Proverbs 6:24

Pro 6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

Ver. 24. To keep thee from the evil woman.] Heb., From the woman of evil, that is wholly given up to wickedness, - as Aaron saith of the people, {Exo 32:22} and as Plautus, In fermenlo tota iacet uxor. In this sense Antichrist is called "the man of sin." {2Th 2:3}

From the flattery of the tongue.] This is the proper effect of God’s word, hid in the heart, as an amulet. Bellerophon and other heathens, without this preservative, abstained from adultery, either for love of praise, or fear of punishment, or opinion of merit. But this was not properly chastity, but continence, which kept them from the outward act, sed non sine dolore - not without inward lustings and hankerings after strange flesh. Vellem, si non essem imperator, said Scipio, when a fair harlot was offered to him; I would if I were not a general.

Of a strange woman.] Filthiness, as also swearing and drunkenness, in a woman is most abominable. Hence, among other reasons, saith one, the whorish woman is called "the strange woman."

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_6:24

To keep thee from the evil woman.

The sin of uncleanness

1. One great kindness God designed men in giving them His law was to preserve them from this sin.

2. The greatest kindness we can do ourselves is to keep at a distance from this sin. Arguments urging this caution are--

(1) It is a sin that impoverishes men.

(2) It threatens death; it kills men.

(3) It brings guilt upon the conscience and debauches it.

(4) It ruins the reputation, and entails perpetual infamy.

(5) It exposes the adulterer to the rage of the jealous husband. (Matthew Henry.)

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

Pro 6:24-29. To keep thee from the evil woman — Which is mentioned as a great commendation of God’s word, because neither worldly discretion, nor a good education, nor moral precepts, nor any other considerations, are sufficient preservatives against this lust, as is manifest from daily experience. Lust not after her beauty — Do not give way to, or delight thyself with, unchaste thoughts or affections: compare Mat 5:28. Neither let her take thee with her eyelids — With her wanton glances. For by means, &c., a man is brought to a piece of bread — To extreme poverty, so as to want, and be forced to beg his bread. And the adulteress will hunt for the precious life — To take away a man’s life; either by consuming his body and spirits, and so shortening his days; or more directly and strictly when she hath any great provocation to do it, or any prospect of considerable advantage thereby. Can a man take fire in his bosom and not be burned? — The question implies a denial; he cannot escape burning. No more can he who burns in lust avoid destruction. Whosoever toucheth her — In any immodest way; shall not be innocent — He is in imminent danger of adultery, as he that takes fire in his bosom, or goes upon hot coals, is in danger of being burned. The way of sin is down hill, and those that venture upon the temptation to it will hardly escape the sin itself; and certainly shall not escape punishment, but shall meet with it either from God or man.

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

CRITICAL NOTES,—

Pro_6:24. Evil woman, literally. “the woman of evil.”

Pro_6:26. Last clause means “an adulteress allures to that which may cost a man his life” (Stuart).

Pro_6:30. Despise. Some translators render this word “scorn,” others “disregard.” Stuart, Wordsworth, and others adopt the former and understand the words to mean “men do not despise the thief, they do despise the adulterer.” Noyes and others, adopting the latter rendering, take the sentence to mean “men punish even a thief, how much more an adulterer.”

Pro_6:34. Jealousy, i.e., of the injured husband.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH—Pro_6:24-35

A SPECIAL SIN AND ITS PENALTIES FROM WHICH HE WHO KEEPS GOD’S LAW WILL BE KEPT

I. From the huntress of souls. The animals of tropical jungles are compelled at intervals to forsake their safe retreats and come down to the brink of the river to quench their thirst. This necessity of their life involves them in danger. The instinct of the lion tells him that the antelope will be compelled, by the cravings of his nature, to come to the place of water, and therefore he lays in wait there to make him an easy prey. And the hunter, being fully aware of the same fact, crouches by the river-side and takes both the lion and his prey. Thus the natural bodily instincts are used as means by which the lives of the creatures are destroyed. The danger of which the young man is here warned arises out of the existence of a God-given and, therefore, lawful desire. The huntress of souls—as she is well named in Pro_6:25—takes advantage of this lawful propensity and uses it as a means of the destruction of her victim. She knows that the young man, from the strength of his lawful desires, is, comparatively, an easy prey to the seducer, hence it is to him that she points her weapons. These weapons are:

1. Flattery. Fair words cost nothing. A score of base coin can be purchased for a copper, and are worth exchanging for one golden piece. The dogs lick the hand of the vendor of their meat, but this not out of any affection for him. They do not use their tongue out of any affection for him, but for what he has. So the adulteress, and so indeed all flatterers. They give the base coin only in the hope of getting gold in return—fair words for real benefits. They will lick the back of the hand in order to get something out of the palm.

