind thee; nor too near lest it burn thee. If thou like it, it deceives thee; if thou love it, it disturbs thee; if thou hunt after it, it destroys thee. If virtue accompany it, it is the hearts paradise; if vice associate it, it is the fools purgatory. It is the wise mans bonfire, and the fools furnace. (Quarles.)

The enticement of women

The deliverance from evil men was described before; now follows the deliverance from evil women, who are as dangerous to the young man, if not more, in regard to their crafty allurements. Men present as enticement unlawful gain; women offer unlawful pleasure.

I. There is a medicine in Scripture for every disease of the soul. Here an antidote against the poison of evil women.

1. There is a fence against several degrees of sin. Against evil thoughts; evil words, evil deeds.

2. There are many remedies for the same sin. Prohibitions, examples, judgments.

II. The danger from evil women is great. Illustrate Samson and Solomon. As good women are modest, so bad women are loud and bold. As good women are tenderly affected, so wicked ones are most cruel. Take heed of being overcome by smooth language. They will tell thee that they love none else, and will die for thee, but they love thy wealth and beauty, and will leave thee when these fail. (Francis Taylor.)

The strange woman

Surely one cannot declare the whole counsel of God and leave out a subject which is interwoven with almost every chapter in the Bible. I am entirely aware of the delicacy of introducing this subject into the pulpit.

1. One difficulty arises from the sensitiveness of unaffected purity.

2. Another difficulty springs from the nature of the English language, which has hardly been framed in a school where it may wind and fit itself to all the phases of impurity.

3. Another difficulty lies in the confused echoes which vile men create in every community, when the pulpit disturbs them.

4. Another difficulty exists in the criminal fastidiousness of the community upon this subject. The proverbs of Solomon are designed to furnish us a series of maxims for every relation of life. There will naturally be the most said where there is the most needed. If the frequency of warning against any sin measures the liability of man to that sin, then none is worse than impurity.

I. Can language be found which can draw a corrupt beauty so vividly as this: Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God? Look out upon that fallen creature whose gay sally through the street calls out the significant laugh of bad men, the pity of good men, and the horror of the pure! Was not her cradle as pure as ever a loved infant pressed? Love soothed its cries, sisters watched its peaceful sleep, and a mother pressed it fondly to her bosom! Had you afterwards, when spring-flowers covered the earth, and every gale was odour, and every sound was music, seen her, fairer than the lily or the violet, searching them, would you not have said, Sooner shall the rose grow poisonous than she; both may wither, but neither corrupt? And how often, at evening, did she clasp her tiny hands in prayer! Alas, she forsook the guide of her youth! Faint thoughts of evil, like far-off cloud which the sunset gilds, came first; nor does the rosy sunset blush deeper along the heaven than her cheek at the first thought of evil. Now, O mother, and thou, guiding elder sister, could you have seen the lurking spirit embosomed in that cloud, a holy prayer might have broken the spell, a tear have washed its stain! Alas! they saw it not; she spoke it not; she was forsaking the guide of her youth. She thinketh no more of heaven. She breatheth no more prayers. Thou hast forsaken the covenant of thy God. Go down! fall never to rise! Hell opens to be thy home!

II. The next injunction of God to the young is upon the ensnaring danger of beauty. Desire not her beauty in thy heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids. God did not make so much of nature with exquisite beauty, or put within us a taste for it, without object. He meant that it should delight us. He made every flower to charm us. He never made a colour, nor graceful flying.bird, nor silvery insect, without meaning to please our taste. When He clothes a man or woman with beauty, He confers a favour, did we know how to receive it. Beauty, with amiable dispositions and ripe intelligence, is more to any woman than a queens crown. As moths and tiny insects flutter around the bright blaze which was kindled for no harm, so the foolish young fall down burned and destroyed by the blaze of beauty. If God hath given thee beauty, tremble; for it is as gold in thy house: thieves and robbers will prowl around, and seek to possess it. If God hath put beauty before thine eyes, remember how many strong men have been cast down wounded by it. Art thou stronger than David? Let other mens destruction be thy wisdom; for it is hard to reap prudence upon the field of experience.

