Proverbs 5 · a question people ask
Chapter 5 speaks of "the wife of your youth" (5:18). What does it say to someone who isn't married?
The chapter is a father's words to "My son" (5:1, 5:20) and "my sons" (5:7), and its picture in 5:15-19 is of one home: "Rejoice in the wife of your youth" (5:18). It doesn't speak of anyone who isn't married, and it doesn't say that such a person is outside its blessing or lacks anything. Much of the chapter is a warning about a way whose steps "lead straight to Sheol" (5:5), and a call to keep far from it: "Remove your way far from her" (5:8). Its close speaks of "the ways of man": "For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths" (5:21). These notes don't make the picture of 5:15-19 a measure of anyone's life. If it touches a longing or a loss for you, or for someone you read with, make room for it.
The verses
“My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,”
“Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.”
“Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,”
“Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you. Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another? For the ways of man are before the LORD’s eyes. He examines all his paths.”