Catholic Commentary on Proverbs 5

"May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth." (Proverbs 5:18)

The Warning against Adultery

The father warns his son about the adulteress whose lips drip honey but whose end is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. Keep to a path far from her. Then the positive instruction: may your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer - may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. Why be captivated by an adulteress? For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths. The evil will be caught by his own cords of sin.

The Catechism identifies the conjugal covenant as the proper context for the gift of sexuality, where the mutual delight of husband and wife is not only permitted but celebrated as part of God's good creation (CCC 1611).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the Bible's counsel on sexual fidelity is not merely prohibitive - it is positive. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. Be satisfied. Be intoxicated. The gift is given within the covenant for delight as well as for children. The adultery warning protects not a restriction but an abundance. Guard the gift by staying within it.

Prayer

Lord God, bless the fountain of covenant love. Let married couples rejoice in each other and find in faithful love the abundance you designed it to carry. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

5
Avoiding Immorality
(Leviticus 20:10-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1-8)
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman * 5:3 Or the adulteress drip honey
and her speech † 5:3 Or her palate is smoother than oil,
4 in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to Sheol.‡ 5:5 Or lay hold of Sheol
6 She does not consider the path of life;
she does not know that her ways are unstable.
 
7 So now, my sons, listen to me,
and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your path far from her;
do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you concede your vigor to others,
and your years to one who is cruel;
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth,
and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.
11 At the end of your life you will groan
when your flesh and your body are spent,
12 and you will say, “How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my mentors.
14 I am on the brink of utter ruin
in the midst of the whole assembly.”
 
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
and running water from your own well.
16 Why should your springs flow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
19 A loving doe, a graceful fawn-
may her breasts satisfy you always;
may you be captivated § 5:19 Or be led astray; also in verse 20 by her love forever.
20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress,
or embrace the bosom of a stranger?* 5:20 Or a foreign woman or another man’s wife
21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
and the LORD examines † 5:21 Or ponders or makes level all his paths.
22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him;
the cords of his sin entangle him.
23 He dies for lack of discipline,
led astray by his own great folly.

*5:3 5:3 Or the adulteress

†5:3 5:3 Or her palate

‡5:5 5:5 Or lay hold of Sheol

§5:19 5:19 Or be led astray; also in verse 20

*5:20 5:20 Or a foreign woman or another man’s wife

†5:21 5:21 Or ponders or makes level

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