Proverbs 5 is the first extended warning against the forbidden woman (ishah zarah), whom chapter 2 introduced briefly. The father warns his son that her lips drip honey but her end is bitter as wormwood (vv1-6). He commands the son to stay far from her door (vv7-14), then pivots dramatically to a celebration of marital love: 'Drink water from your own cistern' (vv15-20). The chapter closes with the theological declaration that God sees all paths and that the wicked are trapped by their own sins (vv21-23).
The chapter's most striking feature is its pivot from warning to celebration. After fourteen verses of alarm about the forbidden woman, the father does not simply say 'avoid adultery.' Instead, he offers a positive alternative that is frankly erotic: 'Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; be intoxicated always with her love' (v19). Proverbs does not treat sexual desire as the enemy — it treats misdirected sexual desire as the enemy. The answer to the forbidden woman is not abstinence but the right woman. The water imagery of verses 15-18 (cistern, well, springs, streams) is deliberately ambiguous, functioning simultaneously as metaphor for sexual pleasure and for the exclusive, life-giving nature of faithful marriage. The 'spreading springs in the streets' of verse 16 may be a warning against scattering one's intimacy publicly rather than reserving it for one's own household.
The chapter's focus on the male perspective — warning a son about a dangerous woman — can feel one-sided. No corresponding warning is given from a mother to a daughter about dangerous men. This reflects the patriarchal context of the text's composition, not a theological endorsement of the imbalance. Additionally, the forbidden woman is presented primarily as a threat to the man, with little attention to her own exploitation or suffering. Modern readers will want to read against the grain here, recognizing that the 'forbidden woman' is also a person with a story the text does not tell.
The honey-and-wormwood contrast (vv3-4) echoes the Song of Solomon's celebration of erotic love (Song 4:11, 'your lips drip honey') while inverting it — what Song celebrates as beautiful within commitment, Proverbs marks as lethal outside it. The water/cistern/well imagery connects to Song 4:12-15, where the beloved is a 'garden locked, a fountain sealed.' The theological conclusion (vv21-23) echoes Job 34:21 ('God's eyes are on the ways of a person') and anticipates Hebrews 4:13 ('nothing is hidden from His sight').
בְּ֭נִי לְחָכְמָתִ֣י הַקְשִׁ֑יבָה לִ֝תְבוּנָתִ֗י הַט־אָזְנֶֽךָ׃
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,
KJV My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
לִשְׁמֹ֥ר מְזִמּ֑וֹת וְ֝דַ֗עַת שְׂפָתֶ֥יךָ יִנְצֹֽרוּ׃
so that you may preserve foresight and your lips may guard knowledge.
KJV That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
כִּ֤י נֹ֣פֶת תִּ֭טֹּפְנָה שִׂפְתֵ֣י זָרָ֑ה וְחָלָ֖ק מִשֶּׁ֣מֶן חִכָּֽהּ׃
For the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil,
KJV For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
וְֽ֭אַחֲרִיתָהּ מָרָ֣ה כַלַּעֲנָ֑ה חַ֝דָּ֗ה כְּחֶ֣רֶב פִּיּֽוֹת׃
but her end tastes bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
KJV But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
רַ֭גְלֶיהָ יֹרְד֣וֹת מָ֑וֶת שְׁ֝א֗וֹל צְעָדֶ֥יהָ יִתְמֹֽכוּ׃
Her feet descend toward death; her steps take hold of Sheol.
KJV Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
אֹ֣רַח חַ֭יִּים פֶּן־תְּפַלֵּ֑ס נָע֖וּ מַעְגְּלֹתֶ֣יהָ לֹ֣א תֵדָֽע׃
She does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.
