Proverbs 23:27
in Proverbs 23For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.
KJV
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseFor a whore is a deep ditch,.... Or, "as a deep ditch", so Aben Ezra; to which she may be compared for the filthiness of her whoredoms, and for her insatiable lust, as well as for her being never satisfied with what she receives from her lovers. Plautus compares (g) her to the sea, which devours whatever you give, and yet nothing appears; and another (h) calls a whore Charybdis, from her swallowing up and devouring all a man has.
This site's exposition
My son, give me your heart
on Proverbs 23:26-28
"My son, give me your heart" opens directly into a warning: "a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well." The two images share one danger, a fall a man does not see coming and cannot easily climb out of.
This site's exposition
a prostitute is a deep pit
The deep pit of 22:14 returns with a narrow well beside it, both hard to climb out of. Matthew Henry draws the lesson to keep far from the brink. John Gill cites old writers who likened the prostitute to the sea, which swallows all it is given.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
He who gives to harlots is ridiculous and shameful, and will have many quarrels, and brief pleasure; or rather, not even brief, because, give what he will to the women his mistresses, they will not thank him for it; for, "The house of a stranger is a cask with holes." Besides, that sort of persons is impudent, and Solomon hath compared their love to the grave; and then only do they stop, when they see their lover stripped of all. Or rather, such a woman doth not stop even then, but tricks herself out the more, and tramples on him when he is down, and excites much laughter against him, and works him so much mischief, as it is not possible even to describe by words.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is like a deep ditch and a narrow pit, which it is almost impossible to get out of; and therefore it is wisdom to keep far enough from the brink of it. Take heed of making any approaches towards this sin, because it is so hard to make a retreat from it, conscience, which should head the retreat, being debauched by it, and divine grace forfeited.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A solemn warning against whoredom and drunkenness (Ho 4:11). give me--This is the address of that divine wisdom so often presented (Pr 8:1; 9:3, &c.). heart--confidence. observe--keep. my ways--such as I teach you (Pr 3:17;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For a whore is a deep ditch - See on Pro 22:14 (note).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שׁוּחָ֣ה | shuchah | [is] a pit | H7745 → | |
| עֲמֻקָּ֣ה | ʾamukah | deep | H6013 → | 17 times |
| זוֹנָ֑ה | zonah | a prostitute | H2181 → | 94 times |
| וּבְאֵ֥ר | uveer | and [is] a well | H875 → | |
| צָ֝רָ֗ה | tzarah | narrow | H6862 → | |
| נָכְרִיָּֽה׃ | nakheriyah | a foreign [woman] | H5237 → | 45 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
שׁוּחָ֣ה[is] a pit
shuchahH7745 →
עֲמֻקָּ֣הdeep
ʾamukahH6013 →17 times
זוֹנָ֑הa prostitute
zonahH2181 →94 times
וּבְאֵ֥רand [is] a well
uveerH875 →
צָ֝רָ֗הnarrow
tzarahH6862 →
נָכְרִיָּֽה׃a foreign [woman]
nakheriyahH5237 →45 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 22:14The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
And 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…
- Proverbs 6:24–29
to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
- Nehemiah 13:26
Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all…
- Proverbs 7:5–27
that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
- Proverbs 2:16–19
It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 87; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.