III. In the minute description of this dangerous creature, mark next how seriously we are cautioned of her wiles.

1. Her wiles of dress. Coverings of tapestry and the fine linen of Egypt are hers; the perfumes of myrrh, and aloes, and cinnamon. Silks and ribbons, lace and rings, gold and equipage; ah, how mean a price for damnation! The wretch who would be hung simply for the sake of riding to the gallows on a golden chariot, clothed in kings raiment, what a fool was he!

2. Her wiles of speech. Beasts may not speak; this honour is too high for them. To Gods imaged son this prerogative belongs, to utter thought and feeling in articulate sounds. We may breathe our thoughts to thousand ears, and infect a multitude with the worst portions of our soul. How, then, has this souls breath, this echo of our thoughts, this only image of our feelings, been perverted, that from the lips of sin it hath more persuasion than from the lips of wisdom? Purity sounds morose and cross; but from the lips of the harlot words drop as honey, and flow smoother than oil: her speech is fair, her laugh is merry as music. The eternal glory of purity has no lustre; but the deep damnation of lust is made as bright as the gate of heaven!

3. Her wiles of love. Love is the minds light and heat; it is that tenuous air in which all other faculties exist as we exist in the atmosphere. A mind of the greatest stature without love is like the huge pyramid of Egypt--chill and cheerless in all its dark halls and passages. A mind with love is as a kings palace lighted for a royal festival. Shame that the sweetest of all the minds attributes should be suborned to sin! Devil-tempter! will thy poison never cease? Shall beauty be poisoned? shall language be charmed? shall love be made to defile like pitch, and burn as the living coals? Trust the sea with thy tiny boat, trust the fickle wind, trust the changing skies of April, trust the misers generosity, the tyrants mercy; but, ah! simple man, trust not thyself near the artful woman, armed in her beauty, her cunning raiment, her dimpled smiles.

4. Next beware the wile of her reasonings. To him that wanteth understanding, she saith, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. I came forth to meet thee, and I have found thee. What says she in the credulous ear of inexperience? Why, she tells him that sin is safe; she swears to him that sin is pure. Out of history she will entice him, and say, Who hath ever refused my meat-offerings and drink-offerings? What king have I not sought? What conqueror have I not conquered? Philosophers have not, in all their wisdom, learned to hate me. I have been the guests of the worlds greatest men. Art thou afraid to tread where Plato trod, and the pious Socrates? Art thou wiser than all that ever lived? Nay, she readeth the Bible to him; she goeth back along the line of history, and readeth of Abraham, and of his glorious compeers; she skippeth past Joseph with averted looks, and readeth of David and of Solomon. Or, if the Bible will not cheat thee, how will she plead thine own nature; how will she whisper, God hath made thee so. How, like her father, will she lure to pluck the apple, saying, Thou shalt not surely die. I will point only to another wile. When inexperience has been beguiled by her infernal machinations, how, like a flock of startled birds, will spring up late regrets, and shame, and fear; and, worst of all, how will conscience ply her scorpion-whip and lash thee, uttering with stern visage, Thou art dishonoured, thou art a wretch, thou art lost! So, God saith, the strange woman shall secure her ensnared victims if they struggle. Lest thou shouldst ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable that thou canst not know them. She is afraid to see thee soberly thinking of leaving her, and entering the path of life; therefore her ways are moveable. She multiplies devices, she studies a thousand new wiles, she has some sweet word for every sense--obsequience for thy pride, praise for thy vanity, generosity for thy selfishness, religion For thy conscience.

IV. Having disclosed her wiles, let me show you what God says of the chances of escape to those who once follow her. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. The strength of this language was not meant absolutely to exclude hope. Some may escape--as here and there a mangled sailor crawls out of the water upon the beach--the only one or two of the whole crew. There are many evils which hold their victims by the force of habit; there are others which fasten them by breaking their return to society. Many a person never reforms, because reform would bring no relief. There are other evils which hold men to them, because they are like the beginning of a fire; they tend to burn with fiercer and wider flames, until all fuel is consumed, and go out only when there is nothing to burn. Of this last kind is the sin of licentiousness; and when the conflagration once breaks out, experience has shown what the Bible long ago declared, that the chances of reformation are few indeed.

