For the lips of the strange woman drop honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;
Proverbs 5 opens with a father asking his son to listen. Verse 3 gives the reason: another voice is in the world, and it sounds sweeter than his. The verse does not deny that her words are pleasant. It asks why that sweetness is the first thing to fear.
Where the ESV says "forbidden woman," older translations read "strange woman." That one word carries a settled meaning across the Old Testament.
The character of the woman is here (v. 3) "a strange woman." "Strange" is a word much used and important. All gods that are not Jehovah are strange gods; fire not from the altar was strange fire. It means what does not belong to us, what is not in the divinely given relationship we stand in. Anyone but Jehovah was a stranger. Any fire but the consecrated fire was strange. Anyone but the shepherd was a stranger. This was mere corrupt lust. The woman was a stranger to the relationship God formed.
The verse does not call her wicked first. It calls her not yours — outside the bond God made.
Honey and oil describe how she talks, not what she is.
She speaks nice, persuasive words, sweet and smooth. But her words are as false as her heart. They lead to an end as bitter as wormwood. Like a two-edged sword, they come back on the head of the one who wields it (v. 4).
The order of verses 3 and 4 carries the warning: the taste comes first, the cost comes later.
Nothing in nature is as lovely as affection. But how ruinous and defiling it is when the fear of God does not guide it! It is He who puts us and keeps us in our relationships, which are the ground of our duties. But a strange woman is such because she ignores and forsakes them, and seeks to entice others. Fair words of flattery may be the beginning, sweet to the flesh. But her end is extreme bitterness, and often deep wounds. And it is not only the loss of present happiness — the end of those things is death. Satan uses her to stop all reflection and to shut out all light from above.
The warning is not theory. It came to a king who later did the very thing it forbade.
The repeated warnings against the "strange woman" are of special interest. In his youth the Spirit of God warned him against strange women. These are the women of other nations, Gentiles. The passage in Deuteronomy says, "He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away." The Spirit of the Lord foresaw the sad end of the great and wise king. So He warned him against the strange woman. She is pictured as the harlot who ensnares, and her ways end in death. But the heavenly wisdom that had instructed and warned him was not heeded.
Commentators differ here. Some keep the warning close to the sin itself. Others see a second layer in it.
It is a warning against actual sexual sin. It also warns against the spiritual fornication that goes with it: turning away from the worship of Jehovah to worship idols. These verses describe the dreadful results of sinful lust in vivid detail.
Others see her as a picture of a religious system marked by deception:
One great section of the professing Christian world has been marked by deception from its very beginning. Who has not read in her public history of her speaking words like honey, while those words come from a heart like a two-edged sword? "Her steps follow the path to Sheol," and that will be the end of all who give in to her.
Once honey is on the lips, argument is not the defence. Absence is.
And what is the counsel given here? Prompt and thorough steering clear. "And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house." So must everyone act who would keep moral purity. The path of life is far from her and her house.
- Strange. The key word means what is not yours. She stands outside the relationship God Himself formed, like fire that never came from the altar.
- Sweet. Honey and oil describe her speech only; the words are as false as the heart behind them.
- Sequence. Verse 3 is the taste and verse 4 is the bill: fair flattery at the beginning, extreme bitterness and death at the end.
- Solomon. The king who wrote the warning ignored it. He married foreign wives, and they turned his heart away. The danger is real, not just words.
- Steer clear. The counsel is not to argue with her. Move your whole way far off, and do not even approach her door.
but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Verse 3 describes honey on her lips and oil in her speech. This verse shows where those words land, and asks the reader to judge the invitation by its end, not by its sound.
The warning starts with the name of a bitter plant. In the Bible that name is never literal:
laanah, ἄψινθος. This occurs in Scripture only in a metaphorical sense. Turning to idolatry is compared to being a root that bears gall and wormwood, Deuteronomy 29:18. Some turned "judgment to wormwood," probably referring to unrighteous judges, Amos 5:7. Because of the wickedness of His people, God said He would feed them with wormwood and give them water of gall to drink, Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15. When the third trumpet sounds in Revelation, a star named Wormwood falls from heaven and turns a third of the waters to wormwood, and many people die from them: the moral sources of life will become destructive, Revelation 8:10-11.
Verse 3 and verse 4 describe one path, not two. The flesh tastes the sweetness first, and the same path turns bitter later. The harm does not stop at this life.
Fair words of flattery may be the beginning, sweet to the flesh. But her end is extreme bitterness, and often deep wounds. And it is not the loss of present happiness only: the end of those things is death, and after death comes the judgment. Satan uses her to hinder all reflection, and to shut out all light from above. So the will works without check, and self-indulgence numbs the conscience more and more.
A two-edged sword cuts both ways. That is how her smooth words work.
She speaks nice, persuasive words, sweet and smooth. But her words are as false as her heart. They lead to an end as bitter as wormwood, and, like a two-edged sword, they come back on the head of the one who wields them.
The bitterness is not an accident. The Bible's word "strange" explains it.
