Drink water
The phrase "Drink water" in this context is metaphorical, urging the reader to find satisfaction and fulfillment in what is rightfully theirs. In the ancient Near Eastern culture, water was a precious commodity, symbolizing life and sustenance. The Hebrew root for "drink" (שָׁתָה, shatah) implies not just the act of drinking but also enjoying and partaking in something that is life-giving. This phrase encourages believers to seek satisfaction in the provisions and blessings God has given them, rather than looking elsewhere.

from your own cistern
A "cistern" in ancient times was a storage system for collecting rainwater, essential for survival in arid regions. The Hebrew word for cistern (בּוֹר, bor) can also mean a pit or a well. This phrase emphasizes the importance of faithfulness and contentment within one's own resources and relationships. Spiritually, it suggests nurturing and valuing the gifts and relationships God has entrusted to us, particularly in the context of marriage, as a cistern would be a personal and private source of water.

and running water
"Running water" refers to fresh, flowing water, often seen as more desirable and purer than stagnant water. The Hebrew term (נֹזְלִים, nozelim) implies a continuous, life-giving flow. This imagery suggests vitality, purity, and renewal. In a spiritual sense, it encourages believers to seek a dynamic and ongoing relationship with God and their loved ones, characterized by freshness and vitality, rather than stagnation.

from your own well
A "well" in biblical times was a critical source of water, often associated with community and life. The Hebrew word (בְּאֵר, be'er) signifies a deep source of sustenance. This phrase reinforces the idea of drawing life and satisfaction from one's own resources and relationships. Historically, wells were places of meeting and covenant-making, symbolizing faithfulness and commitment. Spiritually, it calls believers to invest in and cherish their God-given relationships and responsibilities, ensuring they remain a source of life and blessing.

(15-20) Drink waters out of thine own cistern . . .--In these verses Solomon urges his disciples to follow after purity in the married life; he pictures in vivid terms the delights which it affords as compared with the pleasures of sin.

Out of thine own cistern.--The "strange woman," on the other hand, says, "Stolen waters are sweet" (Proverbs 9:17). The same figure is employed in Song of Solomon 4:15, where a wife is compared to "a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon." In Jeremiah 2:13 God compares Himself to a "fountain of living waters," and complains that Israel had deserted Him, and hewed out for themselves "broken cisterns that can hold no water." This passage in Proverbs has in like manner often been interpreted as an exhortation to drink deeply from the living waters of the Holy Spirit given in the Word and Sacraments (John 7:37).--For ref. see Bishop Wordsworth.

Verses 15-19. - Commendation of the chaste intercourse of marriage. In this section the teacher passes from admonitory warnings against unchastity to the commendation of conjugal fidelity and pure love. The allegorical exposition of this passage, current at the period of the Revision of the Authorized Version in 1612, as referring to liberality, is not ad rem. Such an idea had no place certainly in the teacher's mind, nor is it appropriate to the context, the scope of which is, as we have seen, to warn youth against indulgence in illicit pleasures, by pointing out the terrible consequences which follow, and to indicate, on the other hand, in what direction the satisfaction of natural wants is to be obtained, that so, the heart and conscience being kept pure, sin and evil may be avoided. Verse 15. - Drink waters out of thine own cistern, etc.; i.e. in the wife of your own choice, or in the legitimate sphere of marriage, seek the satisfaction of your natural impulses. The pure, innocent, and chaste nature of such pleasures is appropriately compared with the pure and wholesome waters of the cistern and the wellspring. The "drinking" carries with it the satisfying of a natural want. Agreeably with oriental and scriptural usage, "the wife" is compared with a "cistern" and "well." Thus in the Song of Solomon the "bride" is called a spring shut up, a fountain sealed" (Song of Solomon 4:12). Sarah is spoken of under exactly the same figure that is used here, viz. the bor, or "cistern," in Isaiah 51:1. The figure was not confined to women, however, as we find Judah alluded to as "waters" in Isaiah 48:1, and Jacob or Israel so appearing in the prophecy of Balaam (Numbers 24:7). The people are spoken of by David as they that are "of the fountain of Israel" (Psalm 68:26). A similar imagery is employed in the New Testament of the wife. The apostles St. Paul and St. Peter both speak of her as "the vessel (τὸ σκεῦος)" (see 1 Thessalonians 4:4 and 1 Peter 3:7). The forms of the original, b'or and b'er, standing respectively for "cistern" and "well," indicate a common derivation from baar, "to dig." But bor is an artificially constructed reservoir or cistern, equivalent to the Vulgate cisterna, and LXX. ἄγγειος, while b'er is the natural spring of water, equivalent to the Vulgate putens. So Aben Ezra, who says, on Leviticus 2:36, "Bor is that which catches the rain, while b'er is that from within which the water wells up." This explanation, however, does not entirely cover the terms as used here. The "waters" (Hebrew, mayim) may be the pure water conveyed into the cistern, and not simply the water which is caught in its descent born heaven. The parallel term, "running waters" (Hebrew, noz'lim), describes the flowing limpid stream fit, like the other, for drinking purposes. A similar use of the terms is made in the Song of Solomon 4:15, "a well of living waters (b'er mayim khayyim) and streams (v'noz'lim) from Lebanon." It may be remarked that the allusion to the wife, under the figures employed, enhances her value. It indicates the high estimation in which she is to be held, since the "cistern" or "well" was one of the most valuable possessions and adjuncts of an Eastern house. The teaching of the passage, in its bearing on the subject of marriage, coincides with that which is subsequently put forward by St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7:9.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Drink
שְׁתֵה־ (šə·ṯêh-)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 8354: To imbibe

water
מַ֥יִם (ma·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

from your own cistern,
מִבּוֹרֶ֑ךָ (mib·bō·w·re·ḵā)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 953: A pit, cistern, well

and running water
וְ֝נֹזְלִ֗ים (wə·nō·zə·lîm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 5140: To flow, trickle, drop, distill

out of
מִתּ֥וֹךְ (mit·tō·wḵ)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8432: A bisection, the centre

your own well.
בְּאֵרֶֽךָ׃ (bə·’ê·re·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 875: A pit, a well


Proverbs 5:15 NIV
Proverbs 5:15 NLT
Proverbs 5:15 ESV
Proverbs 5:15 NASB
Proverbs 5:15 KJV

Proverbs 5:15 BibleApps.com
Proverbs 5:15 Biblia Paralela
Proverbs 5:15 Chinese Bible
Proverbs 5:15 French Bible
Proverbs 5:15 Catholic Bible

OT Poetry: Proverbs 5:15 Drink water out of your own cistern (Prov. Pro Pr)