Proverbs 5:4

4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

Proverbs 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 5:4

But her end is bitter as wormwood
Which is opposed to the honeycomb her lips are said to drop; so that, as Juvenal says ^F7, "plus aloes quam mellis habet": the end which she brings persons to, or the issue of complying with her, is bitterness; such as loss of credit, substance, and health, remorse of conscience, and fear of death, corporeal and eternal; see ( Ecclesiastes 7:26 ) ; sharp as a twoedged sword;
which cuts every way; as committing sin with an harlot hurts both soul and body; and the reflection upon it is very cutting and distressing, and destroys all comfort and happiness. This is the reverse of her soothing and softening speech, which is as oil. Such also will be the sad case of the worshippers of the beast, or whore of Rome; who will gnaw their tongues for pain, and be killed with the twoedged sword that proceedeth out of the mouth of Christ, ( Revelation 16:10 ) ( Revelation 19:15 Revelation 19:21 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Satyr. 6. v. 180. "Lingua dicta dulcia dabis, corde amara facilis", Plauti Truculentus, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 77. Cistellaria, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 70, 71, 72.

Proverbs 5:4 In-Context

2 so that you may hold on to prudence, and your lips may guard knowledge.

3 For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;

4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol.

6 She does not keep straight to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.