New English Translation
Proverbs 5:20
20But why should you be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, and embrace the bosom of a different woman?
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?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
- 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?
Context of Proverbs 5:20
18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in your young wife – 19a loving doe, a graceful deer; may her breasts satisfy you at all times, may you be captivated by her love always. But why should you be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, and embrace the bosom of a different woman? 21For the ways of a person are in front of the Lord’s eyes, and the Lord weighs all that person’s paths. 22The wicked will be captured by his own iniquities, and he will be held by the cords of his own 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 2:16to deliver you from the adulteress, from the sexually loose woman who speaks flattering words;
- Proverbs 6:24by keeping you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the loose woman.
- Proverbs 7:5so that they may keep you from the adulterous woman, from the loose woman who flatters you with her words.
- Proverbs 22:14The mouth of an adulteress is like a deep pit; the one against whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
- Proverbs 23:27for a prostitute is like a deep pit; a harlot is like a narrow well.
- 1 Kings 11:1King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh’s daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.
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
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