Proverbs 5:4
in Proverbs 5in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
KJV
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
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This verse in Proverbs 5
Commentary
14 notes on this verse"In the end," [Solomon] says, "you will find what seemed sweet in the beginning to be more bitter than gall and sharper than the edge of a sword." But the nature of righteousness is the opposite: In the beginning, it seems more bitter, but in the end, when it produces fruits of virtue, it is found to be sweeter than honey.
This site's exposition
attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding
on Proverbs 5:1-6
The son is told to keep discretion and knowledge in view before the warning even names its subject, because the strange woman's danger begins with speech that sounds pleasant, lips that drop as an honeycomb and a mouth smoother than oil. Her end reverses everything her opening promised: what began sweet turns bitter as wormwood, sharp as a blade honed on both sides, a taste that only shows itself after the pleasant one has done its work. Her feet go down to death and her steps take hold on hell, and the commentators read the whole picture as a warning against a road that looks good only from its beginning.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Even when the sinner looks for gratification, he doesn't find the fruit of his sin pleasant. As the wisdom of God says in another place, "Bread of deceit is pleasant to a man, but after he eats it, his mouth will be filled with gravel." And, "Honey drips from the lips of an adulteress, and for a time it tastes sweet, but in the end you will find it more bitter than gall and sharper than a two-edged sword." So he eats and is quite pleased for a little while.
Let us reflect on what is written concerning dissipation and evil desires: "The lips of an adulteress are sweet for a time," it says, "but in the end she is more bitter than gall." Now since our life in this world is known to be, …
A commentator
John ChrysostomHOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 14:10 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Therefore one gives this admonition; "Observe not the beauty of a strange woman, and meet not a woman addicted to fornication. For honey distils from the lips of an harlot, which at the time may seem smooth to thy throat, but afterward thou wilt find it more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword." For the harlot knows not how to love, but only to ensnare; her kiss hath poison, and her mouth a pernicious drug. And if this does not immediately appear, it is the more necessary to avoid her on that account, because she veils that destruction, and keeps that death concealed, and suffers it not to become manifest at the first. So that if any one pursues pleasure, and a life full of gladness, let him avoid the society of fornicating women, for they fill the minds of their lovers with a thousand conflicts and tumults, setting in motion against them continual strifes and contentions, by means of their words, and all their actions. And just as it is with those who are the most virulent enemies, so the object of their actions and schemes is to plunge their lovers into shame and poverty, and the worst extremities. And in the same manner as hunters, when they have spread out their nets, endeavour to drive thither the wild animals, in order that they may put them to death, so also is it with these women. When they have spread out on every side the wings of lasciviousness by means of the eyes, and dress, and language, they afterwards drive in their lovers, and bind them; nor do they give over until they have drunk up their blood, insulting them at last, and mocking their folly, and pouring over them a flood of ridicule.
What does it profit a man to be an expert theologian if he is a shameless fornicator; or to be nobly temperate but an impious blasphemer? The knowledge of doctrines is a precious possession. There is need of a vigilant soul, since many there are who would deceive you by philosophy and vain deceit. The Greeks, indeed, by their smooth tongue lead men astray, for honey drops from the lips of a harlot.
In a very short time [the devil] leads the proud and wicked to death on a broad and spacious path. Christ our Lord, on the contrary, leads the humble and obedient to life on the straight and narrow path. Both of these roads, the wide …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
But her end is bitter, etc. The drink of wormwood becomes bitter within the bowels, outwardly the members are wounded by the sword. Therefore, to show the wicked in the final retribution, both internally to be filled, and externally surrounded by perpetual punishments, he assures …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But her end is bitter as wormwood,....
Those that are entangled in this sin should be reminded that there is but a step between them and hell, and that they are ready to drop into it. (2.) Consider how false the charms are.
Solomon could speak by experience, Eccl. vii. 26 . [2.] The torments of hell. If some that have been guilty of this sin have repented and been saved, yet the direct tendency of the sin is to destruction of body and soul; the feet of it go down to death, nay, they take hold on hell, to pull it to the sinner, as if the damnations slumbered too long,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Bitter as wormwood - כלענה Kelanah, like the detestable herb wormwood, or something analogous to it: something as excessive in its bitterness, as honey is in its sweetness.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
her end--literally, "her future," in sense of reward, what follows (compare Ps 37:37; Its nature is evinced by the use of figures, opposite those of Pr 5:3. The physical and moral suffering of the deluded profligate are notoriously terrible.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wormwood - In Eastern medicine this herb, the absinthium of Greek and Latin botanists, was looked upon as poisonous rather than medicinal. Compare Rev 8:11.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְֽ֭אַחֲרִיתָהּ | veacharitah | and end her | H319 → | 61 times |
| מָרָ֣ה | marah | [is] bitter | H4751 → | 37 times |
| כַֽלַּעֲנָ֑ה | khalaanah | like <the> wormwood | H3939 → | |
| חַ֝דָּ֗ה | chadah | sharp | H2299 → | |
| כְּחֶ֣רֶב | kecherev | like a sword of | H2719 → | 413 times |
| פִּיּֽוֹת׃ | piyot | mouths | H6310 → | 498 times |
וְֽ֭אַחֲרִיתָהּand end her
veacharitahH319 →61 times
מָרָ֣ה[is] bitter
marahH4751 →37 times
כַֽלַּעֲנָ֑הlike <the> wormwood
khalaanahH3939 →
חַ֝דָּ֗הsharp
chadahH2299 →
כְּחֶ֣רֶבlike a sword of
kecherevH2719 →413 times
פִּיּֽוֹת׃mouths
piyotH6310 →498 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
Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:29
“Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”
- Isaiah 55:11
so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
- Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- Psalms 119:130
The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.
- 1 Peter 1:23
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
- Jeremiah 23:29
Through
Ecclesiastes 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:14
The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
- Proverbs 22:14
Through
Psalms 55:21His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
it leads to
- Psalms 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Proverbs 5:3–4
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Psalms 57:4
About Proverbs
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Athanasius of Alexandria, LETTER 7:5; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 231:6; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 233:7; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 4:2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 14:10; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 14:2.