Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 5:9
Lest thou give thine honor unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
9. others ] instead of to thine own, Pro 5:15 ; Pro 5:17. Comp. Pro 5:10 .
the cruel ] The Heb. noun is masc. sing. and is intended perhaps vividly to describe the sin with its cruel consequences (Pro 6:26; Pro 6:31-35; Pro 7:22-23; Pro 7:26) as a merciless personal Avenger. LXX. , taking the Heb. word apparently as a collective noun.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thine honor – i. e., The grace and freshness of thy youth (compare Hos 14:6; Dan 10:8). The thought of this is to guard the young man against the sins that stain and mar it. The slave of lust sacrifices years that might have been peaceful and happy to one who is merciless.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 5:9
Lest thou give thine honour unto others.
A mans honour sunk in sensuality
A good name is better than precious ointment, but of a good name this abominable sin is the ruin. The credit of David and of Solomon was greatly sunk by it. By it has the honour of thousands been irretrievably lost. Life is a great blessing, and may be regarded as the foundation of every earthly blessing. But unclean persons part with everything that renders life worthy of the name, and in a literal sense, they often give their years unto the cruel. Their lives are lost in the pursuit of this sin by the just judgment of God, by its native consequences, or by the accidents to which it exposes those who practise it. And for what are these years given away? Did men generously part with their lives in the defence of their country, or for the sake of a generous friend, the loss would be amply compensated by honour, and by the pleasure of a good conscience. But how infatuated are they who give their years unto the cruel, who conceal a selfish and malignant heart under the mask of love! All unlawful love is hatred, and all tempters to it are cruel enemies to our happiness. Shall we then gratify inhuman enemies, at the expense of honour and life and everything dear to us? These false friends and malicious enemies rob you of your honour and life, with as much eagerness as if they could enjoy these precious blessings of which you are deprived. (G. Lawson, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Lest thou give thine honour] The character of a debauchee is universally detested: by this, even those of noble blood lose their honour and respect.
Thy years unto the cruel] Though all the blandishments of love dwell on the tongue, and the excess of fondness appear in the whole demeanour of the harlot and the prostitute; yet cruelty has its throne in their hearts; and they will rob and murder (when it appears to answer their ends) those who give their strength, their wealth, and their years to them. The unfaithful wife has often murdered her own husband for the sake of her paramour, and has given him over to justice in order to save herself. Murders have often taken place in brothels, as well as robberies; for the vice of prostitution is one of the parents of cruelty.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thine honour; thy dignity and reputation, the strength and rigour of thy body and mind, which is an honour to a man, and which are commonly wasted by adulterous practices.
Unto others; unto whores, and their husbands, and children, and friends.
Thy years; the flower of thine age, thy youthful years.
Unto the cruel; to the harlot, who though she pretends ardent love and kindness to thee, yet in truth is one of the most cruel creatures in the world, wasting thy estate and, body without the least pity, and then casting thee off with scorn. and contempt; and when her interest requires it, taking away thy very life, of which there are innumerable examples, and damning thy soul for ever.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. thine honourin whateverconsisting, strength (Pr 3:13)or wealth.
thy yearsby cuttingthem off in dissipation.
unto the cruelfor suchthe sensual are apt to become.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Lest thou give thine honour unto others,…. To strumpets, their children, attendants, servants, and friends; that is, either wealth or riches, which make men honourable; or their three, credit, and reputation, which are lost by keeping company with such persons; or the outward comeliness of the body, and inward rigour of the mind, which are impaired by adulterous practices. The Targum renders it, “thy strength”; and so the Syriac version, “thy strength of body”, which is enervated by such impurities; see Pr 31:3; compare with this the kings of the earth that commit fornication with the whore of Rome, giving their power and strength to the beast, Re 17:2. Jarchi’s note is,
“lest thine heart has respect to other gods, to give them the glory of thine honour and praise;”
and so understands it not of corporeal but of spiritual adultery or idolatry: the Septuagint and Arabic versions are, “thy life”; which agrees with what follows;
and thy years unto the cruel; youthful years, the flower of age, consumed by the cruel lust of uncleanness, which preys upon and wastes both body and substance, and cuts them off in the prime of days; and deprives of years which otherwise, according to the course of nature, and in all probability, might be arrived unto: so harlots, in Plautus o, are said to sup the blood of men, and to deprive of goods, light, honour, and friends p. And the harlot herself may be here meant; who, when she has got what she can, has no pity on the man she has ruined, and even will not stick to take away his life upon occasion; as well as is the cause and means of the damnation of his soul: or the jealous husband of the adulterous woman, who will not spare the adulterer when taken by him; or her brethren, her relations and friends; or her other gallants and co-rivals, who, when they have opportunity, will avenge themselves; or the civil magistrate, who executes judgment without mercy on such delinquents, this being a sin punished with death. Jarchi interprets the “cruel” of the prince of hell, the devil; and so the Midrash of the angel of death. The character well agrees with the antichristian beast, the whore of Rome; who, by her sorceries and fornications, has destroyed millions of souls.
o Bacchides, Act. 3. Sc. 1. v. 5. & Sc. 3. v. 67. p Truculentus, Act. 2. Sc. 7. v. 20.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) Thine honour.Rather, freshness, vigour.
Thy years.The best years of thy life.
Unto the cruel.That is the temptress herself, or her hangers-on and associates, whose sole idea is plunder.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Thine honour , thy vigour, bloom, strength; the glory of thy manhood. “Lest thou sacrifice the flower of thine age and thy precious time to one that doth not love thee a jot, but could see thee perish without pity.” Patrick. Though all the blandishments of love dwell on the tongue, and excessive fondness appear in the whole demeanour of harlots, they will rob and murder those who give their strength and wealth to them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 5:9. Lest thou give thine honour unto others The word others acheirim, denoted, among the Israelites, strangers; aliens from the true religion, and also its enemies. I suppose it has respect to selling into slavery, by which a person puts himself under the yoke of strangers. It was a great crime to sell one’s self; a greater to do so to strangers and aliens from the worship of the true God. He who cleaves to an adulteress sells himself from the family of God, and delivers himself into a foreign house and servitude.
Thine honour, or glory, signifies, “The glory of thy name; the glory of a nation consecrated to God; the glory of liberty; and the prerogative of a glorious immortality, to which thou art called.” Thy years are the season of life, delivered or given up to the cruel, by him who, when he ought to be free, and the master of himself, and of his own time, can no longer enjoy light and liberty, after he has submitted himself to the heavy yoke of lust; but, as it were cast into prison, is compelled every day to submit to a cruel and hard tyrant. See Horat. Ephesians 1; Ephesians 2 and Schultens. Some of the versions, which Houbigant follows, render the first clause, Lest thou give thy strength or vigour to others.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 5:9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Ver. 9. Lest thou give thine honour, ] i.e., Whatsoever within thee, or without thee, may make thee honourable or esteemed, as the flower of thine age, the comeliness of thy body, the excellency of thy wit, thy possibility of preferment, that good opinion that the better sort had of thee, &c. How was David slighted by his own children and servants after he had thus sinned! Compare 1Sa 2:30 with 2Sa 12:10 . Chastity is a man’s honour. a 1Th 4:4
And their years,
To the cruel.
a Castus; quasi , ornatus, , ab , venerabills.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
years. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for what happens in them.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 5:9-14
Pro 5:9-14
WARNING OF WHAT BEFALLS VIOLATORS OF THIS LAW
“Lest thou give thine honor unto others,
And thy years unto the cruel.
Lest strangers be filled with thy strength,
And thy labors be in the house of an alien.
And thou mourn at thy latter end,
When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
And say, How have I hated instruction,
And my heart despised reproof;
Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
I was well-nigh in all evil
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
“The evil results of relations with the strange woman fall into three divisions. (1) Loss of wealth and position (Pro 5:9 f), (2) physical deterioration (Pro 5:11), and (3) certain legal penalties.
The thrust of the whole passage is that unlawful and promiscuous sex destroys the participant socially, financially, morally, and even physically. Such activity is a sin against society, against the family, against one’s own body, against the church and against God Himself.
“Lest strangers be filled with thy strength” (Pro 5:10). The AV has `wealth’ instead of `strength,’ which makes better sense. Such activities as prostitution and adultery “bring poverty”; and there are many ways in which this is brought about. Severe legal penalties accompany violations in this sector; but evil men prefer to blackmail offenders rather than penalize them. Prostitutes are victimized by crooked policemen who charge them `protection money.’ Etc. The schemes are unlimited.
“When thy flesh and thy body are consumed” (Pro 5:11). Yes, the physical destruction that is identified with this sin is epic in its proportions. In this writer’s boyhood, the strongest youth in the community could tear a deck of cards in two, chin himself with either hand, and perform other amazing things; but he went to work in the oil fields, indulged his lust with prostitutes, contracted syphilis, and returned in a wheel-chair (“locomotor ataxia”), and to an untimely death. Almost invariably the fatal disease of aids is directly the result of indulging in this sin. “Then (when Proverbs was written) as now, terrible disease was the result of this sin.
“And say, How have I hated instruction” (Pro 5:12). Even more terrible than other results of this wickedness is the bitter remorse that tortures the violator in his latter days. “Even more bitter than slavery, poverty and disease will be the bitterness of that self-reproach, and the hopeless remorse that works death.
“Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers” (Pro 5:13). “The profligate admits that he was not without teachers and advisers, and that he gave no heed to their warnings and reproofs.
“I was well nigh in all evil” (Pro 5:14). “This vice, like a whirlpool, sweeps all others into its vortex. Falsehood invariably, and murder occasionally are directly associated with this evil. As DeHoff wrote, “This vice leads one into all others. Every sin has a group of cousins who always come to visit. We might add that they stay a long time!
Pro 5:9. Fornication is seldom a one-time matter (unless one repents). Usually (like with alcohol) one gets involved for years, and his good name (honor) is sacrificed. Immorality is cruel in what it does to the guilty, to his mate, and to his family.
Pro 5:10. Others will have the substance earned through strength and labor. Pro 6:26 says, On account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread. The Prodigal Son had devoured his inheritance with harlots (Luk 15:13; Luk 15:30).
Pro 5:11. God has seen fit to visit immorality with the plague of various social diseases (venereal diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, and lymph granuloma). The father had foreseen the mourning sure to come, but a young man might not consider it because of the sinful pleasure that precede it.
Pro 5:12. A man suffering his last would have learned, but it would be too late to profit him. His father would probably be dead and gone by the time the prodigal wakened up to reality with a disease-ridden and ruined body, but his fathers words would return to his mind with greater meaning. As he looks back, he sees that he actually hated and despised his fathers instruction. Other instances of such: Pro 1:25; Pro 1:29; Pro 12:1.
Pro 5:13. Teachers implies that others besides his father had tried to counsel him. Surely his mother would have been one of them (Forsake not the law of thy mother-Pro 1:8). He had had good teachers (like many), but he was smarter than his teachers-he followed his own ways!
Pro 5:14. Such was my shamelessness that there was scarcely any wickedness which I did not commit, unrestrained even by the presence of the congregation and assembly. The fact which the ruined youth laments is the extent and audacity of his sins (Pulpit Commentary).
STUDY QUESTIONS – Pro 5:9-14
1. How deeply does such a person usually get involved (Pro 5:9)?
2. How would strangers be filled with his strength (Pro 5:10)?
3. What does such living often do to ones body (Pro 5:11)?
4. Whose instructions had not been heeded (Pro 5:12)?
5. People learn, but sometimes it is too ………….. (Pro 5:13).
6. What is the meaning of Pro 5:14?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Pro 6:29-35, Gen 38:23-26, Jdg 16:19-21, Neh 13:26, Hos 4:13, Hos 4:14
Reciprocal: Gen 39:7 – Lie Pro 6:33 – A wound Pro 13:18 – Poverty Pro 31:3 – strength
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:9 Lest thou give thine {e} honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
(e) That is, your strength and goods to her who will have no pity on you as is read of Samson and the prodigal son.