"Strange" is a word used a good deal, and it is important. All gods that are not the LORD are strange gods; fire that was not from the altar was strange fire. It is what does not belong to us, what is outside the relationship God has given us. God made them male and female, "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" — the closest relationship, belonging to him. The expression of that was right. This was mere corrupt lust. The woman was a stranger to the relationship God formed. It drained the nature and the heart, and ended in death.
Because the end is bitter, the counsel in this chapter is distance. And it does not stop at staying away. It ends with a Person to follow.
And what is the counsel given here? Prompt and thorough steering clear. "And now, children, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house." So must everyone act who would keep moral purity. The path of life is far from her and her house. Christ alone gives eternal life and guides it; His word for anyone in such a world as this is, Follow Me.
Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Some keep it to the plain moral warning. Others see this woman as a picture of a religious system with the same two marks: deception and instability.
Two more marks of this evil woman appear here: deception and instability. One large section of the Christian world has been marked by deception from its very start. Who has not read in her public history of her speaking words like honey, while they came from a heart like a two-edged sword? Her steps follow the path to Sheol, and that will be the end of all who give in to her. Instead of working for the truth on the path of life, they give their time to everything that belongs to this present world.
- Taste — wormwood is never literal in Scripture. It stands for bitterness: the root of idolatry, and the cup God gave His people for their wickedness.
- Trap — the sweetness is bait. Flattery is only the beginning; the end is bitterness, deep wounds, and death.
- Turn — a two-edged sword cuts back; her words return on the head of the one who takes them up.
- Trespass — she is called "strange" because she is outside the relationship God formed. That path drains the heart and ends in death.
- Track — the answer is distance: keep far from her door. Then follow Christ, who alone gives eternal life and guides it.
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on Sheol.
The sweet words of verse 4 have a destination, and this verse names it: her feet are already walking downhill. Two questions follow — who is this woman, and what is the Sheol her steps lead to?
Where does all that sweetness end? One writer traces the arc from the first compliment to the judgment after death.
Nothing in nature is so lovely as affection. But how ruinous and defiling it is when the fear of God does not guide it! He is the One who puts us into our relationships and keeps us there. Those relationships are the ground of our duties. But a strange woman is strange because she ignores and abandons them, and tries to entice others. Fine words of flattery may be the beginning, sweet to the flesh. But her end is extreme bitterness, and often deep wounds. It is not only the loss of present happiness — the end of those things is death; and after death comes the judgment. Satan uses her to stop all reflection, and to shut out all light from above.
The word does not mean foreign in the sense of unfamiliar. It marks something as lying outside the bond God Himself formed.
"Strange" is a word much used and important. All gods that are not Jehovah are strange gods; fire not from the altar was strange fire. It means what does not belong to us, what is outside the relationship God has given us. God made them male and female, "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." That is the closest possible relationship, and the woman belonged to the man. Expressing that was right. This was nothing but corrupt lust. The woman was a stranger to the relationship God formed. It drained the nature and the heart, and ended in death.
The same writer shows where the downward turn starts.
Evil draws the heart away and turns it into another channel. Instead of weighing "the path of life," it follows the path of lust to death. The soul no longer weighs what is right.
The verse names two body parts in motion, and both point one way. One writer separates the near result from the far one.
Her feet and her steps go downward. Death is their quick result, and hell their more lasting and dreadful end (v. 5).
Where that writer says "hell," the verse says "Sheol."
Sheol is often translated "grave," and three times "pit." It refers to an invisible place or state. It may have several applications, depending on the connection of each passage.
Commentators read this warning on two levels. The first is plain and physical; the second follows from it, because turning from the true God is itself described in Scripture as unfaithfulness in marriage.
It is a warning against literal fornication. It also warns against the spiritual fornication that goes with it: turning away from the worship of Jehovah and worshipping idols. It describes the dreadful results of sinful lust in vivid detail.
Read the second way, the verse judges any religious system that flatters and leads people nowhere good. The writer below quotes an older translation of the line: "her steps take hold on Sheol."
Who has not read in her public history of her speaking words like honey, while her heart is like a two-edged sword? "Her steps take hold on Sheol," and that will be the end of all who give in to her. Instead of working for the truth on the path of life, those who follow her give their time to everything that belongs to this "present world." Truly, "her ways wander." She has neither the time nor the desire to think about the path of life. She will not consider where her road ends.
There is another road, and it does not pass her house.
And what is the counsel given here? Keep well clear, at once and completely... So must everyone act who wants to keep moral purity. The path of life is far from her and her house. Christ alone gives eternal life and guides it; His word to anyone in a world like this is, Follow Me.
- Strange — the word marks what falls outside the relationship God formed. Strange fire was fire not taken from the altar. Her whole appeal rests on a bond that was never hers to offer.
- Sweet — flattery is the opening move, pleasant to the flesh. The end is extreme bitterness, deep wounds, and after death the judgment.
- Down — feet and steps travel one direction. Death is the quick result. Sheol, the unseen place, is the longer and more dreadful end.
- Wider — the same warning covers spiritual unfaithfulness. Any system that talks like honey and never asks where its road ends takes its followers to the same place.
- Away — the counsel is not care near the door but prompt and thorough distance. The path of life runs far from her house, and Christ alone gives and guides that life.