Commentary - Proverbs 5:1-6

Bird's-eye view

The book of Proverbs is intensely practical, and nowhere is this more apparent than in its repeated warnings against sexual folly. This passage is a father's earnest plea to his son, urging him to embrace divine wisdom as a shield against the catastrophic allure of the adulteress. The structure is straightforward: a call to attention (vv. 1-2) followed by a stark description of the strange woman, contrasting her seductive appearance with her deadly reality (vv. 3-6). This is not merely about avoiding a particular sin; it is about choosing a way of life. The son is presented with two paths, personified by two women throughout Proverbs: Lady Wisdom and Dame Folly. Here, the strange woman is a street-level manifestation of Dame Folly, and the father's wisdom is the voice of Lady Wisdom, calling the son to a life of discretion, knowledge, and ultimately, life itself.

The core of the argument is a profound exercise in cause and effect. The father is not simply laying down arbitrary rules. He is a loving strategist, teaching his son to look past the immediate gratification that sin offers and to calculate the end game. The appeal is to wisdom, discernment, and discretion, which are the cognitive tools necessary for navigating a world filled with beautiful and deadly traps. The honeyed lips and smooth speech of the seductress are set against the bitterness of wormwood and the sharpness of a two-edged sword. Her path leads directly to death and Sheol. The choice is clear, but it is a choice that requires a mind trained by godly wisdom to see it for what it is.

Outline

The Strange Woman

Throughout Proverbs, the "strange woman" or "adulteress" is a recurring figure of immense danger. She is "strange" not in the sense of being odd, but in the sense of being foreign to God's covenant order for the family. She is an outsider to the covenant of marriage that the son is called to honor. Her allure is a counterfeit of the legitimate beauty and pleasure found within marriage. She represents the principle of illicit desire, of seeking life and satisfaction outside the boundaries God has established. In this, she is a perfect agent of Folly, promising sweetness but delivering death. The warnings are so frequent and so potent because the temptation is so common and so devastating. To fall for her is to abandon the path of life, to squander one's inheritance, and to walk willingly into the grave.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my discernment;

The address is personal and affectionate: "My son." This is not an impersonal lecture from a distant deity, but a heartfelt appeal from a father who loves his son and has a vested interest in his future. The father is passing down more than just information; he is passing down wisdom and discernment. This is generational faithfulness in action. The son is commanded to do two things: "pay attention" and "incline your ear." This is a call for active, focused listening. Wisdom is not absorbed passively. It requires a deliberate posture of humility and a willingness to be taught. The ear must be bent toward the instruction. In a world saturated with noise and competing voices, the son must intentionally tune his hearing to the frequency of his father's godly counsel.

v. 2 That you may keep discretion And that your lips may guard knowledge.

Here is the purpose of heeding the father's wisdom. It is not for the sake of abstract learning, but for the cultivation of character and the establishment of a bulwark against folly. The first goal is to "keep discretion." Discretion is the ability to make sound judgments, to see the hidden hook beneath the bait. It is the moral and mental capacity to navigate complex situations without being duped. The second goal is that his "lips may guard knowledge." This has a twofold meaning. First, his speech will be informed by truth; he will not speak foolishly. Second, and more central to the context, he will have the knowledge necessary to answer and refuse the seductive words that are coming his way. His mouth will be guarded by truth so that the poison of the strange woman's mouth cannot enter.

v. 3 For the lips of a strange woman drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech;

Now the specific danger is introduced. The "for" connects this warning directly to the need for discretion. Why do you need to be so careful? Because the initial presentation of this temptation is overwhelmingly sweet and appealing. Her lips "drip honey." This is a powerful image of sweetness that is natural, raw, and enticing. Her speech is "smoother than oil," suggesting a frictionless, persuasive charm that can slide past a young man's defenses before he even knows what is happening. The danger does not announce itself as danger. It comes packaged as a delightful and harmless pleasure. This is the universal tactic of temptation. Sin never shows you the bill upfront.

v. 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

The father immediately rips away the sweet facade to show the reality underneath. The contrast is jarring. "But her end..." The son must learn to be an "end-game" thinker. The immediate taste is honey, but the aftertaste, the "end," is "bitter as wormwood." Wormwood was a plant known for its extreme, proverbial bitterness. The pleasure is fleeting, but the bitterness lingers. Not only is it bitter, but it is also deadly. It is "sharp as a two-edged sword." This kind of sword cuts both ways, coming and going. It brings ruin to all parties involved. It severs life, reputation, family, and fellowship with God. The father's wisdom provides the long-term forecast, which is something the intoxicating moment of temptation always tries to obscure.

v. 5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol,

The imagery moves from the consequence to the destination. This is not a misstep; it is a trajectory. Her entire way of life, her "feet," are on a path that descends. The destination is "death." This is not just physical death, though that can be a consequence, but a comprehensive spiritual and social death. Her "steps take hold of Sheol," the realm of the dead. To walk with her is to walk into the grave. Every step taken with her is a step that gets a firmer grip on damnation. The language is active and certain. This is not a risk; it is a guarantee. The father is making it plain: you cannot dabble in this sin and expect to find life. This path only goes one way, and it goes down.

v. 6 Lest she watch the path of life; Her tracks are unstable, she does not know it.

This verse describes the chaotic and deceptive nature of her path. The first clause is tricky, but the sense is that she does not consider or travel on the path of life. She gives it no thought. Her way is the antithesis of the way of life. Consequently, "her tracks are unstable." The word suggests staggering or wandering. There is no firm footing, no stability, no predictable direction in her way of life, except that the general direction is down. It is a life of chaos, driven by impulse and appetite. And the most terrifying part is the final clause: "she does not know it." She is self-deceived. She is not just a predator, but a lost soul who is oblivious to her own doomed condition. This makes her all the more dangerous. You cannot reason with someone who is so thoroughly blind to her own destruction, and who will blindly take you with her.

Application

The wisdom of Proverbs 5 is a direct assault on the modern world's casual view of sexuality. Our culture, like the strange woman, drips honey. It presents illicit sex as a recreational activity with no consequences, a form of self-expression. But God's Word tells us the truth. The end of it is bitterness, ruin, and death.

For young men, this is a charge to cultivate a rugged faith that is wise to the world's seductions. This requires more than just saying no. It requires saying yes to the wisdom of your fathers in the faith. It means inclining your ear to Scripture, to the preaching of the Word, and to the counsel of godly men. You must train your mind to see past the slick packaging of sin and to analyze the long-term consequences.

For all believers, this passage reminds us that all sin follows this pattern. It offers honeyed lips and ends in a sword. Whether the temptation is greed, gossip, bitterness, or pride, the presentation is always deceptive. We are called to be people of discretion, who guard our hearts and minds with the knowledge of God's Word. The path of life is a straight path, a firm path. The ways of sin are unstable and lead to death. We must choose, every day, to walk in the light, on the path of life, which is found in fellowship with Jesus Christ, who is Wisdom incarnate.