New King James 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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 preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. 3For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth 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 lay hold of hell. 6Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.
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 keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress.
- Proverbs 7:22Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,
- Proverbs 9:18But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.
- Proverbs 23:27For a harlot is a deep pit, And a seductress is a narrow well.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26And I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart is snares and nets, Whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God shall escape from her, But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
- Hebrews 12:15looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
- Judges 16:4Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
- Psalms 55:21The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, But 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 powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries