Proverbs 5:5–6

Footnotes

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 13 Heb “the path of life.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “of life”) functions as a genitive of direction (“leading to”).
4. 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 ).
5. 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.