Proverbs 2:16

To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) To deliver thee from the strange woman.—Another work of wisdom, to save from profligacy. Of the two epithets here used, “strange” (zārah) and “stranger” (nokhrîyyah), the first implies that she belonged to another family, the second to another nation. It would seem as if the evil example of Solomon (1Kings 11:1), in marrying foreign women, had become common in Israel, and that they, by their vicious lives, had become a deadly source of corruption. Brought up in the lax views of morality which prevailed among heathen nations at this time, they would not consider themselves bound by the high standard of purity which was enjoined upon Hebrew women by the Law.

(16-19) Besides the literal sense of this passage, as given above, commentators have very generally found in it a spiritual meaning, a warning against idolatry and apostasy. The union of Israel to God is so frequently spoken of in the prophets under the figure of a marriage, and their rejection of Him for idols as adultery, that the passage may well bear this further sense, especially as Jeremiah (Jeremiah 3:4) has borrowed this very phrase, “guide of her youth,” for a passage in which he is reproving the Jews for their faithlessness. The figure is also very common in the New Testament, as descriptive of the union of Christ and the Church.

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 2:16-17. To deliver thee from the strange woman — From the adulteress, or whore; called strange, partly because such persons were commonly heathen, or are supposed to be such by reason of that severe law against these practices in Israelitish women, Deuteronomy 23:17; or are justly reputed heathen, as being degenerate Israelites, who are often called strangers in the Scriptures; which flattereth with her words — Who useth all arts and ways to allure men to unchaste actions; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth — Her husband, whom she took to be her guide and governor, and that in her youth; which circumstance is added to aggravate her sin and shame, because love is commonly most sincere and fervent between persons married in their youth; and forgetteth — That is, violateth or breaketh, the covenant of her God — The marriage covenant, so called, because God is the author of that mutual obligation; and because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn promise and covenant.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:10-22 If we are truly wise, we shall be careful to avoid all evil company and evil practices. When wisdom has dominion over us, then it not only fills the head, but enters into the heart, and will preserve, both against corruptions within and temptations without. The ways of sin are ways of darkness, uncomfortable and unsafe: what fools are those who leave the plain, pleasant, lightsome paths of uprightness, to walk in such ways! They take pleasure in sin; both in committing it, and in seeing others commit it. Every wise man will shun such company. True wisdom will also preserve from those who lead to fleshly lusts, which defile the body, that living temple, and war against the soul. These are evils which excite the sorrow of every serious mind, and cause every reflecting parent to look upon his children with anxiety, lest they should be entangled in such fatal snares. Let the sufferings of others be our warnings. Our Lord Jesus deters from sinful pleasures, by the everlasting torments which follow them. It is very rare that any who are caught in this snare of the devil, recover themselves; so much is the heart hardened, and the mind blinded, by the deceitfulness of this sin. Many think that this caution, besides the literal sense, is to be understood as a caution against idolatry, and subjecting the soul to the body, by seeking any forbidden object. The righteous must leave the earth as well as the wicked; but the earth is a very different thing to them. To the wicked it is all the heaven they ever shall have; to the righteous it is the place of preparation for heaven. And is it all one to us, whether we share with the wicked in the miseries of their latter end, or share those everlasting joys that shall crown believers?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The second great evil, the warnings against which are frequent (see the marginal reference). Two words are used to describe the class.

(1) "The strange woman" is one who does not belong to the family, one who by birth is outside the covenant of Israel.

(2) "The stranger" is none other than a foreigner.

It is the word used of the "strange" wives of Solomon 1 Kings 11:1, 1 Kings 11:8, and of those of the Jews who returned from Babylon (Ezra 10; passim). The two words together, in connection with those which follow, and which imply at once marriage and a profession of religious faith, point to some interesting facts in the social history of Israel. Whatever form the sin here referred to had assumed before the monarchy (and the Book of Judges testifies to its frequency), the contact with Phoenicians and other nations under Solomon had a strong tendency to increase it. The king's example would naturally be followed, and it probably became a fashion to have foreign wives and concubines. At first, it would seem, this was accompanied by some show of proselytism Proverbs 2:17; but the old pagan leaven (influence) presently broke out; the sensual worship of other gods led the way to a life of harlotry. The stringent laws of the Mosaic code Leviticus 19:29; Leviticus 21:9; Deuteronomy 23:18 probably deterred the women of Israel from that sin, and led to a higher standard of purity among them than prevailed among other nations.

