Proverbs 5:3–6

Footnotes

1. 5 “Lips” is a metonymy of cause, referring to her words. Dripping honey is an implied comparison between the product and her words, which are flattering and smooth (cf. Song 4:11). See M. Dahood, “Honey That Drips. Notes on Proverbs 5:2–3,” 54 (1973): 65–66.
2. 6 Heb “her palate.” The word חֵךְ (khekh, “palate; roof of the mouth; gums”) is a metonymy of cause (= organ of speech) for what is said (= her seductive speech). The present translation clarifies this metonymy with the phrase “her seductive words.”
3. 7 Heb “her end” (so ). D. Kidner notes that Proverbs does not allow us to forget that there is an afterward (Proverbs [], ).
4. 8 The verb “to be bitter” (מָרַר, marar) describes things that are harmful and destructive for life, such as the death of the members of the family of Naomi (Ruth 1:20) or finding water that was undrinkable (Exod 15:22–27). The word indicates that the sweet talking will turn out badly.
5. 9 The Hebrew term translated “wormwood” refers to the aromatic plant that contrasts with the sweetness of honey. Some follow the and translate it as “gall” (cf. ). The point is that there was sweetness when the tryst had alluring glamour, but afterward it had an ugly ring (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 74).
6. 10 The Hebrew has “like a sword of [two] mouths,” meaning a double-edged sword that devours/cuts either way. There is no movement without damage. There may be a wordplay here with this description of the “sword with two mouths,” and the subject of the passage being the words of her mouth which also have two sides to them. The irony is cut by the idiom.
7. 11 The term שְׁאוֹל (she’ol, “grave”) is paralleled to “death,” so it does not refer here to the realm of the unblessed. The terms death and grave could be hyperbolic of a ruined life, but probably refer primarily to the mortal consequences of a life of debauchery.
8. 12 The particle פֶּן (pen) means “lest” (probably from “for the aversion of”). It occurs this once, unusually, preceding the principal clause ( 814 ). It means that some action has been taken to avert or avoid what follows. She avoids the path of life, albeit ignorantly.
9. 13 Heb “the path of life.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “of life”) functions as a genitive of direction (“leading to”).
10. 14 The verb נוּעַ (nua’) means “to quiver; to wave; to waver; to tremble”; cf. “her ways are moveable”; “her paths will ramble”; “She staggers down a crooked trail.” The ways of the adulterous woman are unstable ( 631 ).
11. 15 The sadder part of the description is that this woman does not know how unstable her life is, or how uneven. However, Thomas suggests that it means, “she is not tranquil.” See D. W. Thomas, “A Note on לא תדע in Proverbs v 6,” 37 (1936): 59.