V. We are repeatedly warned against the strange womans house. Her house has been cunningly planned by an evil architect to attract and please the attention. It stands in a vast garden full of enchanting objects; it shines in glowing colours, and seems full of peace and full of pleasure. All the signs are of unbounded enjoyment--safe, if not innocent. Though every beam is rotten, and the house is the house of death, and in it are all the vicissitudes of infernal misery, yet to the young it appears a palace of delight. They will not believe that death can lurk behind so brilliant a fabric. That part of the garden which borders on the highway of innocence is carefully planted. There is not a poison-weed, nor thorn, nor thistle there. Ten thousand flowers bloom, and waft a thousand odours. A victim cautiously inspects it; but it has been too carefully patterned upon innocency to be easily detected. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. Will the youth enter? Will he seek her house? To himself he says, I will enter only to see the garden--its fruits, its flowers, its birds, its arbours, its warbling fountains! He is resolved in virtue. He seeks wisdom, not pleasure! Dupe! you are deceived already; and this is your first lesson of wisdom. He passes, and the porter leers behind him! He is within an enchanters garden! He ranges the outer garden near to the highway, thinking as he walks, How foolishly have I been alarmed at pious lies about this beautiful place! I heard it was hell: I find it is paradise! Emboldened by the innocency of his first steps, he explores the garden further from the road. The flowers grow richer; their odours exhilarate. Ridiculous priest, to tell me that death was here, where all is beauty, fragrance, and melody! Surely, death never lurked in so gorgeous apparel as this! When our passions enchant us, how beautiful is the way to death! Where are his resolutions now? This is the virtuous youth who came to observe! He has already seen too much! but he will see more; he will taste, feel, regret, weep, wail, die! It is too late! He has gone in--who shall never return. He goeth after her straightway as an ox goeth to the slaughter; or as a fool to the correction of the stocks . . . and knoweth not that it is for his life. Enter with me, in imagination, the strange womans house, where, God grant, you may never enter in any other way.

There are five wards--Pleasure, Satiety, Discovery, Disease, Death.

1. Ward of Pleasure. The eye is dazzled with the magnificence of its apparel--elastic velvet, glossy silks, burnished satin, crimson drapery, plushy carpets. Exquisite pictures glow upon the wall; carved marble adorns every niche.

2. Ward of Satiety. Overflushed with dance, sated with wine and fruit, a fitful drowsiness vexes them. They wake, to crave; they taste, to loathe; they sleep, to dream; they wake again from unquiet visions. They long for the sharp taste of pleasure, so grateful yesterday. The glowing garden and the banquet now seem all stripped and gloomy.

3. The Ward of Discovery. In the third ward no deception remains. The floors are bare; the naked walls drip filth; the air is poisonous with sickly fumes, and echoes with mirth, concealing hideous misery. None supposes that he has been happy. The past seems like the dream of the miser who gathers gold spilt like rain upon the road, and wakes, clutching his bed, and crying, Where is it?

4. Ward of Disease.

5. Ward of Death. No longer does the incarnate wretch pretend to conceal her cruelty. She thrusts, aye, as if they were dirt--she shovels out the wretches. Some fall headlong through the rotten floor--a long fall to a fiery bottom. The floor trembles to deep thunders which roll below. Here and there jets of flame sprout up, and give a lurid light to the murky hall.

Oh, that the young might see the end of vice before they see the beginning!

