Proverbs 2:15-20

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 2:10-22

The scope of these verses is to show, 1. What great advantage true wisdom will be of to us; it will keep us from the paths of sin, which lead to ruin, and will therein do us a greater kindness than if it enriched us with all the wealth of the world. 2. What good use we should make of the wisdom God gives us; we must use it for our own guidance in the paths of virtue, and for the arming of us against temptations of every kind. 3. By what rules we may try ourselves whether we have this wisdom or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 2:15

Whose ways are crooked ,.... Which swerve from and are not agreeably to the rule of the divine word, either the law of God or the Gospel of Christ; sin is an aberration, a straying from the rule of God's word, a transgression of his law; and a walk in it is unbecoming the Gospel of Christ; it has many serpentine windings and turnings in it; full of distortions and excursions, and many retrograde actions; see Psalm 125:5 ; and they froward in their paths ; declining here and there,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 2:16

To deliver thee from the strange woman ,.... As the Gospel of Christ and its doctrines, or the instructions of wisdom, are a means of delivering persons from the evil man, his company, ways, and works; so from a naughty woman, an adulteress, called a "strange" woman; not because of another nation, or unknown, but because she belongs to another person, and not to him whom she entices into her embraces. Gersom interprets this of the sensitive appetite, and Jarchi of idolatry; as others do also... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 2:17

Which forsaketh the guide of her youth ,.... Not God, the God of her life, and who had provided for her from her youth up; nor her parent that had taken care of her in her infancy, and had been the guardian of her virgin state; but her husband, to whom she was married in her youth, and to whom she gave up herself to be guided and directed, ruled and governed, by: and as it is an aggravation of evil in a man to deal treacherously against the wife of his youth, and the wife of his covenant, ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 2:18

For her house inclineth unto death ,.... Bends, verges, and points that way; it lies in the way to death, and brings unto it, and sinks into it as into a ditch; or all that are in her house, that are familiar with her, live and dwell with her, and commit wickedness with her; these incline or are liable to lose, and do lose, their name, character, and reputation, which is a death upon them; and bring diseases upon their bodies, which issue in corporeal death; or are in danger of dying by the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 2:19

None that go unto her return again ,.... That is, those that commit whoredom with her return not again by repentance, and to a sober and chaste way of living, at least but very few; hence some of the ancients thought adultery was the unpardonable sin; but it is certain that some have been recovered by the power of divine grace, and have been brought to repentance for their impure manner of life, and have truly believed in Christ, and lived sober and godly lives afterwards; but, as the Targum... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 2:20

That thou mayest walk in the way of good men ,.... Who are not so by nature, but made so by the grace of God; such as the saints, prophets, and patriarchs of old; and who walked in the way of righteousness, holiness, and truth; being directed therein by the Spirit and word of God: now the use and profit of wisdom's instructions, or of the Gospel of Christ, and the doctrines of it, and a spiritual understanding of them, are not only to deliver men from the wicked man and the naughty woman,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 2:16

The stranger which flattereth with her words - החליקה hechelikah , she that smooths with her words. The original intimates the glib, oily speeches of a prostitute. The English lick is supposed to be derived from the original word. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 2:17

Which forsaketh the guide of her youth - Leaves her father's house and instructions, and abandons herself to the public. The covenant of her God - Renounces the true religion, and mixes with idolaters; for among them prostitution was enormous. Or by the covenant may be meant the matrimonial contract, which is a covenant made in the presence of God between the contracting parties, in which they bind themselves to be faithful to each other. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 2:18

For her house inclineth unto death - It is generally in by and secret places that such women establish themselves. They go out of the high road to get a residence; and every step that is taken towards their house is a step towards death. The path of sin is the path of ruin: the path of duty is the way of safety. For her paths incline unto the dead, רפאים repheim , the inhabitants of the invisible world. The woman who abandons herself to prostitution soon contracts, and generally... read more

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