Proverbs 5:8
in Proverbs 5Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house;
KJV
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
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This verse in Proverbs 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseYour flight is a good one if your heart does not act out the counsels of sinners and their designs. Your flight is a good one if your eye flees the sight of cups and drinking vessels, so that it may not become envious as it lingers over the wine. Your flight is good if your eye turns away from the woman stranger, so that your tongue may keep the truth. Your flight is a good one if you do not answer the fool according to his folly.
This site's exposition
depart not from the words of my mouth
on Proverbs 5:7-11
The counsel turns practical: remove thy way far from her, come not nigh the door of her house, treating distance itself as the safeguard rather than trusting resolve alone to hold at close range. The losses named are severe and public, honour given to others, years given to the cruel, wealth filling a stranger's house, labor spent to enrich a household that is not one's own. Gill reads the piling up of losses as deliberate, since the sin promises private pleasure but delivers public ruin.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Keep your way far from her, etc. And the apostle says, Flee fornication (1 Corinthians 6). Because indeed the first remedy of this vice is to be far from those whose presence either allures or cooperates in the vice. But it also benefits weak listeners …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(1.) This caution is introduced with a solemn preface: " Hear me now therefore, O you children! whoever you are that read or hear these lines, take notice of what I say, and mix faith with it, treasure it up, and depart not from the words of my mouth, as those will do that hearken to the words of the strange woman.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Remove thy way far from her,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Come not nigh the door of her house - Where there are generally such exhibitions as have a natural tendency to excite impure thoughts, and irregular passions.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַרְחֵ֣ק | harchek | make far away | H7368 → | 57 times |
| מֵעָלֶ֣יהָ | mealeiha | from with <the> her | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דַרְכֶּ֑ךָ | darkekha | way your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּ֝קְרַ֗ב | tikrav | you draw near | H7126 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פֶּ֥תַח | petach | [the] entrance of | H6607 → | 164 times |
| בֵּיתָֽהּ׃ | beitah | house her | H1004 → | 2046 times |
הַרְחֵ֣קmake far away
harchekH7368 →57 times
מֵעָלֶ֣יהָfrom with <the> her
mealeihaH5921 →5755 times
דַרְכֶּ֑ךָway your
darkekhaH1870 →707 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תִּ֝קְרַ֗בyou draw near
tikravH7126 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פֶּ֥תַח[the] entrance of
petachH6607 →164 times
בֵּיתָֽהּ׃house her
beitahH1004 →2046 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
Matthew 6:13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will…
- Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
- John 17:15
I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.
- Revelation 7:14–17
“Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the…
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
Through
Ephesians 5:11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
it leads to
- Romans 13:12
The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
- 1 Timothy 5:20
But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received…
- Romans 13:12
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 9:56; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.