1. I solemnly warn you against indulging a morbid imagination. In that busy and mischievous faculty begins the evil.

2. Next to evil imaginations, I warn the young of evil companions. Decaying fruit corrupts the neighbouring fruit.

3. But I warn you, with yet more solemn emphasis, against evil books and evil pictures.

4. Once more, let me persuade you that no examples in high places can justify imitation in low places.

5. Let me beseech you, lastly, to guard your heart-purity. Never lose it. If it be gone, you have lost from the casket the most precious gift of God. (H. W. Beecher.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 2:16-17. To deliver thee from the strange woman — From the adulteress, or whore; called strange, partly because such persons were commonly heathen, or are supposed to be such by reason of that severe law against these practices in Israelitish women, Deu 23:17; or are justly reputed heathen, as being degenerate Israelites, who are often called strangers in the Scriptures; which flattereth with her words — Who useth all arts and ways to allure men to unchaste actions; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth — Her husband, whom she took to be her guide and governor, and that in her youth; which circumstance is added to aggravate her sin and shame, because love is commonly most sincere and fervent between persons married in their youth; and forgetteth — That is, violateth or breaketh, the covenant of her God — The marriage covenant, so called, because God is the author of that mutual obligation; and because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn promise and covenant.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:16 Wisdom keeps a young man from an immoral woman, helping him to resist her flattering, seductive words. Wisdom includes emotional maturity, restraint, and the ability to assess the purpose of someone’s speech.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, that wisdom which is the word of God, shall preserve us from all vices: naming this vice of whoredom whereunto man is most prone.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Deliverance from another danger.

the strange woman--This term is often used for harlot, or loose woman (Jdg 11:1-2), married (Pro 7:5, Pro 7:19) or not (Kg1 11:1), so called, because such were, perhaps at first, foreigners, though "strange" may also denote whatever is opposed to right or proper, as "strange fire" (Num 3:4); "strange incense" (Exo 30:9).

flattereth--literally, "smooths."

her words-- (Psa 5:9).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 16. The stranger which flattereth with her words] החליקה hechelikah, she that smooths with her words. The original intimates the glib, oily speeches of a prostitute. The English lick is supposed to be derived from the original word.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) To deliver thee from the strange woman.—Another work of wisdom, to save from profligacy. Of the two epithets here used, “strange” (zârah) and “stranger” (nokhrîyyah), the first implies that she belonged to another family, the second to another nation. It would seem as if the evil example of Solomon (1Ki_11:1), in marrying foreign women, had become common in Israel, and that they, by their vicious lives, had become a deadly source of corruption. Brought up in the lax views of morality which prevailed among heathen nations at this time, they would not consider themselves bound by the high standard of purity which was enjoined upon Hebrew women by the Law.

(16-19) Besides the literal sense of this passage, as given above, commentators have very generally found in it a spiritual meaning, a warning against idolatry and apostasy. The union of Israel to God is so frequently spoken of in the prophets under the figure of a marriage, and their rejection of Him for idols as adultery, that the passage may well bear this further sense, especially as Jeremiah (Jer_3:4) has borrowed this very phrase, “guide of her youth,” for a passage in which he is reproving the Jews for their faithlessness. The figure is also very common in the New Testament, as descriptive of the union of Christ and the Church.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. strange woman … stranger] i.e. not belonging to thee; a stranger, in right, to any such relationship. Neither of the words, as here used, has any reference to nationality, as though the danger in question arose chiefly from foreign women. They are married women of the true religion (Pro_2:17), and wives of fellow-citizens (Pro_7:19-20) who are here in view. It is a different Heb. word that is used commonly (e.g. Gen_15:13; Exo_20:10) for a “stranger” in the sense of a foreigner, one sojourning in a land not his own. The “strange woman” here is so called in the sense which the same Heb. word bears in such passages as Exo_29:33; Exo_30:33 (one who is outside the family of Aaron); Deu_25:5 (one who is outside the family circle). This word for stranger, though it often means a foreigner (Deu_17:15; comp. Exo_2:22; Exo_21:8), is here a proper synonym with the word in the parallel clause, one who is not a man’s own wife; just as in Ecc_6:2 it means one who is not a man’s own child.

