New International Version
Proverbs 5:16
16Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
Proverbs 5:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets?
- New Living Translation (NLT)Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?
Context of Proverbs 5:16
14And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God’s people.” 15Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? 17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. 18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
Read all of Proverbs 5Proverbs 5:16 word by word
יָפ֣וּצוּ מַעְיְנֹתֶ֣יךָ ח֑וּצָה בָּ֝רְחֹב֗וֹת פַּלְגֵי־מָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 5:16
- Deuteronomy 33:28So Israel will live in safety; Jacob will dwell secure in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens drop dew.
- Psalms 68:26Praise God in the great congregation; praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.
- Isaiah 48:21They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out.
- Genesis 24:60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.”
- Judges 12:9He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years.
- Psalms 127:3Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.
- Psalms 128:3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
Commentaries on Proverbs 5:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad - Let thy children lawfully begotten be numerous.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Wedded love streams forth in blessing on all around, on children and on neighbors and ill the streets, precisely because the wife‘s true love is given to the husband only.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. 15-18To drink from one's own well (see also Song 4:12, 15) means to enjoy sexual relations within marriage. Instead of spending sexual energy on immoral women, a man should build a healthy sexual relationship with his wife. Sex should not be shared with strangers. This honors marriage (Genesis 2:22–25) and follows the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14 and Deuteronomy 5:18).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 5:16
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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries