Proverbs 5:3

DESCRIPTION OF THE LOOSE WOMAN

"For the lips of a strange woman drop honey,

And her mouth is smoother than oil.

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death;

Her steps take hold on Sheol;

So that she findeth not the level path of life:

Her ways are unstable, and she knoweth it not."

"The lips of a strange woman" (Proverbs 5:3). "This is any woman who is not thine own, whether Jewess or heathen."[5]

"Drop honey" (Proverbs 5:3). This is a metaphor to describe the attractive proposals by which a prostitute solicits her victim. "Her suggestions sound reasonable, and what she is offering appears desirable; but such indulgence leads to remorse and death."[6] "Her very strangeness and looseness make her exciting and tempting. Such a person presents the young man, yes, any man, with a powerful sexual attraction."[7]

"Her mouth is smoother than oil" (Proverbs 5:3). "David used the very same words of the metaphors found in this and in Proverbs 5:4 to describe the treachery of his friend Ahithophel in Psalms 55:21."[8]

The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. - Psalms 55:21 AV.

"In the end she is bitter as wormwood" (Proverbs 5:4). The terrible consequences of sinful gratification of sexual desire are plainly stated in this chapter. "She may seem like honey; but those who have dealings with her find the abiding taste is wormwood, an insecticide exceedingly bitter."[9] "Wormwood comes from a shrub of bitter taste, used in the preparation of absinthe, which is traditionally used as medicine for deworming (whence the name)."[10] "In Revelation, Wormwood became an eschatological abstraction Revelation 8:10-11,"[11] standing for the unspeakable sorrows falling upon the rivers and fountains of earth.

"In the end" (Proverbs 5:4). Yes, indeed, there is an end that follows sinful sexual gratification "There is an end (KJV), an afterward; and Proverbs does not allow us to forget it"![12] No human activity should be judged merely upon the basis of its initial result; it is the ultimate consequences, the final result, that must also be considered. And when such judgment is applied to this vice, only a fool could willingly indulge in it.

"Her feet go down to death ... Sheol" (Proverbs 5:5). Sinful sexual relations literally bring death to myriads of mankind. Such diseases as syphilis and aids are almost exclusively acquired through illicit sex contacts; and it is simple truth that the prostitute's (one of the offenders in this passage) feet go down to death, and her steps take hold of Sheol. "The word Sheol here is used as a synonym for death. The KJV renders this word as hell; but the New Testament word for the lake of fire is Gehenna, which does not appear in the Old Testament."[13]

"She findeth not the level path of life" (Proverbs 5:6). "This verse may refer either to the pupil (as in KJV) or the adulteress (as in ASV), for the Hebrew does not distinguish."[14]

"Her ways are unstable, etc." (Proverbs 5:6). Cook noted that, "This verse describes the state of heart and soul which prostitution brings upon its victims: - the reckless blindness that will not think, tottering on the abyss, yet loud in defiant mirth, ignoring the dreadful future."[15]