Most interpreters have, however, generalized the words as speaking of any adulteress. The Septuagint as if reluctant to speak of facts so shameful, has allegorized them, and seen in the temptress the personification of "evil counsel."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16-19. Deliverance from another danger.

the strange woman—This term is often used for harlot, or loose woman (Jud 11:1, 2), married (Pr 7:5, 19) or not (1Ki 11:1), so called, because such were, perhaps at first, foreigners, though "strange" may also denote whatever is opposed to right or proper, as "strange fire" (Nu 3:4); "strange incense" (Ex 30:9).

flattereth—literally, "smooths."

her words—(Ps 5:9).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

From the strange woman; from the adulteress or whore; called strange, partly because such persons were commonly heathens, or are supposed to be such by reason of that severe law against these practices in Israelitish women, Deu 23:17, or are justly reputed heathens, as being degenerate Israelites, which are oft called strangers, as hath been noted in the Book of the Psalms; and partly because conversation with such persons is forbidden to men; as those Israelites which were not Levites are called strangers, Numbers 1:51, in respect of the holy things which they were prohibited to touch; and forbidden fire is called strange fire, Numbers 3:4.

Which flattereth with her words; which useth all arts and ways to allure men to unchaste actions; one kind being put for all the rest.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

To deliver thee from the strange woman,.... As the Gospel of Christ and its doctrines, or the instructions of wisdom, are a means of delivering persons from the evil man, his company, ways, and works; so from a naughty woman, an adulteress, called a "strange" woman; not because of another nation, or unknown, but because she belongs to another person, and not to him whom she entices into her embraces. Gersom interprets this of the sensitive appetite, and Jarchi of idolatry; as others do also of superstition and all false doctrine, and everything that is contrary to true wisdom; and the whole that is here and afterwards said may well enough be applied to the whore of Rome, from whose fornication, or spiritual adultery, that is, idolatry, will worship, and antichristian doctrines, the Gospel delivers men; see Proverbs 7:5, &c.

even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; that useth smooth and soft words to work upon the passions, move the affections, and win the hearts of men; and ensnare them and draw them to commit wickedness with her; see Proverbs 5:3; and so antichrist, and all false teachers and heretics, with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple, Romans 16:18.

Geneva Study Bible

To deliver thee from the strange {i} woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

(i) Meaning, the wisdom which is the word of God, will preserve us from all vices: naming this vice of whoredom to which man is most prone.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. strange woman … stranger] i.e. not belonging to thee; a stranger, in right, to any such relationship. Neither of the words, as here used, has any reference to nationality, as though the danger in question arose chiefly from foreign women. They are married women of the true religion (Proverbs 2:17), and wives of fellow-citizens (Proverbs 7:19-20) who are here in view. It is a different Heb. word that is used commonly (e.g. Genesis 15:13; Exodus 20:10) for a “stranger” in the sense of a foreigner, one sojourning in a land not his own. The “strange woman” here is so called in the sense which the same Heb. word bears in such passages as Exodus 29:33; Exodus 30:33 (one who is outside the family of Aaron); Deuteronomy 25:5 (one who is outside the family circle). This word for stranger, though it often means a foreigner (Deuteronomy 17:15; comp. Exodus 2:22; Exodus 21:8), is here a proper synonym with the word in the parallel clause, one who is not a man’s own wife; just as in Ecclesiastes 6:2 it means one who is not a man’s own child.

flattereth] Heb. maketh smooth her words, R.V. marg. An example is given in Proverbs 7:13-21.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - To deliver thee from the strange woman. This is the second form of temptation against which wisdom (discretion) is a preservative, and the great and especial dangers arising from it to youth, owing to its seductive allurements, afford the reason why the teacher is so strong in his warnings on this subject. Two terms are employed to designate the source of this evil - "the strange woman" (אִָשה זָרָה, ishshah zara), and "the stranger" (נָכְרִיָה, nok'riyah) - and both undoubtedly, in the passage before us, mean a meretricious person, one who indulges in illicit intercourse. The former term is invariably employed in this sense in the Proverbs (Proverbs 5:2, 20; Proverbs 7:5; Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 23:33) of the adulteress (זָרִים, zarim), and Jeremiah 2:25. The participle זָר (zar), from the verb זוּר (zur), of which זָרָה (zarah) is the feminine form, is, however, used in a wider sense, as signifying

(1) one of another nation, or one of another family;

(2) or some one different from one's self;

(3) or strange.

Thus:

(1) in Isaiah 1:7 we have "Strangers devour it (your land) in your presence;" but in Exodus 30:33 "the stranger" is one not the high priest.