flattereth] Heb. maketh smooth her words, R.V. marg. An example is given in Pro_7:13-21.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To deliver thee from the strange woman,.... As the Gospel of Christ and its doctrines, or the instructions of wisdom, are a means of delivering persons from the evil man, his company, ways, and works; so from a naughty woman, an adulteress, called a "strange" woman; not because of another nation, or unknown, but because she belongs to another person, and not to him whom she entices into her embraces. Gersom interprets this of the sensitive appetite, and Jarchi of idolatry; as others do also of superstition and all false doctrine, and everything that is contrary to true wisdom; and the whole that is here and afterwards said may well enough be applied to the whore of Rome, from whose fornication, or spiritual adultery, that is, idolatry, will worship, and antichristian doctrines, the Gospel delivers men; see Pro 7:5, &c.

even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; that useth smooth and soft words to work upon the passions, move the affections, and win the hearts of men; and ensnare them and draw them to commit wickedness with her; see Pro 5:3; and so antichrist, and all false teachers and heretics, with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple, Rom 16:18.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The second great evil, the warnings against which are frequent (see the marginal reference). Two words are used to describe the class.

(1) “The strange woman” is one who does not belong to the family, one who by birth is outside the covenant of Israel.

(2) “The stranger” is none other than a foreigner.

It is the word used of the “strange” wives of Solomon 1Ki 11:1, 1Ki 11:8, and of those of the Jews who returned from Babylon (Ezra 10; passim). The two words together, in connection with those which follow, and which imply at once marriage and a profession of religious faith, point to some interesting facts in the social history of Israel. Whatever form the sin here referred to had assumed before the monarchy (and the Book of Judges testifies to its frequency), the contact with Phoenicians and other nations under Solomon had a strong tendency to increase it. The king’s example would naturally be followed, and it probably became a fashion to have foreign wives and concubines. At first, it would seem, this was accompanied by some show of proselytism Pro 2:17; but the old pagan leaven (influence) presently broke out; the sensual worship of other gods led the way to a life of harlotry. The stringent laws of the Mosaic code Lev 19:29; Lev 21:9; Deu 23:18 probably deterred the women of Israel from that sin, and led to a higher standard of purity among them than prevailed among other nations.

Most interpreters have, however, generalized the words as speaking of any adulteress. The Septuagint as if reluctant to speak of facts so shameful, has allegorized them, and seen in the temptress the personification of “evil counsel.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Strange. Idolatress, (Grotius) or rather the abandoned woman, whether married or not. (Calmet) --- This description, as well as the former, guards us against heretics, who leave the right way of the Catholic Church, (ver. 13.) and devise perverse doctrines of rebellion against princes, &c., as if faith alone were sufficient. By this faith, Protestants do not mean any article which all must believe, but only that each one must be convinced that he himself is just, and will be saved. Like the strange woman, they preach a comfortable doctrine, and use sweet speeches, Romans xvi. 18. Their conversion is a very difficult matter, (ver. 19.) because they are condemned by their own judgment, (Titus iii. 11.) and will not admit of the ordinary means of instruction in the Church. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

From the strange woman; from the adulteress or whore; called strange, partly because such persons were commonly heathens, or are supposed to be such by reason of that severe law against these practices in Israelitish women, Deu 23:17, or are justly reputed heathens, as being degenerate Israelites, which are oft called strangers, as hath been noted in the Book of the Psalms; and partly because conversation with such persons is forbidden to men; as those Israelites which were not Levites are called strangers, Num 1:51, in respect of the holy things which they were prohibited to touch; and forbidden fire is called strange fire, Num 3:4.

