[3] For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
The lips — It concerns thee to get and to use discretion, that thou mayest be able to resist those temptations to which thou art exposed.
Verse 4
[4] But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
But — The effect of that to which she entices men, is destruction.
Verse 5
[5] Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Feet — Her manner of life.
Verse 6
[6] Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Lest — To prevent thy serious consideration.
Moveable — She transforms herself into several shapes, and has a thousand arts to ensnare.
Know — Thou canst not discover all her practice.
Verse 9
[9] Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Honour — Thy dignity and reputation, the strength of thy body and mind.
Years — The flower of thine age.
The cruel — To the harlot, who though she pretends love, yet in truth is one of the most cruel creatures in the world, wasting thy estate and body without pity, and damming thy soul for ever.
Verse 10
[10] Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
Strangers — Not only the strange women themselves, but others who are in league with them.
Labors — Wealth gotten by thy labours.
Verse 14
[14] I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
A moment — In how little a time am I now come into remediless misery! Assembly - And that in the congregation of Israel, where I was taught better things.
Verse 15
[15] Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Drink — Content thyself with those delights which God alloweth thee in the sober use of the marriage-bed.
Verse 16
[16] Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
Fountains — Thy children proceeding from thy wife and from thyself. Fountains are here put for rivers flowing from them.
Dispersed — They shall in due time appear abroad to thy comfort, and for the good of others.
Verse 18
[18] Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Fountain — Thy wife.
Blessed — With children; for barrenness was esteemed a curse among the Israelites.
Verse 19
[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.
Satisfy thee — At all convenient times: for that there may be excess in the marriage-bed is manifest.
Ravished — Love her fervently. It is an hyperbolical expression.
Verse 22
[22] His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Holden — He is in perfect bondage to his lusts, and is neither able nor wiling to set himself at liberty.
Verse 23
[23] He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Die — He shall die in his sins. Astray-From the way of life, and from eternal salvation.
Proverbs 5 Bible Commentary
John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes
Verse 3
[3] For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
The lips — It concerns thee to get and to use discretion, that thou mayest be able to resist those temptations to which thou art exposed.
Verse 4
[4] But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
But — The effect of that to which she entices men, is destruction.
Verse 5
[5] Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Feet — Her manner of life.
Verse 6
[6] Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
Lest — To prevent thy serious consideration.
Moveable — She transforms herself into several shapes, and has a thousand arts to ensnare.
Know — Thou canst not discover all her practice.
Verse 9
[9] Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Honour — Thy dignity and reputation, the strength of thy body and mind.
Years — The flower of thine age.
The cruel — To the harlot, who though she pretends love, yet in truth is one of the most cruel creatures in the world, wasting thy estate and body without pity, and damming thy soul for ever.
Verse 10
[10] Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
Strangers — Not only the strange women themselves, but others who are in league with them.
Labors — Wealth gotten by thy labours.
Verse 14
[14] I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
A moment — In how little a time am I now come into remediless misery! Assembly - And that in the congregation of Israel, where I was taught better things.
Verse 15
[15] Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Drink — Content thyself with those delights which God alloweth thee in the sober use of the marriage-bed.
Verse 16
[16] Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
Fountains — Thy children proceeding from thy wife and from thyself. Fountains are here put for rivers flowing from them.
Dispersed — They shall in due time appear abroad to thy comfort, and for the good of others.
Verse 18
[18] Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Fountain — Thy wife.
Blessed — With children; for barrenness was esteemed a curse among the Israelites.
Verse 19
[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.
Satisfy thee — At all convenient times: for that there may be excess in the marriage-bed is manifest.
Ravished — Love her fervently. It is an hyperbolical expression.
Verse 22
[22] His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Holden — He is in perfect bondage to his lusts, and is neither able nor wiling to set himself at liberty.
Verse 23
[23] He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Die — He shall die in his sins. Astray-From the way of life, and from eternal salvation.