Proverbs 5:20

A REMINDER THAT ADULTERY IS A SIN AGAINST GOD

"For why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman,

And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah;

And he maketh level all his paths.

His own iniquities shall take the wicked,

And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.

He shall die for lack of instruction;

And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray."

"Why ... be ravished with a strange woman" (Proverbs 5:20)? In the previous verse the pupil is commanded to, "Be ravished always with her love"; and Tate identified this word (ravished) as the, "Key word in the chapter."[30] He defined it as "infatuation"; but "intoxicated" is also said to be a synonym.

"The ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah" (Proverbs 5:21). "Here the teaching assumes a higher tone, rising above the lower law that regulates fidelity on the basis of personal attraction to that higher Law which brings the husband's conduct into relation with that duty that he owes to God."[31]

When Joseph was sorely tempted by Potiphar's wife, he refused, saying, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God"? (Genesis 39:9). We noted earlier that there is a recoil from this particular "great wickedness" against society, against one's spouse, against the family, against the church, against one's own body, etc.; but over and beyond everything else, IT IS A SIN AGAINST GOD! "This will be examined and judged by the Universal Judge, and will bring with it its own Nemesis and retribution."[32]

"His own iniquities shall take the wicked ... in the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray" (Proverbs 5:22-23). It is important to note that, "These verses place the blame where it belongs, not particularly upon the woman, but upon the man whose wickedness is spelled out"![33]

"He shall die for lack of instruction" (Proverbs 5:23). "In this verse, the Revised Standard Version is much to be preferred. It reads, `He shall die for lack of discipline.'"[34] Instruction he had; discipline he had not; and in that condition his death was assured.