Which flattereth with her words; which useth all arts and ways to allure men to unchaste actions; one kind being put for all the rest.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. From the strange woman — Solomon here proceeds to show that this wisdom of which he speaks will also preserve from the snares of the dissolute woman. Such a woman is described. She is זרה, (zarah,) and נכריה, (nokhriyyah,) a strange woman, an adulteress; that is, a foreigner either as to nation or to the household; another woman than the man’s wife. It is probable that those women who surrendered themselves to licentious practices among the Hebrews were mostly foreigners, and hence the words corresponding to our words harlot, prostitute, and the term stranger or foreign woman, came to be nearly synonymous. By the Canaanites, especially the Phoenicians, women were consecrated to prostitution as priestesses of their impure goddess of love. In periods of her corruption Israel received these foreign women, and temples of licentious rites, scattered through Palestine, reduced the young Israelites to debauchery.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To deliver thee from the strange woman. This is the second form of temptation against which wisdom (discretion) is a preservative, and the great and especial dangers arising from it to youth, owing to its seductive allurements, afford the reason why the teacher is so strong in his warnings on this subject. Two terms are employed to designate the source of this evil strange woman" (hrz h ishshah zara), and "the stranger" (hyrikn, nok"riyah ) and both undoubtedly, in the passage before us, mean a meretricious person, one who indulges in illicit intercourse. The former term is invariably employed in this sense in the Proverbs (Pro_5:2, 20 7:5 22:14 23:33) of the adulteress ( zarim), and Jer_2:25. The participle rz (zar), from the verb rWz (zur), of which hrz (zarah) is the feminine form, is, however, used in a wider sense, as signifying

(1) one of another nation, or one of another family;

(2) or some one different from one"s self;

(3) or strange.

Thus:

(1) In Isa_1:7 we have "Strangers devour it (your land) in your presence;" but in Exo_30:33 "the stranger" is one not the high priest.

(2) The "stranger" is another. (Pro_11:15 Pro_14:10 Pro_20:16 Pro_27:2, Pro_27:13)

(3) The "strange fire" (hrz vae, esh zarah) is the unlawful fire as opposed to the holy fire; (Lev_10:1) the "strange god" (rz lae, el zar) is the foreign god. (Psa_81:9) But the idea of foreign origin implied in the word is more strongly brought out in the next term, hyrikn (nokriyah), on which Delitzsch remarks that it scarcely ever divests itself of a strange, foreign origin. This word is used to designate those "strange women" whom Solomon loved in his old age, and who turned his heart aside to worship false gods, (1Ki_11:1-8) "outlandish women," as they are termed in Neh_13:26; it designates "the strange wives" of Ezr 10, and Neh_13:27; and is applied to Ruth the Moabitess. (Rth_2:10) Again, it has to be further observed that the laws of the Mosaic code against prostitution were of a most stringent nature, (Lev_19:29 Lev_21:9 Deu_23:17) and no doubt served to maintain a higher standard of morality among Israelitish women than that observed among the Midianites, Syrians, and other nations. Strong prohibitions were directed against the intermarriage of Israelites with the women of the surrounding nations; but the example set by Solomon would serve to weaken the force of these prohibitions, and would lead to a large influx of women of a different nationality. The conclusion we arrive at is that the class mentioned in the text, though not Israelitish by birth, were yet so by adoption, as the context clearly indicates (ver. 17) the fact of marriage and the acceptance of certain religious observances. Such women, after a temporary restraint, would eventually set all moral and religious obligations at defiance. and would become the source of temptation to others. The allegorical interpretation given to this passage by the LXX is to be rejected on the ground that the previous section (vers. 12-15) speaks of perverse men. Which flattereth with her words; literally, who has made smooth her words, the hiph. perfect being used of qlj (khalak), "to make smooth," or "flattering." The preterite shows what her habitual practice is, and is used of an action still continuing, and so may be fitly rendered by the present, as in the Authorized Version: "She has acquired the art of enticing by flattering words, and it is her study to employ them;" cf. the Vulgate, quae mollit sermones suos, "who softens her words;" and the Syriac, quae subvertit verba sua, "who subverts her words," i.e. "uses deceit." The expression occurs again in Pro_5:3 Pro_6:24 Pro_7:5.

Vers. 16-19. The way of sin: a sermon to young men.

