New International Version
Proverbs 5:9
9lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel,
Proverbs 5:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
- English Standard Version (ESV)lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;
- New Living Translation (NLT)If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
Context of Proverbs 5:9
7Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say. 8Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel, 10lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another. 11At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.
Read all of Proverbs 5Proverbs 5:9 word by word
פֶּן־תִּתֵּ֣ן לַאֲחֵרִ֣ים הוֹדֶ֑ךָ וּ֝שְׁנֹתֶ֗יךָ לְאַכְזָרִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 5:9
- Proverbs 6:29So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
- Genesis 38:23Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”
- Judges 16:19After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
- Nehemiah 13:26Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.
- Hosea 4:13They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
Commentaries on Proverbs 5:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Lest thou give thine honor - The character of a debauchee is universally detested: by this, even those of noble blood lose their honor and respect. Thy years unto the cruel - Though all the blandishments of love dwell on the tongue, and the excess of fondness appear in the whole demeanor of the harlot and the prostitute; yet cruelty has its throne in their hearts; and they will rob and murder (when it appears to answer their ends) those who give their…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Thine honor - i. e., “The grace and freshness of thy youth” (compare Hosea 14:6; Daniel 10:8). The thought of this is to guard the young man against the sins that stain and mar it. The slave of lust sacrifices “years” that might have been peaceful and happy to one who is merciless.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-10An illicit relationship may seem tempting, but it eventually causes shame. If the woman is a prostitute, the young man will have to pay her, losing income. If the woman is another man's wife, he might have to pay her husband (see Leviticus 20:10).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-98-9. Avoid the slightest temptation.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 5:9
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