Christian Standard Bible
Proverbs 5:4
4in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword.
Proverbs 5:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
- New International Version (NIV)but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.
- English Standard Version (ESV)but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Context of Proverbs 5:4
2so that you may maintain discretion and your lips safeguard knowledge. 3Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword. 5Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. 6She doesn’t consider the path of life; she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.
Read all of Proverbs 5Proverbs 5:4 word by word
וְֽ֭אַחֲרִיתָהּ מָרָ֣ה כַֽלַּעֲנָ֑ה חַ֝דָּ֗ה כְּחֶ֣רֶב פִּיּֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 5:4
- Proverbs 6:24They will protect you from an evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a wayward woman.
- Proverbs 7:22He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding toward a trap
- Proverbs 9:18But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
- Proverbs 23:27For a prostitute is a deep pit, and a wayward woman is a narrow well;
- Ecclesiastes 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap: her heart a net and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.
- Hebrews 12:15Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and defiling many.
- Judges 16:4Some time later, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley.
- Psalms 55:21His buttery words are smooth, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.
- Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Commentaries on Proverbs 5:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Bitter as wormwood - כלענה Kelanah, like the detestable herb wormwood, or something analogous to it: something as excessive in its bitterness, as honey is in its sweetness.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Wormwood - In Eastern medicine this herb, the absinthium of Greek and Latin botanists, was looked upon as poisonous rather than medicinal. Compare Revelation 8:11.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4The lips of an immoral woman may seem sweet and tempting, but they are actually bitter and dangerous. Sexual activity often starts with a kiss, and flattering words can lure someone in.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. her end--literally, "her future," in sense of reward, what follows (compare Psa 37:37; 73:17). Its nature is evinced by the use of figures, opposite those of Pr 5:3. The physical and moral suffering of the deluded profligate are notoriously terrible.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 5:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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