Related Resources On Site

Ephesians 5:3, 4ff Exposition

Proverbs 4:23 Exposition

2Corinthians 7:1 Exposition

Jehovah Nissi: Exposition of Exodus 17:8-16

1Thessalonians 4:3ff Exposition

Galatians 5:16ff Exposition

1Timothy 4:7ff Exposition

2Corinthians 10:3-5 - Exposition

James 1:13; James 1:14; James 1:15 - Expositions

Proverbs 5:1 My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding; (Give attention - Pr 2:1; 4:1,20; Mt 3:9; Mk 4:23; Re 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22) (Incline - Pr 22:17; Jas 1:19)

MY SON, be attentive to my Wisdom [godly Wisdom learned by actual and costly experience], and incline your ear to my understanding [of what is becoming and prudent for you],  (Amplified Bible - Lockman)

Note that Solomon is speaking in his own voice as indicated by the repetition of the pronoun "my" in Proverbs 5-7. If there were a seminar this Saturday in your church and the advertised speaker was King Solomon of Israel and the subject was "Sex", they would be hanging from the rafters! With the miracle of divine revelation and inspiration, we in fact have that very opportunity to hear from the wisest man who lived (other than Jesus, cp Solomon's request of God in 1Ki 3:9, 10, 11, 12) and who also made some of the biggest mistakes in the area of sexual relations (1Ki 11:1, 2, 3, 4ff). We dare not miss what this "man of experience" has to share with us in a frank, uncensored, yet tasteful, man to man discussion!

Sir Winston Churchill once said

I like to learn, but I do not like to be taught.

To be continually learning and benefiting from others without being resentful is a sign of maturity. Read through Proverbs 5-7 as one who trembles at His Word (Ezra 9:4, Is 66:2, 5) and has a teachable heart (cp David's heart in Ps 25:4-Spurgeon note, Ps 25:5-Spurgeon note, Ps 27:11-Spurgeon note, a great prayer of David in Ps 86:11-Spurgeon note; Ps 119:27-Spurgeon note; Ps 143:8-Spurgeon note).

Proverbs 5-7 deals with the subject of sexual impurity and how to avoid this powerful and deceptive sin and in his presentation Solomon repeatedly is seeking (and commanding) our attention as men because he knows full well the power of sexual sin (see below). Note Solomon's repetition of his call to hear what he is saying and to obey it without exception...

Proverbs 5:1 My son, give attention to my wisdom, Incline your ear to my understanding;

Proverbs 5:7 Now then, my sons, listen to me, And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Proverbs 6:20 My son, observe the commandment of your father, And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
21 Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck.

Proverbs 7:1 My son, keep my words, And treasure my commandments within you.
2 Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," And call understanding your intimate friend;

Proverbs 7:24 Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

Look again at the verbs which Solomon employs. Solomon realizes that in this moral area, young men (as well as "dirty old men" -- all of us in our old flesh nature) are prone to hear his instructions and warnings and either dismiss them as prudish or as "joy" stealers or as not relevant in a society with "liberated" moral values in the area sexual behavior (while thinking they are free, they are in fact in being subjected to greater and greater enslavement to sexual sin).

Solomon as alluded to above, gave wise counsel to his son, but he did not seem to follow his own advice as recorded in 1Kings 11, a sad chapter in the history of Israel.

But king Solomon loved many strange women (cp 1Ki 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

Moses writes this wise command directly from God...

Ex 20:14 You shall not commit adultery. (Note: God declares that sexual intimacy outside the bonds of marriage is wrong, even if between so called "consenting adults." Furthermore although this law specifically mentions adultery, the commandment clearly includes sexual sins prohibited elsewhere in Scripture (Lev 18; Ro 1:18-32; 1Co 6:9-20; Ep 5:1-14).

It is noteworthy that in Proverbs 5-7, each of the warnings against sexual impropriety is prefaced by an admonition to pay attention to the Word of God (Pr 5:1, 2; 7, 8, Pr 6:20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25; Pr 7:1, 2, 3, 4, 5). The Truth of God's Word heard and heeded keeps us from believing the lies of the world, the flesh and the devil that the "grass is always greener" on the other side of the fence. Remember "lust" begins with thoughts (and images that convey thoughts) and the best defense is a good offense, taking in Truth to counter and expose the Lie.