Reference is made here to one particular sin. While the words of the teacher are specially appropriate to it, they will also apply to all sin; they show the way it takes. Let us see

I THAT SIN IS THE CONTRADICTION OF THE DIVINE THOUGHT. It is a "strange" thing (ver. 16). The painted harlot is "the strange woman." And while the prostitution of a human being, meant to be a helpmeet for man in all his highest and holiest pursuits to a mere ministress to his unlawful lusts, is the very saddest departure from the Divine ideal, and amply justifies the use of the word "strange woman," we may remember that all sin is a strange thing in the universe of God. How it ever entered there is the problem which can never be solved. But meeting with it here. in whatever form, we say, "This is the contrary of the thought of the Supreme," "This is the exact opposite of his design," "This is something alien, unnatural, intrusive: cannot we cast it out?

II THAT SIN MUST STOOP TO FALSEHOOD IF IT WILL WIN ITS WAY. It "flattereth with its words" (ver. 16). Flattery is only another name for a sweet falsehood. The woman that is a sinner uses flattery to accomplish her ends. So sin cannot live without lying. That may be said of sin which was said of a great European usurper, that it "has deliberately taken falsehood into its service." But the most effective and destructive form of it is flattery. Let the young take earnest heed to their danger. When the lips of beauty speak soft and gratifying things, let purity beware; it is only too likely that temptation in its most seductive form is nigh, and that character and reputation are being insidiously assailed.

III THAT SIN SINKS TO ITS DARKEST DEPTHS THROUGH VARIOUS VIOLATIONS. (Ver. 17.) It is uncertain whether by the "guide of her youth" is to be understood her husband, (see Mal_2:14, Mal_2:15) her parents, or her God. The second clause clearly refers to the marriage covenant, which is regarded as a sacred bond. Whichever be the correct view of the former clause, it is certain that the sinner of the text could only descend to her shameless depth by violating every promise she has made, by breaking through every fence which once stood between her and guilt. This is the inevitable course of sin. It violates first one vow, then another, until all sacred promises are broken.

(1) Deliberate resolutions,

(2) solemn assurances,

(3) formal vows; all are infringed.

IV THAT SIN LEADS STRAIGHT TO THE DOORWAY OF DEATH. (Vers. 18, 19.) It leads:

1. To physical death. Vice carries with it a penalty in the body; it robs of health and strength; it enfeebles; it sows seeds of sickness and death. The "graves of lust" are in every cemetery and churchyard in the land.

2. To spiritual death. "None that go unto her return again" as they went. Men come away from every unlawful indulgence other than they go weaker and worse in soul. Alas for the morrow of incontinence, of whatever kind it be! The soul is injured; its self-respect is slain, its force is lessened; it is on the incline which slopes to death, and one step nearer to the foot of it. "Her house inclineth unto death.

3. To eternal death. They who resort to forbidden pleasure are fast on their way to the final condemnation; they have wandered long leagues from "the paths of life." We conclude with two admonitions:

(1) Keep carefully away from the beginnings of evil. Shun not only the "strange woman"s" door, but the evil glance, the doubtful company, the impure book, the meretricious paper.

(2) The way of escape is immediate and total abandonment of sin. Such resolution made at once, seeking God"s strength and grace, will permit the wanderer to "return again. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Strange woman - From the adulteress or whore.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

With the resumption of להצּילך, the watchful protection which wisdom affords to its possessors is further specified in these verses:

16 To save thee from the strange woman,

From the stranger who useth smooth words;

The subject here continued is the fourfold wisdom named in Pro 2:10, Pro 2:11. זר signifies alienus, which may also be equivalent to alius populi, but of a much wider compass - him who does not belong to a certain class (e.g., the non-priestly or the laity), the person or thing not belonging to me, or also some other than I designate; on the other hand, נכרי, peregrinus, scarcely anywhere divests itself of the essential mark of a strange foreign origin. While thus אשּׁה זרה is the non-married wife, נכריּה designates her as non-Israelitish. Prostitution was partly sanctioned in the cultus of the Midianites, Syrians, and other nations neighbouring to Israel, and thus was regarded as nothing less than customary. In Israel, on the contrary, the law (Deu 23:18.) forbade it under a penalty, and therefore it was chiefly practised by foreign women (Pro 23:27, and cf. the exception, Rut 2:10),