2. Her beauty. The beauty of a woman is a powerful weapon, and, if rightly used, may be a means of greatly blessing others. But, alas, how often has it been debased to the vilest purposes, how many times have strong men been cast down by it, how many sons of the mighty has it brought low, even to the dust! The keeping in the heart of the law of God’s word will teach the young man to estimate flattering words and mere external beauty at their real worth.

II. From the inevitable marks left upon both constitution and character by unlawful intercourse (Pro_6:27-28). A man’s raiment cannot be kindled into a flame without its retaining the marks after the fire has been extinguished. The scar of the burn will remain even after the wound is healed. So those who yield to the solicitations of the “strange woman” will find that soul and body will suffer from the effects of the sin long after the action has been committed.

III. From the deserved contempt of all the pure-minded (Pro_6:30-31). It is a sin compared with which a theft is a light crime in the eyes of God, and therefore in the eyes of the best men. A thief may make restitution for his crime, bnt this sin cannot be atoned for by an after act. Gold may be repaid fourfold, but dishonour brought upon a husband by a wife’s infidelity is a blot which cannot be effaced. The loss of the poor man’s ewe-lamb might be atoned for, but David could not have restored to Uriah an innocent wife. (See 2Sa_12:1-6). Hence the much heavier punishment under the Mosaic law for adultery than for theft. (See Exo_22:1-4; Lev_20:10).

IV. From the fury of a lawful jealousy (Pro_6:34). Where there is true love there is a jealousy for the honour and reputation of the object loved. The man who is not jealous for the honour of his country is not a patriot. The father who is not jealous for the reputation of his family is not worthy of the name. And so the husband who is not jealous of his own and his wife’s honour is a stranger to real love. There is a right and lawful jealousy. God calls Himself “a jealous God” (Exo_20:5). There are rights which belong to Him alone, and He is justly displeased if they are given to any other being. Paul tells the Corinthian Church that he was “jealous over them with a godly jealousy” (2Co_11:2). He was their Father in Christ, and he felt that his honour as well as theirs was staked upon their living holy lives. And the righteous jealousy of the injured husband spoken of in the text is to be dreaded, because it is righteous—because it has just grounds for its existence, and because God will see to it that the wrong is avenged.

ILLUSTRATION OF Pro_6:25

This probably refers to the care with which women in the East paint their eyelids, in a great measure in order to captivate the men, who, from the manner in which they are muffled up, can often see no more of their persons than their eyes—which may, indeed, be one reason why so much pains are taken to set them off.

ILLUSTRATION OF Pro_6:28

This image would hardly occur to us, who never go barefoot, and are never or rarely exposed to any liability of treading upon burning coals. If we desired to express the same sentiment by a similar image, we should say, “Can one handle hot coals and not be burned?” But in the East travelling parties kindle fires in the open air for cooking and for warmth, and a passenger might easily burn his naked foot by treading inadvertently upon the hot but not glowing place of one of these recently quitted fires.—Kitto.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

Pro_6:24. Bound and kept in the heart as a friend, that law will prevail to keep the youth “from the strange woman.” Observing a great swelling wave rolling forward to devour him, this faithful teacher imparts to the young voyager on life’s troubled sea a principle which will bear him buoyant over it. A slender vessel floats alone upon the ocean, contending with the storm. A huge wave approaches, towering high above her hull. All depends upon how the ship shall take it. If she go under it she will never rise again: if she is so trimmed that her bows rise with the first approaches, she springs lightly over it, and gets no harm. The threatening billow passes beneath her, and breaks with a growl behind her, but the ship is safe. The law and love of the Lord, taught by his mother in childhood, and maintaining its place yet as the friend of his bosom and the ruler of his conscience, will give the youth a spring upward proportionate to the magnitude of the temptation coming on.—Arnot.

That which is said of Jael is true of the strange woman. She brought forth soft words, but a hard nail; in her mouth was a gentle hammer, but in her hand a heavy one. Open force is more easily resisted, but that which is hid in the beginning with fair words in the end stingeth most cruelly.—Jermin.

“Flattery.” That constitutes the risk. If impenitence would tell the truth, or even if we would allow the truth, there would be no danger. But hers is an alien tongue in this,—that though we deliberately admit it is a cheat, we accept its flattery.—Miller.

