Proverbs (Part 050) - Pro 5:4-5

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4. Pro 5:4 - "But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword." A. But her end is bitter as wormwood, i. The beginning of the encounter with a strange woman is as sweet as honey (Pro 5:3). ii. But her end is bitter as wormwood. a. Bitter adj. - 1. a. One of the elementary sensations of taste proper (i.e. without any element arising through the nerves of touch): obnoxious, irritating, or unfavourably stimulating to the gustatory nerve; disagreeable to the palate; having the characteristic taste of wormwood, gentian, quinine, bitter aloes, soot: the opposite of sweet; causing ‘the proper pain of taste’ (Bain). 2. transf. a. Of anything that has to be ‘tasted’ or endured: Attended by severe pain or suffering; sore to be borne; grievous, painful, full of affliction. 3. a. Hence, of a state: Intensely grievous or full of affliction; mournful; pitiable. b. Wormwood n. - 1. The plant Artemisia Absinthium, proverbial for its bitter taste. The leaves and tops are used in medicine as a tonic and vermifuge, and for making vermouth and absinthe; formerly also to protect clothes and bedding from moths and fleas, and in brewing ale. It yields a dark green oil. 2. fig. An emblem or type of what is bitter and grievous to the soul. iii. Her affliction will be bitter (2Ki 14:26). a. Those that turn away from God have a root in them that bears wormwood (Deut 29:18). b. Wormwood is used in scripture to describe a condition of judgment and affliction (Jer 9:15; Lam 3:12-19). c. Normally speaking, the end of a thing is better than the beginning of it (Ecc 7:8). d. But in the case of the strange woman her end is worse. e. This world is all the heaven she gets. iv. The man who gets trapped in her snare will find that she is more bitter than death (Ecc 7:26). B. sharp as a twoedged sword. i. A twoedged sword is used for piercing (Heb 4:12). ii. It is used to execute vengeance and punishment (Psa 149:6-9). iii. It is an instrument of death (Exo 22:24). iv. It will bring someone to a sudden death. v. Therefore, the end of the strange woman will be sorrowful and sudden. vi. The end of her lovers will be the same as will be seen in the next verse. 5. Pro 5:5 - "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell." A. An interesting observation. i. This is one of the many examples of the King James Version's beautiful prose. a. The KJV is full of alliteration such as this verse we're considering. b. "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell." c. The use of alliteration makes the verse flow smoothly and makes it easy to memorize. d. This is not the case with today's English perversions of the word of God. ii. Compare the words of Pro 5:5 in the KJV with other versions. a. "Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave." (NIV) b. "Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;" (ESV) c. "Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol." (NASB) d. "Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave." (NLT) B. Her feet go down to death; i. The strange woman is heading toward death. a. Her house inclineth unto death (Pro 2:18). b. Her house goes down to the chambers of death (the grave) (Pro 7:27). ii. She will take her lovers with her. a. The man that goes in unto her has a death wish (Pro 5:23). b. None that go unto her take hold of the paths of life (Pro 2:19). c. Many strong men have been slain by her (Pro 7:26). iii. Following the strange woman can lead to death in many different ways. a. You could die of an STD from her (Pro 5:11). b. Her husband could kill you (Pro 6:34). c. God could kill you for your sin (Rom 6:23 c/w Act 5:4-5). d. You could experience death of fellowship in the church (Rom 1:29, 32 c/w Luk 15:24). C. her steps take hold on hell. i. The strange woman is heading toward hell. a. Her house is the way to hell (Pro 7:27). b. She will take whoremongers with her. c. Fornicators and whoremongers have their part in the lake of fire (Heb 13:4; Rev 21:8; Rev 22:15). d. If men and women want to have the assurance of eternal life, they better flee whoredom (1Co 6:18). ii. The strange woman also represents false religion in the Bible (Rev 17:1-5; Pro 9:13-17). a. Idolatrous religion is described as whoredom (Exo 34:15). b. Her guests (those that go to her house of worship) are in the depths of hell (Pro 9:18). c. If men and women want to have the assurance of eternal life, they better flee idolatry and false religion (1Co 10:14).