Many of the proverbs mention something specific, but really they’re about a broader principle...
This one is a great example.
It seems to be about having sex with an adulteress (a wife who has sex with others).
My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight…
… [so] that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she’s bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
Now then, my sons, listen to me; don’t turn aside from what I say:
Keep to a path far from her, don’t go near the door of her house, lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel, lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man’s house. At the end of your life you’ll groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You’ll say,
“How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
I wouldn’t obey my teachers or listen to my instructors.
I’ve come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.”
Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?
For a man’s ways are in full view of Yahweh, and he examines all his paths.
The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.
He’ll die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great foolishness.
Proverbs 5.1-22
The woman “Wisdom” is offering us some perfect advice, which (to the discerning) is about more than sexual misconduct with another man’s wife. Notice near the end that she says the wicked man is “led astray by his own great foolishness.”
Whatever entices you, that’s your “adulteress.”
What pulls you away from wise action? What tempts you and teases you and looks so delicious you can’t seem to stop yourself, even though you know it’s not smart?
And then after you’ve caved-in to the sweet temptation, and you feel scrungy …now what? Do you want someone to comment on your foolishness? Most of us do not. We don’t want to “be judged.” We want people to understand … to tell us that they know how it feels to be that strongly tempted, and they can totally relate to our struggle.
Now go back and look at this again, and see the outcome. He also hated discipline, and look where it got him. Now he’s the laughing stock of the community. Everyone can see that he’s a ruined fool.
Will you seek out those who love you enough to discipline you, and avoid those whose sweet mouths are tempting and delicious? It’s your choice, and if the bible is true … the outcome is evident.
It’s better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7.5-6
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