Pro_6:26. A famine of bread followeth the gluttony of lust, and it is life itself that is destroyed by it. He that is thus brought to a morsel of bread on earth, shall be brought to a drop of water in hell, if repentance do not in time beg a gracious pardon for him. That man’s life is precious, the devil himself affirmeth, who seeketh to make it vile; he saith, who laboureth to destroy it, that “Skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life” (Job_2:4). How unworthy valuers are they therefore of their own lives who esteem them less than the devil does, and who make them a prey to the adulteress, who as a lion hunteth after them.—Jermin.

Nothing is so bewitching aswomanly enchantment. Nothing in esse, when it is base, is so contemptible. Nothing sweeps a man with such a perfect storm of influence. Nothing leaves him so perfectly defrauded and unpaid.—Miller.

Pro_6:27-28. “Fire” is a favourite emblem for wickedness. “Wickedness burneth as the fire” (Isa_9:18, see also Isa_65:5). The

(1) pain, the

(2) waste, the

(3), growth, and

(4) the small beginnings of sin are all instanced in the fire. “Bosom.” Here is just where sin is taken. Sin is not only the inward but the outward enemy, not only the coals in our bosom but the coals (or fierce tempting occasions) in the midst of which we walk—Miller.

Sin and punishment are linked together by a chain of adamant. “The fire of lust kindles the fire of hell,” says Henry. He cannot afterwards plead the strength of the temptation. Why did he not avoid it? Who that knows how much tinder he carries about with him would wilfully lightup the sparks?—Bridges.

Perhaps such an one may think to tread upon coals, thereby to tread them out, but he will first tread the fire into his own feet: perhaps such an one may think to walk in the ways of lust, thereby to walk them out, but he will first walk out the strength of his body and means. The affections are the feet of man’s soul, and if they walk upon this fire they will be inflamed suddenly.—Jermin.

Pro_6:29. Though the plea of a sleepy conscience be not guilty, the sentence of God is, not innocent. It was for this wickedness that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; it was for it He brought the deluge of waters upon the world, and as it is observed, for no other sin do we read, that God is said to have repented to have made man, but for this.—Jermin.

Pro_6:30. Compared with an adulterer, a thief is not treated with so much ignominy. The laws of modern society have reversed the maxims of Solomon; and, to the dishonour of Christian nations, an adulterer, who steals what is most precious to a man, and what is irretrievable, is treated by the law with more lenity than a thief, who robs him of what is comparatively of little value and may be easily replaced.—Wordsworth.

Adultery is worse than theft. It is before us in the commandments as the greater sin (Exo_20:14-15).

1. It is a far greater theft.

2. The provocation to theft is greater. Want drives the one, wantonness draws the other. One may preserve his bodily life by his sin, the other destroys it. Hunger is a great provocation to evil (ch. Pro_30:9). Necessity is a sore weapon.—Francis Taylor.

Pro_6:33. The three things here mentioned may be referred to three causes. The wound to the devil, the enemy of mankind, the dishonour to God, dishonoured by the adulterer, the reproach to sin, which is the true object of reproach. The devil woundeth out of malice, God dishonoureth in justice, sin reproacheth by nature; and where nature hath fastened the reproach or stain it is not any art that can take it out or wipe it away. He that giveth this good counsel was himself an example of what he writeth. As Jerome saith, Solomon, the sun of men, the treasure of God’s delights, the peculiar house of wisdom, blurred with the thick ink of dishonour, lost the light of his soul, the glory of his house, the sweet perfume of his name, by the love of a woman.—Jermin.

What an indelible blot is the matter of Uriah upon David still.—Trapp.

Pro_6:34. Howbeit he may not kill the adulterer, but if no law will relieve a man, yet let him know that he shall do himself no disservice by making God his chancellor.—Trapp.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:24-25 The immoral woman uses smooth talk and physical beauty to appeal to the vanity of young men.

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

A specimen of its benefit. By appreciating truth, men are not affected by lying flattery.

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 24. To keep thee from the evil woman] Solomon had suffered sorely from this quarter; and hence his repeated cautions and warnings to others. The strange woman always means one that is not a man's own; and sometimes it may also imply a foreign harlot, one who is also a stranger to the God of Israel.

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

24. the tongue of a strange woman] the stranger’s tongue, R.V., i.e. the tongue of another man’s wife, as what follows shews (Pro_6:22; Pro_6:29; Pro_6:32; Pro_6:34-35). See Pro_2:16, note.

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.