(Note: In Talmudic Heb. ארמית (Aramean) has this meaning for the Biblical נכריּה.)

an inveterate vice, which spread itself particularly from the latter days of Solomon, along with general ungodliness, and excusing itself under the polygamy sanctioned by the law, brought ruin on the state. The Chokma contends against this, and throughout presents monogamy as alone corresponding to the institution and the idea of the relation. Designating marriage as the "covenant of God," it condemns not only adulterous but generally promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, because unhallowed and thus unjustifiable, and likewise arbitrary divorce. Regarding the ancient ceremonies connected with the celebration of marriage we are not specially informed; but from Pro 2:17, Mal 2:14 (Ewald, Bertheau, Hitzig, but not Khler), it appears that the celebration of marriage was a religious act, and that they who were joined together in marriage called God to witness and ratify the vows they took upon themselves. The perf. in the attributive clause אמריה החליקה proceeds on the routine acquired in cajoling and dissembling: who has smoothed her words, i.e., learned to entice by flattering words (Fl.).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Another snare of the fowler is here graphically portrayed.†1 Wisdom hidden in the heart is, as before, the most effectual deliverance; restraining even the eye from the hurtful object.†2 Ought not the strange woman, even if she be born and baptized in a Christian land, to be counted as a stranger†3 and foreigner among us? One who had forsaken the guide of her youth,†4 and forgotten the solemn bond of the covenant of her God†5 — what else could she be to the unwary but a vile flatterer with her lips? (Pro 5:3 ; Pro 7:5, Pro 7:21 .) The slave of unlawful desire; having no guide but her own will; no pleasure but sensual gratification; quickly she becomes her own and her victim’s murderer. Her house is the land of death. (Pro 5:5 .) Eternal death is her doom (Gal 5:19-21 . Eph 5:5 . Rev 21:8 ; Rev 22:15 .) Her paths incline to the dead, with the awful monuments of Divine vengeance in olden time.†6 Some instances indeed of deliverance are given; not so much examples, as special miracles, of grace, to show how far the "arm of the Lord" can reach.†7 But so rare are they, that it is as if scarcely none†8 that go unto her return again. And what madness is it to rush into the snare upon so faint and glimmering hope of escape! (Ecc 7:26 .) The spell of lust palsies the grasp, by which its victim might have taken hold of the paths of life for deliverance. He that is "saved, is so as by fire" (1Co 3:15 ), the wonder of heaven and earth. "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" (Zec 3:2 .)

Footnotes

†1 Pro 5:3-20; Pro 6:24 ; Pro 7:5-23 ; Pro 22:14 ; Pro 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.

†2 Compare Job 31:1, and our Lord’s rule: — Mat 5:28 .

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

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

†5 Mal 2:14-16. Compare Eze 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?

†6 ’The dead.’ — Scott and Bishop Patrick in loco. Compare Pro 9:18 . Heb. Mede’s Learned Discourse, vii.

†7 Solomon’s own case. Compare Luk 7:37-50 ; 1Co 6:9-11 .

†8 None in comparison, very few. Compare Isa 59:4 ; Isa 64:7 .

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

The father continues to teach his child how wisdom will protect him.

Wisdom and discretion will save you

The writer speaks of wisdom and discretion as if they were people who save the one who possesses them. AT: "If you have wisdom and discretion, you will save yourself" (See: Personification)

the companion of her youth

This refers to her husband, whom she married when she was young.

the covenant of her God

This likely refers to the marriage covenant that she made with her husband in the presence of God.

translationWords

sexual immorality

forsake

companion

covenant

God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

To save you from a strange woman From the assembly of idolatry [apostasy], which is sectarianism. It cannot be said that he spoke only of the actual adulteress, for what is the praise of the Torah, that he says here, “to save you from a strange woman,” and not from any other sin. Rather, this is the casting off of the yoke of all the commandments.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.