(2) The "stranger" is another (Proverbs 11:15; Proverbs 14:10; Proverbs 20:16; Proverbs 27:2, 13).

(3) The "strange fire" (אֵשׁ זָרָה, esh zarah) is the unlawful fire as opposed to the holy fire (Leviticus 10:1); the "strange god" (אֵל זָר, el zar) is the foreign god (Psalm 81:9). But the idea of foreign origin implied in the word is more strongly brought out in the next term, נָכְרִיָה (nok'riyah), on which Delitzsch remarks that it scarcely ever divests itself of a strange, foreign origin. This word is used to designate those "strange women" whom Solomon loved in his old age, and who turned his heart aside to worship false gods (1 Kings 11:1-8), "outlandish women," as they are termed in Nehemiah 13:26; it designates "the strange wives" of Ezra 10, and Nehemiah 13:27; and is applied to Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 2:10). Again, it has to be further observed that the laws of the Mosaic code against prostitution were of a most stringent nature (Leviticus 19:29; Leviticus 21:9; Deuteronomy 23:17), and no doubt served to maintain a higher standard of morality among Israelitish women than that observed among the Midianites, Syrians, and other nations. Strong prohibitions were directed against the intermarriage of Israelites with the women of the surrounding nations; but the example set by Solomon would serve to weaken the force of these prohibitions, and would lead to a large influx of women of a different nationality. The conclusion we arrive at is that the class mentioned in the text, though not Israelitish by birth, were yet so by adoption, as the context clearly indicates (ver. 17) the fact of marriage and the acceptance of certain religious observances. Such women, after a temporary restraint, would eventually set all moral and religious obligations at defiance. and would become the source of temptation to others. The allegorical interpretation given to this passage by the LXX. is to be rejected on the ground that the previous section (vers. 12-15) speaks of perverse men. Which flattereth with her words; literally, who has made smooth her words, the hiph. perfect being used of חָלַק (khalak), "to make smooth," or "flattering." The preterite shows what her habitual practice is, and is used of an action still continuing, and so may be fitly rendered by the present, as in the Authorized Version: "She has acquired the art of enticing by flattering words, and it is her study to employ them;" cf. the Vulgate, quae mollit sermones suos, "who softens her words;" and the Syriac, quae subvertit verba sua, "who subverts her words," i.e. "uses deceit." The expression occurs again in Proverbs 5:3; Proverbs 6:24; Proverbs 7:5. Proverbs 2:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

With the resumption of להצּילך, the watchful protection which wisdom affords to its possessors is further specified in these verses:

16 To save thee from the strange woman,

     From the stranger who useth smooth words;

The subject here continued is the fourfold wisdom named in Proverbs 2:10, Proverbs 2:11. זר signifies alienus, which may also be equivalent to alius populi, but of a much wider compass - him who does not belong to a certain class (e.g., the non-priestly or the laity), the person or thing not belonging to me, or also some other than I designate; on the other hand, נכרי, peregrinus, scarcely anywhere divests itself of the essential mark of a strange foreign origin. While thus אשּׁה זרה is the non-married wife, נכריּה designates her as non-Israelitish. Prostitution was partly sanctioned in the cultus of the Midianites, Syrians, and other nations neighbouring to Israel, and thus was regarded as nothing less than customary. In Israel, on the contrary, the law (Deuteronomy 23:18.) forbade it under a penalty, and therefore it was chiefly practised by foreign women (Proverbs 23:27, and cf. the exception, Ruth 2:10),

(Note: In Talmudic Heb. ארמית (Aramean) has this meaning for the Biblical נכריּה.)

an inveterate vice, which spread itself particularly from the latter days of Solomon, along with general ungodliness, and excusing itself under the polygamy sanctioned by the law, brought ruin on the state. The Chokma contends against this, and throughout presents monogamy as alone corresponding to the institution and the idea of the relation. Designating marriage as the "covenant of God," it condemns not only adulterous but generally promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, because unhallowed and thus unjustifiable, and likewise arbitrary divorce. Regarding the ancient ceremonies connected with the celebration of marriage we are not specially informed; but from Proverbs 2:17, Malachi 2:14 (Ewald, Bertheau, Hitzig, but not Khler), it appears that the celebration of marriage was a religious act, and that they who were joined together in marriage called God to witness and ratify the vows they took upon themselves. The perf. in the attributive clause אמריה החליקה proceeds on the routine acquired in cajoling and dissembling: who has smoothed her words, i.e., learned to entice by flattering words (Fl.).