Lust not after her beauty in thine heart,.... Do not look upon it with the eye, nor dwell upon it in the thought; the one will lead on to and kindle last in the heart, and the other will cherish it and blow it up into a flame; and lust thus conceived and nourished in the heart is no other than committing adultery, Mat 5:28;

neither let her take thee with her eyelids; let her not take thee from instruction with them, so Aben Ezra, from attending to that; or let her not take thy wisdom from thee, so Jarchi; or rather let her not take thee as in a net, with the sparkling of her eyes, with the wanton and amorous glances of them; so the Syriac version, "let her not captivate thee", &c. which applied to the antichristian church, may signify the outward pomp and grandeur of it, its pretensions to antiquity, to the apostolic see, to infallibility, miracles, great devotion, &c. which are taking to men, and are the Circean cup with which she bewitches and allures, Rev 17:4. The Targum is,

"let her not seduce thee,'' &c.

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

Evil woman - literally, “woman of evil.” In reading what follows, it must be remembered that the warning is against the danger of the sin of the adulterous wife.

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

Stranger. This is often inculcated, because nothing is more dangerous in youth, nor more contrary to the study of wisdom.

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).

This is mentioned as a great commendation of God’s word, because neither worldly discretion, nor civil education, nor moral precepts, nor any other considerations, are sufficient preservatives against this lust, as is manifest from daily experience.

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

24. To keep thee — A special application of the above. One object of pious parental care and training is to preserve from base, sensual gratification. And as it should be one of the highest aims of parental solicitude to guard the youth of their households from base desires and practices, so it is one of the chief efforts of the royal sage and father in this work to describe and illustrate the terrible evils of lawless lust. Hence he returns to it again and again, and presents it under a variety of aspects. Let the reader ponder, and “flee youthful lusts.” 2Ti_2:22. “Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 1Pe_2:11.

Flattery — Any kind of enticing speech. The radical idea is that of smoothness, hence pleasantness; pleasant, in this case, because addressed to the carnal appetites and exciting voluptuous desires.

Strange woman — Or, strange tongue, (meaning the same thing,) any other woman than a man’s wife; generally in this book meaning a wanton woman. See on Pro_2:16.

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

The section thus closes:

To keep thee from the vile woman,

From the flattery of the strange tongue.

Regarding the genitive connection אושׁת רע, a woman of a wicked character, vid., under Pro 2:14; and regarding the adjectival connection לשׁון נכריה, under Pro 6:17; the strange tongue is the tongue (לשׁון) of the strange (foreign) woman (vid., p. 81), alluring with smooth words (Pro 2:16). Ewald, Bertheau: from her of a smooth tongue, the stranger, as Symm., Theod., ἀπὸ λειογλώσσου ξένης; but חלקת is a substantive (Gen 27:16), and as a fem. adject. form is without an example. Rather חלקת לשׁון is to be regarded as the first member and נכריה as the second of the st. constr., for the former constitutes one idea, and לשון on this account remains unabbreviated; cf. Psa 68:22; Isa 28:1; but (1) this syntactical phenomenon is yet problematical, vid., Friedr. Philippi, Wesen und Ursprung des St. Constr. p. 17; and (2) the supposition of such an anomaly is here unnecessary.

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.)

It keeps you from

Here the word "it" refers to the lessons taught by the father and mother in Proverbs 6:20. AT: "It saves you from" or "It protects you from" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

the immoral woman ... an immoral woman

These two words mean basically the same thing. See how you translated the word "adulteress" in Proverbs 5:3.

do not let her capture you with her eyelashes

The writer speaks of the woman's eyelashes as if they were a trap into which the young man could fall. They are a synecdoche for her beauty and a metonym for the way the woman looks at the young man to make her want her. AT: "do not allow her to gain control over you by being beautiful and by the way she looks at you"

immoral

"morally evil"

in your heart

Here "heart" represents the mind. AT: "in your thoughts" (See: Metonymy)

her beauty

"what is beautiful about her." This can also be a metonym for the woman. AT: "her" (See: Metonymy)

capture you

"gain control over you"

her eyelashes

The "eyelashes" stand for the beautiful things about her body that she uses to catch a man's attention. AT: "her beautiful eyes" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

lust

heart

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 guard you from an evil woman The Torah shall guard you from a woman of evil behavior—perforce, Solomon did not speak of an evil woman, but concerning idolatry, [the prohibition of] which is equal in gravity to all [commandments], for if you say that he meant a real harlot, is that all the reward and the praise of the Torah that it guards one only from a harlot? Rather, perforce this is idolatry, [the prohibition of] which is as stringent as all other [commandments].

from the smoothness of the alien tongue From the sealing of the eyes by an alien tongue.

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.