Proverbs 5:3
in Proverbs 5Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil:
KJV
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
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This verse in Proverbs 5
Commentary
13 notes on this verseEven 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.
This site's exposition
pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight
on Proverbs 5:1-6
The son is told to “maintain discretion” before the warning names its subject, because the danger of “the forbidden woman” begins with pleasant speech. Her end reverses her opening, “bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword,” a taste that shows only after the sweet one has worked.
This site's exposition
her speech is smoother than oil
Forbidden woman renders zarah, a woman who belongs to another, whether Israelite or foreign, as Adam Clarke reads it. Honey and oil picture speech that goes down easily. Psalm 55:21 describes words softer than oil that were drawn swords.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
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.
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.
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 …
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, …
The Medieval Church1 voice
For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb distilling. For in the mouth of heretics, the sweetness of eloquence not only resounds to sufficiency, but to superfluity; and for this reason, because falsehood is discerned to be aptly spoken, it is deemed truth …
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
And her throat is smoother than oil. The Catholic faith is consecrated by the oil of the Holy Spirit, by which they who prefer their own sense to the faith of the Fathers show their throat smoother. It is evident concerning the harlot, because she …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb,.... "Mulsa dicta", "honey words", as is Plautus's (e) expression.
But consider, (1.) How fatal the consequences will be. What fruit will the sinner have of his honey and oil when the end will be, [1.] The terrors of conscience: It is bitter as wormwood,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The lips of a strange woman - One that is not thy own, whether Jewess or heathen. Drop as a honey-comb - She uses the most deceitful, flattering, and alluring speeches: as the droppings of the honey out of the comb are the sweetest of all.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Smoother than oil - The same comparison is used in marginal reference to describe the treachery of a false friend.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נֹ֣פֶת | nofet | honey | H5317 → | 5 times |
| תִּ֭טֹּפְנָה | titofenah | they drip | H5197 → | |
| שִׂפְתֵ֣י | siftei | [the] lips of | H8193 → | 176 times |
| זָרָ֑ה | zarah | a strange [woman] | H2114 → | 77 times |
| וְחָלָ֖ק | vechalak | and [is] smooth | H2509 → | |
| מִשֶּׁ֣מֶן | mishemen | more than oil | H8081 → | 193 times |
| חִכָּֽהּ׃ | chikah | mouth her | H2441 → | 18 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נֹ֣פֶתhoney
nofetH5317 →5 times
תִּ֭טֹּפְנָהthey drip
titofenahH5197 →
שִׂפְתֵ֣י[the] lips of
sifteiH8193 →176 times
זָרָ֑הa strange [woman]
zarahH2114 →77 times
וְחָלָ֖קand [is] smooth
vechalakH2509 →
מִשֶּׁ֣מֶןmore than oil
mishemenH8081 →193 times
חִכָּֽהּ׃mouth her
chikahH2441 →18 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 7:5that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
it leads to
- Proverbs 2:16
It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 2:16
Through
Proverbs 2:16It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 6:24
to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
Through
Proverbs 6:24to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
it leads to
- Proverbs 7:5
that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 7:5
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,
- Proverbs 26:28
A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
- Psalms 28:3
Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
- Psalms 57:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 11 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 233:7; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 231:6; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 4:2; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 14:10; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.