English Standard Version
Proverbs 5:20
20Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
Proverbs 5:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
- New International Version (NIV)Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
- New King James Version (NKJV)For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
- New Living Translation (NLT)Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?
Context of Proverbs 5:20
18Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, 19a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? 21For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. 22The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
Read all of Proverbs 5Proverbs 5:20 word by word
וְלָ֤מָּה תִשְׁגֶּ֣ה בְנִ֣י בְזָרָ֑ה וּ֝תְחַבֵּ֗ק חֵ֣ק נָכְרִיָּֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 5:20
- Proverbs 2:16So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words,
- Proverbs 6:24to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
- Proverbs 7:5to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.
- Proverbs 22:14The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit; he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
- Proverbs 23:27For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.
- 1 Kings 11:1Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
Commentaries on Proverbs 5:20
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Emphasis is laid (see the Proverbs 2:16 note) upon the origin of the beguiler.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-23Verses 15-23 Lawful marriage is a means God has appointed to keep from these destructive vices. But we are not properly united, except as we attend to God's word, seeking his direction and blessing, and acting with affection. Ever remember, that though secret sins may escape the eyes of our fellow-creatures, yet a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, who not only sees, but ponders all his goings. Those who are so foolish as to choose the way of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-23These instructions on loving one's wife and avoiding immoral women were originally for young men starting their careers (see also Proverbs 2:16–22; 7:1–27). This topic is also common in ancient Egyptian wisdom writings.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-2015-20. By figures, in which well, cistern, and fountain [Pr 5:15, 18] represent the wife, and rivers of waters [Pr 5:16] the children, men are exhorted to constancy and satisfaction in lawful conjugal enjoyments. In Pr 5:16, fountains (in the plural) rather denote the produce or waters of a spring, literally, "what is from a spring," and corresponds with "rivers of waters."Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 5:20
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries