Amsal 5:3-20

5:3 For the lips ¹  of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her seductive words ²  are smoother than olive oil,

5:4 but in the end ³  she is bitter ⁴  as wormwood, ⁵ 

sharp as a two-edged ⁶  sword.

5:5 Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave. ⁷ 

5:6 Lest ⁸  she should make level the path leading to life, ⁹ 

her paths are unstable ¹⁰  but she does not know it. ¹¹ 

5:7 So now, children, ¹²  listen to me;

do not turn aside from the words I speak. ¹³ 

5:8 Keep yourself ¹⁴  far ¹⁵  from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

5:9 lest you give your vigor ¹⁶  to others

and your years to a cruel person,

5:10 lest strangers devour ¹⁷  your strength, ¹⁸ 

and your labor ¹⁹  benefit ²⁰  another man’s house.

5:11 And at the end of your life ²¹  you will groan ²² 

when your flesh and your body are wasted away. ²³ 

5:12 And you will say, “How I hated discipline!

My heart spurned reproof!

5:13 For ²⁴  I did not obey my teachers ²⁵ 

and I did not heed ²⁶  my instructors. ²⁷ 

5:14 I almost ²⁸  came to complete ruin ²⁹ 

in the midst of the whole congregation!” ³⁰ 

5:15 Drink water from your own cistern

and running water from your own well. ³¹ 

5:16 Should your springs be dispersed ³²  outside,

your streams of water in the wide plazas?

5:17 Let them be for yourself ³³  alone,

and not for strangers with you. ³⁴ 

5:18 May your fountain be blessed, ³⁵ 

and may you rejoice ³⁶  in your young wife ³⁷  –

5:19 a loving doe, ³⁸  a graceful deer;

may her breasts satisfy you at all times,

may you be captivated ³⁹  by her love always.

5:20 But why should you be captivated, ⁴⁰  my son, by an adulteress,

and embrace the bosom of a different woman? ⁴¹ 

Amsal 6:24

6:24 by keeping ⁴²  you from the evil woman, ⁴³ 

from the smooth tongue of ⁴⁴  the loose woman. ⁴⁵ 

Amsal 7:5-23

7:5 so that they may keep you ⁴⁶  from the adulterous ⁴⁷  woman,

from the loose woman ⁴⁸  who flatters you ⁴⁹  with her words. ⁵⁰ 

7:6 For at the window of my house

through my window lattice I looked out

7:7 and I saw among the naive –

I discerned among the youths ⁵¹  –

a young man ⁵²  who lacked wisdom. ⁵³ 

7:8 He was passing by the street near her corner,

making his way ⁵⁴  along the road to her house ⁵⁵ 

7:9 in the twilight, the evening, ⁵⁶ 

in the dark of the night. ⁵⁷ 

7:10 Suddenly ⁵⁸  a woman came out to meet him!

She was dressed like a prostitute ⁵⁹  and with secret intent. ⁶⁰ 

7:11 (She is loud and rebellious,

she ⁶¹  does not remain ⁶²  at home –

7:12 at one time outside, at another ⁶³  in the wide plazas,

and by every corner she lies in wait.)

7:13 So she grabbed him and kissed him,

and with a bold expression ⁶⁴  she said to him,

7:14 “I have ⁶⁵  fresh meat at home; ⁶⁶ 

today I have fulfilled my vows!

7:15 That is why I came out to meet you,

to look for you, ⁶⁷  and I found you!

7:16 I have spread my bed with elegant coverings, ⁶⁸ 

with richly colored fabric ⁶⁹  from Egypt.

7:17 I have perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

7:18 Come, let’s drink deeply ⁷⁰  of lovemaking ⁷¹  until morning,

let’s delight ourselves ⁷²  with sexual intercourse. ⁷³ 

7:19 For my husband ⁷⁴  is not at home; ⁷⁵ 

he has gone on a journey of some distance.

7:20 He has taken a bag of money with him; ⁷⁶ 

he will not return until ⁷⁷  the end of the month.” ⁷⁸ 

7:21 She persuaded him ⁷⁹  with persuasive words; ⁸⁰ 

with her smooth talk ⁸¹  she compelled him. ⁸² 

7:22 Suddenly he went ⁸³  after her

like an ox that goes to the slaughter,

like a stag prancing into a trapper’s snare ⁸⁴ 

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ⁸⁵  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ⁸⁶ 

Amsal 22:14

22:14 The mouth ⁸⁷  of an adulteress is like ⁸⁸  a deep pit; ⁸⁹ 

the one against whom the Lord is angry ⁹⁰  will fall into it. ⁹¹ 

Amsal 23:27

23:27 for a prostitute is like ⁹²  a deep pit;

a harlot ⁹³  is like ⁹⁴  a narrow well. ⁹⁵ 

[5:3]  ¹ sn “Lips” is a metonymy of cause, referring to her words. Dripping honey is an implied comparison between the product and her words, which are flattering and smooth (cf. Song 4:11). See M. Dahood, “Honey That Drips. Notes on Proverbs 5:2-3,” Bib 54 (1973): 65-66.

[5:3]  ² tn Heb “her palate.” The word חֵךְ (khekh, “palate; roof of the mouth; gums”) is a metonymy of cause (= organ of speech) for what is said (= her seductive speech). The present translation clarifies this metonymy with the phrase “her seductive words.”

[5:4]  ³ sn Heb “her end” (so KJV). D. Kidner notes that Proverbs does not allow us to forget that there is an afterward (Proverbs [TOTC], 65).

[5:4]  ⁴ sn The verb “to be bitter” (מָרַר, marar) describes things that are harmful and destructive for life, such as the death of the members of the family of Naomi (Ruth 1:20) or finding water that was undrinkable (Exod 15:22-27). The word indicates that the sweet talking will turn out badly.

[5:4]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “wormwood” refers to the aromatic plant that contrasts with the sweetness of honey. Some follow the LXX and translate it as “gall” (cf. NIV). The point is that there was sweetness when the tryst had alluring glamour, but afterward it had an ugly ring (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 74).

[5:4]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew has “like a sword of [two] mouths,” meaning a double-edged sword that devours/cuts either way. There is no movement without damage. There may be a wordplay here with this description of the “sword with two mouths,” and the subject of the passage being the words of her mouth which also have two sides to them. The irony is cut by the idiom.

[5:5]  ⁷ tn The term שְׁאוֹל (she’ol, “grave”) is paralleled to “death,” so it does not refer here to the realm of the unblessed.

[5:5]  sn The terms death and grave could be hyperbolic of a ruined life, but probably refer primarily to the mortal consequences of a life of debauchery.

[5:6]  ⁸ tn The particle פֶּן (pen) means “lest” (probably from “for the aversion of”). It occurs this once, unusually, preceding the principal clause (BDB 814 s.v.). It means that some action has been taken to avert or avoid what follows. She avoids the path of life, albeit ignorantly.

[5:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “the path of life.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “of life”) functions as a genitive of direction (“leading to”).

[5:6]  ¹⁰ sn The verb נוּעַ (nua’) means “to quiver; to wave; to waver; to tremble”; cf. KJV “her ways are moveable”; NAB “her paths will ramble”; NLT “She staggers down a crooked trail.” The ways of the adulterous woman are unstable (BDB 631 s.v.).

[5:6]  ¹¹ sn The sadder part of the description is that this woman does not know how unstable her life is, or how uneven. However, Thomas suggests that it means, “she is not tranquil.” See D. W. Thomas, “A Note on לא תדע in Proverbs v 6,” JTS 37 (1936): 59.

[5:7]  ¹² tn Heb “sons.”

[5:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “the words of my mouth” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[5:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your way.”

[5:8]  ¹⁵ sn There is a contrast made between “keep far away” (הַרְחֵק, harkheq) and “do not draw near” (וְאַל־תִּקְרַב, vÿ’al-tiqrav).

[5:9]  ¹⁶ sn The term הוֹד (hod, “vigor; splendor; majesty”) in this context means the best time of one’s life (cf. NIV “your best strength”), the full manly vigor that will be wasted with licentiousness. Here it is paralleled by “years,” which refers to the best years of that vigor, the prime of life. Life would be ruined by living this way, or the revenge of the woman’s husband would cut it short.

[5:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “are sated, satisfied.”

[5:10]  ¹⁸ tn The word כֹּחַ (coakh, “strength”) refers to what laborious toil would produce (so a metonymy of cause). Everything that this person worked for could become the property for others to enjoy.

[5:10]  ¹⁹ tn “labor, painful toil.”

[5:10]  ²⁰ tn The term “benefit” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[5:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “at your end.”

[5:11]  ²² tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive; it is equal to a specific future within this context.

[5:11]  sn The verb means “to growl, groan.” It refers to a lion when it devours its prey, and to a sufferer in pain or remorse (e.g., Ezek 24:23).

[5:11]  ²³ tn Heb “in the finishing of your flesh and your body.” The construction uses the Qal infinitive construct of כָּלָה (calah) in a temporal clause; the verb means “be complete, at an end, finished, spent.”

[5:13]  ²⁴ tn The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.

[5:13]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).

[5:13]  ²⁶ sn The idioms are vivid: This expression is “incline the ear”; earlier in the first line is “listen to the voice,” meaning “obey.” Such detailed description emphasizes the importance of the material.

[5:13]  ²⁷ tn The form is the Piel plural participle of לָמַד (lamad) used substantivally.

[5:14]  ²⁸ tn The expression כִּמְעַט (kim’at) is “like a little.” It means “almost,” and is used of unrealized action (BDB 590 s.v. 2). Cf. NCV “I came close to”; NLT “I have come to the brink of.”

[5:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I was in all evil” (cf. KJV, ASV).

[5:14]  ³⁰ tn The text uses the two words “congregation and assembly” to form a hendiadys, meaning the entire assembly.

[5:15]  ³¹ sn Paul Kruger develops this section as an allegory consisting of a series of metaphors. He suggests that what is at issue is private versus common property. The images of the cistern, well, or fountain are used of a wife (e.g., Song 4:15) because she, like water, satisfies desires. Streams of water in the street would then mean sexual contact with a lewd woman. According to 7:12 she never stays home but is in the streets and is the property of many (P. Kruger, “Promiscuity and Marriage Fidelity? A Note on Prov 5:15-18,” JNSL 13 [1987]: 61-68).

[5:16]  ³² tn The verb means “to be scattered; to be dispersed”; here the imperfect takes a deliberative nuance in a rhetorical question.

[5:17]  ³³ tn The ל (lamed) preposition denotes possession: “for you” = “yours.” The term לְבַדֶּךָ (lÿvadekha) is appositional, underscoring the possession as exclusive.

[5:17]  ³⁴ sn The point is that what is private is not to be shared with strangers; it belongs in the home and in the marriage. The water from that cistern is not to be channeled to strangers or to the public.

[5:18]  ³⁵ sn The positive instruction is now given: Find pleasure in a fulfilling marriage. The “fountain” is another in the series of implied comparisons with the sexual pleasure that must be fulfilled at home. That it should be blessed (the passive participle of בָּרַךְ, barakh) indicates that sexual delight is God-given; having it blessed would mean that it would be endowed with fruitfulness, that it would fulfill all that God intended it to do.

[5:18]  ³⁶ tn The form is a Qal imperative with a vav (ו) of sequence; after the jussive of the first half this colon could be given an equivalent translation or logically subordinated.

[5:18]  ³⁷ tn Or “in the wife you married when you were young” (cf. NCV, CEV); Heb “in the wife of your youth” (so NIV, NLT). The genitive functions as an attributive adjective: “young wife” or “youthful wife.” Another possibility is that it refers to the age in which a man married his wife: “the wife you married in your youth.”

[5:19]  ³⁸ tn The construct expression “a doe of loves” is an attributive genitive, describing the doe with the word “loves.” The plural noun may be an abstract plural of intensification (but this noun only occurs in the plural). The same construction follows with a “deer of grace” – a graceful deer.

[5:19]  sn The imagery for intimate love in marriage is now employed to stress the beauty of sexual fulfillment as it was intended. The doe and deer, both implied comparisons, exhibit the grace and love of the wife.

[5:19]  ³⁹ sn The verb שָׁגָה (shagah) means “to swerve; to meander; to reel” as in drunkenness; it signifies a staggering gait expressing the ecstatic joy of a captivated lover. It may also mean “to be always intoxicated with her love” (cf. NRSV).

[5:20]  ⁴⁰ tn In the interrogative clause the imperfect has a deliberative nuance.

[5:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “foreigner” (so ASV, NASB), but this does not mean that the woman is non-Israelite. This term describes a woman who is outside the moral boundaries of the covenant community – she is another man’s wife, but since she acts with moral abandonment she is called “foreign.”

[6:24]  ⁴² tn The infinitive construct is epexegetical here, explaining how these teachings function as lights: “by keeping you.” This verse is the transition from the general admonition about heeding the teachings to the practical application.

[6:24]  ⁴³ tc The word translated “woman” is modified by רַע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of violating the codes of the community and inflicting harm on others. The BHS editors propose changing it to read “strange woman” as before, but there is not support for that. Some commentaries follow the LXX and read רַע as “wife of a neighbor” (cf. NAB; also NRSV “the wife of another”; CEV “someone else’s wife”) but that seems to be only a clarification.

[6:24]  ⁴⁴ tn The word “tongue” is not in construct; the word “foreign woman” is in apposition to “smooth of tongue,” specifying whose it is. The word “smooth” then is the object of the preposition, “tongue” is the genitive of specification, and “foreign woman” in apposition.

[6:24]  ⁴⁵ sn The description of the woman as a “strange woman” and now a “loose [Heb “foreign”] woman” is within the context of the people of Israel. She is a “foreigner” in the sense that she is a nonconformist, wayward, and loose. It does not necessarily mean that she is not ethnically an Israelite.

[7:5]  ⁴⁶ tn The infinitive construct with the preposition shows the purpose of associating closely with wisdom: Wisdom will obviate temptations, the greatest being the sexual urge.

[7:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “strange” (so KJV, ASV).

[7:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “strange woman.” This can be interpreted as a “wayward wife” (so NIV) or an “unfaithful wife” (so NCV). As discussed earlier, the designations “strange woman” and “foreign woman” could refer to Israelites who stood outside the community in their lawlessness and loose morals – an adulteress or wayward woman. H. Ringgren and W. Zimmerli, however, suggest that she is also a promoter of a pagan cult, but that is not entirely convincing (Spruche/Prediger [ATD], 19).

[7:5]  ⁴⁹ tn The term “you” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[7:5]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “she makes smooth her words.” This expression means “she flatters with her words.”

[7:7]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “sons.”

[7:7]  ⁵² tn Heb “lad” or “youth.”

[7:7]  ⁵³ tn Heb “heart.”

[7:7]  sn This young man who lacked wisdom is one of the simpletons, lacking keen judgment, one void of common sense (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT) or understanding (cf. KJV, ASV). He is young, inexperienced, featherbrained (so D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 75).

[7:8]  ⁵⁴ tn The verb צָעַד (tsa’ad) means “to step; to march.” It suggests that the youth was intentionally making his way to her house. The verb is the imperfect tense; it stresses continual action parallel to the active participle that began the verse, but within a context that is past time.

[7:8]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “way of her house.” This expression uses an adverbial accusative of location, telling where he was marching along. The term “house” is the genitive of location, giving the goal.

[7:9]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “in the evening of the day.”

[7:9]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “in the middle of the night, and dark”; KJV “in the black and dark night”; NRSV “at the time of night and darkness.”

[7:10]  ⁵⁸ tn The particle וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh) introduces a dramatic sense of the immediate to the narrative; it has a deictic force, “and look! – there was a woman,” or “all of a sudden this woman….”

[7:10]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “with the garment of a prostitute.” The noun שִׁית (shith, “garment”) is an adverbial accusative specifying the appearance of the woman. The words “she was” are supplied in the translation to make a complete English sentence.

[7:10]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “kept secret of heart”; cf. ASV, NRSV “wily of heart.” The verbal form is the passive participle from נָצַר (natsar) in construct. C. H. Toy lists the suggestions of the commentators: false, malicious, secret, subtle, excited, hypocritical (Proverbs [ICC], 149). The LXX has “causes the hearts of the young men to fly away.” The verb means “to guard; to watch; to keep”; to be guarded of heart means to be wily, to have secret intent – she has locked up her plans and gives nothing away (e.g., Isaiah 48:6 as well). Interestingly enough, this contrasts with her attire which gives everything away.

[7:11]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “her feet.” This is a synecdoche, a part for the whole; the point is that she never stays home, but is out and about all the time.

[7:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “dwell” or “settle”; NAB “her feet cannot rest.”

[7:12]  ⁶³ tn The repetition of the noun “time, step,” usually translated “now, this time,” signifies here “at one time…at another time” (BDB 822 s.v. פַּעַם 3.e).

[7:13]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “she makes bold her face.” The Hiphil perfect of עָזַז (’azar, “to be strong”) means she has an impudent face (cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV), a bold or brazen expression (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

[7:14]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “with me.”

[7:14]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “I have peace offerings.” The peace offerings refer to the meat left over from the votive offering made at the sanctuary (e.g., Lev 7:11-21). Apparently the sacrificial worship meant as little to this woman spiritually as does Christmas to modern hypocrites who follow in her pattern. By expressing that she has peace offerings, she could be saying nothing more than that she has fresh meat for a meal at home, or that she was ceremonially clean, perhaps after her period. At any rate, it is all probably a ruse for winning a customer.

[7:15]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “to look diligently for your face.”

[7:16]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “with spreads.” The sentence begins with the cognate accusative: “with spreads I have spread my bed.” The construction enhances the idea – she has covered her bed.

[7:16]  ⁶⁹ tn The feminine noun means “dark-hued stuffs” (BDB 310 s.v. חֲטֻבוֹת). The form is a passive participle from a supposed root II חָטַב (khatav), which in Arabic means to be of a turbid, dusky color mixed with yellowish red. Its Aramaic cognate means “variegated”; cf. NAB “with brocaded cloths of Egyptian linen.” BDB’s translation of this colon is unsatifactory: “with dark hued stuffs of yarn from Egypt.”

[7:18]  ⁷⁰ tn The form נִרְוֶה (nirveh) is the plural cohortative; following the imperative “come” the form expresses the hortatory “let’s.” The verb means “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill,” and can at times mean “to be intoxicated with.”

[7:18]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “loves.” The word דּוֹד (dod) means physical love or lovemaking. It is found frequently in the Song of Solomon for the loved one, the beloved. Here the form (literally, “loves”) is used in reference to multiple acts of sexual intercourse, as the phrase “until morning” suggests.

[7:18]  ⁷² tn The form is the Hitpael cohortative of עָלַס (’alas), which means “to rejoice.” Cf. NIV “let’s enjoy ourselves.”

[7:18]  ⁷³ tn Heb “with love.”

[7:19]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “the man.” The LXX interpreted it as “my husband,” taking the article to be used as a possessive. Many English versions do the same.

[7:19]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “in his house.”

[7:20]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “in his hand.”

[7:20]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “he will come back at.”

[7:20]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “new moon.” Judging from the fact that the husband took a purse of money and was staying away until the next full moon, the woman implies that they would be safe in their escapade. If v. 9 and v. 20 are any clue, he could be gone for about two weeks – until the moon is full again.

[7:21]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “she turned him aside.” This expression means that she persuaded him. This section now begins the description of the capitulation, for the flattering speech is finished.

[7:21]  ⁸⁰ sn The term לֶקַח (leqakh) was used earlier in Proverbs for wise instruction; now it is used ironically for enticement to sin (see D. W. Thomas, “Textual and Philological Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 280-92).

[7:21]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “smooth of her lips”; cf. NAB “smooth lips”; NASB “flattering lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause representing what she says.

[7:21]  ⁸² tn The verb means “to impel; to thrust; to banish,” but in this stem in this context “to compel; to force” into some action. The imperfect tense has the nuance of progressive imperfect to parallel the characteristic perfect of the first colon.

[7:22]  ⁸³ tn The participle with “suddenly” gives a more vivid picture, almost as if to say “there he goes.”

[7:22]  ⁸⁴ tn The present translation follows R. B. Y. Scott (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 64). This third colon of the verse would usually be rendered, “fetters to the chastening of a fool” (KJV, ASV, and NASB are all similar). But there is no support that עֶכֶס (’ekhes) means “fetters.” It appears in Isaiah 3:16 as “anklets.” The parallelism here suggests that some animal imagery is required. Thus the ancient versions have “as a dog to the bonds.”

[7:23]  ⁸⁵ sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).

[7:23]  ⁸⁶ tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.

[22:14]  ⁸⁷ sn The word “mouth” is a metonymy of cause; it refers to the seductive speech of the strange woman (e.g., 2:16-22; and chs. 5, 7).

[22:14]  ⁸⁸ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[22:14]  ⁸⁹ sn The point of the metaphor is that what the adulteress says is like a deep pit. The pit is like the hunter’s snare; it is a trap that is difficult to escape. So to succumb to the adulteress – or to any other folly this represents – is to get oneself into a difficulty that has no easy escape.

[22:14]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “the one who is cursed by the Lord” (cf. NASB). The construction uses the passive participle in construct with Yahweh. The “Lord” is genitive of agency after the passive form. The verb means “be indignant, express indignation.” So it is talking about one against whom the Lord is angry.

[22:14]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “will fall there.” The “falling” could refer to the curse itself or to the result of the curse.

[22:14]  sn The proverb is saying that the Lord will use the seductive, deceptive words of the adulteress to bring about the downfall of one who is inclined to such folly.

[23:27]  ⁹² tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[23:27]  ⁹³ tn Heb “foreign woman” (so ASV). The term נָכְרִיָּה (nokhriyyah, “foreign woman”) often refers to a prostitute (e.g., Prov 2:6; 5:20; 6:24; 7:5). While not all foreign women in Israel were prostitutes, their prospects for economic survival were meager and many turned to prostitution to earn a living. Some English versions see this term referring to an adulteress as opposed to a prostitute (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[23:27]  ⁹⁴ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[23:27]  ⁹⁵ sn In either case, whether a prostitute or an adulteress wife is involved, the danger is the same. The metaphors of a “deep pit” and a “narrow well” describe this sin as one that is a trap from which there is no escape. The “pit” is a gateway to Sheol, and those who enter are as good as dead, whether socially or through punishment physically.