New International Version
Proverbs 5:4
4but in the end she is bitter as gall, 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.
- 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.
- 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 maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. 3For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. 5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 6She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but 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 6:24keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.
- Proverbs 7:22All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose
- Proverbs 9:18But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.
- Proverbs 23:27for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
- Hebrews 12:15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
- Judges 16:4Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
- Psalms 55:21His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.
- Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes 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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