Proverbs 5:23 - Exposition

He shall die without instruction. The phrase, "without instruction," is in the original b'eyu musar, literally, "in there not being instruction." The obvious meaning is, because he gave no heed to instruction. So Aben Ezra and Gersom. The Authorized Version is at least ambiguous, and seems to imply that the adulterer has been without instruction, without any to reprove or counsel him. But such is not the case. He has been admonished of the evil consequences of his sin, but to these warnings he has turned a deaf ear, and the teacher says therefore he shall die. The Vulgate supports this explanation, quia non habuit disciplinam "because he did not entertain or use instruction." In the LXX . the idea is enlarged, "He shall die together with these who have no instruction ( μετὰ ἀπαιδεύτων )." The be ( בְּ ) in b'eyn is causal, and equivalent to propter, as in Genesis 18:28 ; Jeremiah 17:3 . A similar statement is found in Job 4:21 , "They die even without wisdom," i.e. because they have disregarded the lessons of wisdom; and Job 36:12 , "They shall die without knowledge." And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray; better, as Delitzsch, "He shall stagger to ruin." The verb shagah is used as in Job 36:19 and Job 36:20 , but with a deeper and more dread significance. A climax is reached in the manner in which the end of the adulterer is portrayed. His end is without a gleam of hope or satisfaction. With an understanding darkened and rendered callous by unrestrained indulgence in lust, and by folly which has reached its utmost limits and cannot, as it were, be surpassed, in that it has persistently and wilfully set aside and scorned wisdom and true happiness, the adulterer, like the drunkard, who is oblivious of the danger before him, shall stagger to ruin.