KJV Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
וְעַתָּ֣ה בָ֭נִים שִׁמְעוּ־לִ֑י וְאַל־תָּ֝סוּר֗וּ מֵאִמְרֵי־פִֽי׃
So now, sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
KJV Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
הַרְחֵ֣ק מֵעָלֶ֣יהָ דַרְכֶּ֑ךָ וְאַל־תִּ֝קְרַ֗ב אֶל־פֶּ֥תַח בֵּיתָֽהּ׃
Keep your way far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
KJV Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
פֶּן־תִּתֵּ֣ן לַאֲחֵרִ֣ים הוֹדֶ֑ךָ וּ֝שְׁנֹתֶ֗יךָ לְאַכְזָרִֽי׃
or you will give your vigor to others and your years to the merciless,
KJV Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
פֶּן־יִשְׂבְּע֣וּ זָרִ֣ים כֹּחֶ֑ךָ וַ֝עֲצָבֶ֗יךָ בְּבֵ֣ית נָכְרִֽי׃
or strangers will feast on your strength and your toil will end up in a foreigner's house,
KJV Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
וְנָהַמְתָּ֥ בְאַחֲרִיתֶ֑ךָ בִּכְל֥וֹת בְּ֝שָׂרְךָ֗ וּשְׁאֵרֶֽךָ׃
and you will groan at the end, when your flesh and body are consumed,
KJV And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
וְאָ֣מַרְתָּ אֵ֣יךְ שָׂנֵ֣אתִי מוּסָ֑ר וְ֝תוֹכַ֗חַת נָאַ֥ץ לִבִּֽי׃
and you will say, 'How I hated discipline! How my heart despised correction!
KJV And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
וְלֹא־שָׁ֭מַעְתִּי בְּק֣וֹל מוֹרָ֑י וְ֝לִמְלַמְּדַ֗י לֹא־הִטִּ֥יתִי אָזְנִֽי׃
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
KJV And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
כִּ֭מְעַט הָיִ֣יתִי בְכָל־רָ֑ע בְּת֖וֹךְ קָהָ֣ל וְעֵדָֽה׃
I was on the verge of complete ruin in the midst of the gathered assembly.'
KJV I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
שְׁתֵה־מַ֥יִם מִבּוֹרֶ֑ךָ וְ֝נֹזְלִ֗ים מִתּ֥וֹךְ בְּאֵרֶֽךָ׃
Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
KJV Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
יָפ֣וּצוּ מַעְיְנֹתֶ֣יךָ ח֑וּצָה בָּ֝רְחֹב֗וֹת פַּלְגֵי־מָֽיִם׃
Should your springs overflow into the street, your streams of water into the public squares?
KJV Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
יִהְיוּ־לְךָ֥ לְבַדֶּ֑ךָ וְאֵ֖ין לְזָרִ֣ים אִתָּֽךְ׃
Let them be for you alone, and not for strangers alongside you.
KJV Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
יְהִֽי־מְקוֹרְךָ֥ בָר֑וּךְ וּ֝שְׂמַ֗ח מֵאֵ֥שֶׁת נְעוּרֶֽיךָ׃
Let your fountain be blessed, and take joy in the wife of your youth —
KJV Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
אַיֶּ֥לֶת אֲהָבִ֗ים וְֽיַעֲלַ֫ת־חֵ֥ן דַּ֭דֶּיהָ יְרַוֻּ֣ךָ בְכָל־עֵ֑ת בְּ֝אַהֲבָתָ֗הּ תִּשְׁגֶּ֥ה תָמִֽיד׃
a graceful doe, a lovely deer. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; be intoxicated always by her love.
KJV Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
וְלָ֤מָּה תִשְׁגֶּ֣ה בְנִ֣י בְזָרָ֑ה וּ֝תְחַבֵּ֗ק חֵ֣ק נָכְרִיָּֽה׃
Why then, my son, would you be intoxicated by a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an outsider?
KJV And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
כִּ֤י נֹ֨כַח ׀ עֵינֵ֣י יְ֭הוָה דַּרְכֵי־אִ֑ישׁ וְֽכָל־מַעְגְּלֹתָ֥יו מְפַלֵּֽס׃
For a person's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and He weighs all their paths.
KJV For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
עַֽווֹנוֹתָ֗יו יִלְכְּדֻנ֥וֹ אֶת־הָרָשָׁ֑ע וּבְחַבְלֵ֥י חַ֝טָּאת֗וֹ יִתָּמֵֽךְ׃
The wicked person's own iniquities will trap him, and he will be held fast by the ropes of his sin.
KJV His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
ה֗וּא יָ֭מוּת בְּאֵ֣ין מוּסָ֑ר וּבְרֹ֖ב אִוַּלְתּ֣וֹ יִשְׁגֶּֽה׃
He will die for lack of discipline, and in the magnitude of his folly he will go astray.
KJV He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.