Proverbs 2:17
in Proverbs 2who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God:
KJV
Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
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This verse in Proverbs 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The guide of her youth - Better, the familiar friend (compare Pro 16:28; Pro 17:9). The “friend” is, of course, the husband, or the man to whom the strange woman first belonged as a recognized concubine. Compare Jer 3:4 The covenant of her God - The sin of the adulteress is not against man only but against the Law of God, against His covenant. The words point to some religious formula of espousals. Compare Mal 2:14.
This site's exposition
To deliver thee from the strange woman
on Proverbs 2:16-19
To deliver thee from the strange woman opens the second deliverance and the chapter's first mention of a figure the book returns to at length in chapters 5 and 7, here named simply as the stranger which flattereth with her words. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God locates her danger in broken covenant rather than only broken marriage, the language deliberately covenantal. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead states the ending in the starkest terms the chapter offers, none that go unto her return again, a warning the bench reads as absolute rather than merely likely.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And leaves the guide of her youth, etc. It is clear about the adulteress because she first leaves her husband and forgets the covenant of her God, evidently that which she made with her husband, with the Lord as witness, at the time of marriage, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), to which God is not only a witness, but a party, for, he having instituted the ordinance, both sides vow to him to be true to each other. It is not her husband only that she sins against, but her God, who will judge whoremongers and adulterers because they despise the oath and break the covenant, Ezek. xvii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Forsaketh - Her husband whom she took to be her guide and governor, in her youth. The covenant - The marriage covenant: so called because God is the author of that mutual obligation: and because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn promise and covenant.
Which forsaketh the guide of her youth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Which forsaketh the guide of her youth - Leaves her father’s house and instructions, and abandons herself to the public. The covenant of her God - Renounces the true religion, and mixes with idolaters; for among them prostitution was enormous. Or by the covenant may be meant the matrimonial contract, which is a covenant made in the presence of God between the contracting parties, in which they bind themselves to be faithful to each other.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
To save you from a strange woman From the assembly of idolatry [apostasy], which is sectarianism.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
for her house sinks to death This refers back to “to save you, etc.” for whoever comes to her house will sink and slip as if down an incline that leads to death, and the Torah will guard you from this fall. Hence, it is a great thing for you.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַ֭עֹזֶבֶת | haozevet | who leaves | H5800 → | 215 times |
| אַלּ֣וּף | ʾaluf | [the] close friend of | H441 → | 69 times |
| נְעוּרֶ֑יהָ | neureiha | youth<s> her | H5271 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּרִ֖ית | berit | [the] covenant of | H1285 → | |
| אֱלֹהֶ֣יהָ | ʾeloheiha | God her | H430 → | 2601 times |
| שָׁכֵֽחָה׃ | shakhechah | she forgets | H7911 → | 102 times |
הַ֭עֹזֶבֶתwho leaves
haozevetH5800 →215 times
אַלּ֣וּף[the] close friend of
ʾalufH441 →69 times
נְעוּרֶ֑יהָyouth<s> her
neureihaH5271 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּרִ֖ית[the] covenant of
beritH1285 →
אֱלֹהֶ֣יהָGod her
ʾeloheihaH430 →2601 times
שָׁכֵֽחָה׃she forgets
shakhechahH7911 →102 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 5:18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your…
- Malachi 2:14–15
Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your…
- Ecclesiastes 9:9
Through
Ezekiel 16:8Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a…
it leads to
- Ruth 3:9
“Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
- Jeremiah 2:2–3
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness,…
- Romans 5:8
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Isaiah 43:4
Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.
- Exodus 32:13
Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will…
- Ruth 3:9
Through
Jeremiah 3:4Have you not just called to Me, ‘My Father, You are my friend from youth.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:2
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness,…
- Jeremiah 2:2
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.