English Standard Version
Proverbs 5:4
4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
- New Living Translation (NLT)But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
Context of Proverbs 5:4
2that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. 3For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; 6she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.
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 6:24to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
- Proverbs 7:22All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast
- Proverbs 9:18But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
- Proverbs 23:27For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.
- Hebrews 12:15See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
- Judges 16:4After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
- Psalms 55:21His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
- Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries