1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Proverbs 5:1 | My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my prudence, | |
| Proverbs 5:2 | That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman. | Thoughts. Or wisdom; and act with discretion. --- Mind, etc., is omitted in Hebrew and St. Jerome. (Calmet) --- By woman all concupiscence, or the inducement to sin, is commonly understood. We must not think of such things. (Worthington) |
| Proverbs 5:3 | For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her throat is smoother than oil. | |
| Proverbs 5:4 | But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword. | Sword. "It is a crime even to hearken." (St. Ambrose, de Abrah. 2:11.) She seeks thy ruin, ver. 5., and Proverbs 2:16. |
| Proverbs 5:5 | Her feet go down into death, and her steps go in as far as hell. | |
| Proverbs 5:6 | They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and unaccountable. | They. Hebrew, "if perhaps thou ponder the path of life." (Pagnin) (Haydock) --- Or "she ponders not," etc. She walks inconsiderately, and consults only her passions, Proverbs 7:10. (Calmet) --- No one can depend on her love. (Menochius) |
| Proverbs 5:7 | Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words of my mouth. | |
| Proverbs 5:8 | Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her house. | |
| Proverbs 5:9 | Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel. | Strangers. The world, the flesh, and the devil are such; cruelly devising our ruin. (Worthington) |
| Proverbs 5:10 | Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in another man's house, | Strength. Or children, ver. 16., and Genesis 49:3. (Calmet) |
| Proverbs 5:11 | And thou mourn at the last, when thou shalt have spent thy flesh and thy body, and say; | Body. He alludes to a shameful disease, the just punishment of intemperance, Ecclesiasticus 19:3. |
| Proverbs 5:12 | Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to reproof, | |
| Proverbs 5:13 | And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and have not inclined my ear to masters? | |
| Proverbs 5:14 | I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of the congregation. | Evil. Infirm and worn out, having lost my reputation, etc. (Calmet) --- Though I lived among the faithful, I was under no restraint. (Menochius) |
| Proverbs 5:15 | Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well: | Well. Live comfortably on your own property, (Cajetan) with your own wife. (Calmet) |
| Proverbs 5:16 | Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters. | Waters. Mayst thou have a numerous offspring, (ver. 10.) and be liberal. Many copies of the Septuagint, etc., have a negation, with Aquila, "let not thy," etc., (Calmet) though it may be read with an interrogation, "are the waters of thy fountain to be?" etc. (De Dieu) --- By no means. Origen (in Numbers xii.) acknowledges both readings. (Calmet) --- Good instructions must be given to those who are well disposed, but not to scoffers, or obstinate infidels. (Worthington) --- Husbands are exhorted to be content with their own wives, (ver. 15, 20.) so that the negative particle seems to be here wanting, as it is, Proverbs 6:17., in Manuscript 60, (Kennicott) and Proverbs 14:33. (Septuagint, etc.) (Capellus) |
| Proverbs 5:17 | Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee. | Thee. Stick to thy own wife. In a moral sense, let those who instruct others, take care not to neglect themselves. |
| Proverbs 5:18 | Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth: | Vein. Thou shalt have a numerous progeny, Psalm 67:28., and Isaias 48:1. (Calmet) |
| Proverbs 5:19 | Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her breasts inebriate thee at all times: be thou delighted continually with her love. | Love. This is spoken by way of permission, and to withdraw people from unlawful connections, Ecclesiastes 2:1., and 1 Corinthians 7:29. (Calmet) |
| Proverbs 5:20 | Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art cherished in the bosom of another? | |
| Proverbs 5:21 | *The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps. Job 14:16.; Job 31:4.; Job 34:21. | |
| Proverbs 5:22 | His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins. | Ropes. "Evil habits unrestrained induce a necessity," (St. Augustine, Confessions 8:5.) though not absolute. (Haydock) --- The libertine thinks he can get free as soon as he pleases; not being aware of the chains which he is forging for himself. (Calmet) --- Sin requires punishment. (Menochius) |
| Proverbs 5:23 | He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in the multitude of his folly he shall be deceived. |