It makes me think of the shield the Word provides as mentioned in Proverbs 30...

Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. (Pr 30:5, cp Ps 119:9, 11)

Observe the two commands, both of which require us to make a personal choice to respond. Dear reader, are you listening up?

Give attention (see Pr 4:1, 20)

Incline your ear (see Pr 2:2, 4:20)

Our "modern" world is not giving attention nor inclining its ear but is making up the rules to suit it's lewd behavior. Here's what Wiersbe says that upon...

hearing the Seventh Commandment, many people in contemporary society smile nonchalantly and ask, "What's wrong with premarital or extramarital sex, or any other kind, for that matter?" After all, they argue, many people indulge in these things and seem to get away with it. Furthermore, these activities are more acceptable today than they were in Solomon's day; why make a big issue out of it? "Life is a game in which the rules are constantly changing," says a contemporary writer; "nothing spoils a game more than those who take it seriously."[ Quentin Crisp wrote this in Manners from Heaven, chapter 7]. So, the verdict's in: sex is fun, so don't take it too seriously... Sexual sin is one of the main themes of numerous movies, TV programs, novels, and short stories; yet popularity is no test of right and wrong. Many things that the law says are legal, the Bible says are evil, and there won't be a jury sitting at the White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11, 12, 13, 14, 15-notes; Rev 21:27-note; Rev 22:15-note).

Wisdom and understanding are mentioned together in the context of a God glorifying marriage...

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; 4 And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. (Pr 24:3,4)

My wisdom - Remember that you are giving ear to the one of whom God Himself said

Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. (1Ki 3:12)

Wisdom (02451) (chokmah or hokmah) as used in this context describes the ability to see something from God’s viewpoint. Wisdom is “God’s character in the many practical affairs of life.” We can get information "on line" but wisdom is from "on high" (through His Word)! God's wisdom is not theoretical knowledge but is that which is worked out in a proper discernment between good and evil or right and wrong. Fools may acquire encyclopedic information, but they cannot attain wisdom because they fail to take God into account. Wisdom is not acquired by a mechanical formula but in the final analysis through a right relationship with God (Pr 9:10, Jas 3:15, 16, 17, 18). In the present context, God's wisdom helps guard the heart and mind of a man against the wiles of an adulteress.

The preciousness of wisdom is seen in the following verses - Job 28:16, Ps 105:22 Pr 3:13, 14;  5:1; 7:4; 8:11; 14:24; 16:16; 19:8; 24:7; 24:14; Eccl 2:13; 7:11; 7:19; 8:1; 9:16;  9:18; 10:10.

Matthew Henry has this wise statement on wisdom...

It is better to get wisdom than gold. Gold is another's, wisdom is our own; gold is for the body and time, wisdom for the soul and eternity.

John Calvin said that...

Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

Vance Havner adds that...

If you lack knowledge, go to school. If you lack wisdom, get on your knees! Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is the proper use of knowledge.

Understanding (08394) (tebuna/tebunah) refers to insight or knowledge which is superior to the mere gathering of data. Understanding is the capacity for discerning a right course of action when presented with various sources of input and various options. There are 42 uses of tebuna/tebunah primarily in the "Wisdom" literature - Ex 31:3; 35:31; 36:1; Deut. 32:28; 1Ki 4:29; 7:14; Job 12:12, 13; 26:12; 32:11; Ps 49:3; 78:72; 136:5; 147:5; Pr. 2:2, 3, 6, 11; 3:13, 19; 5:1; 8:1; 10:23; 11:12; 14:29; 15:21; 17:27; 18:2; 19:8; 20:5; 21:30; 24:3; 28:16; Is 40:14, 28; 44:19; Je 10:12; 51:15; Ezek 28:4; Hos. 13:2; Ob 1:7, 8.

Understanding implies a mental grasp of the nature and significance of something, along with discernment and good judgment. In short, it is common sense and not the mere accumulation and possession of knowledge ("head knowledge"). Think of understanding as the ability to "put the pieces together" and make sense out of it all!

Paul prays for the Colossian saints a prayer that relates to Solomon's words that we would all do well to pray for one another...

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, (why? what difference should this make in my Christian life?) 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (note how knowledge obeyed not only leads to fruit that endures but also leads to increasing knowledge of God! cp Ps 16:11 How great is that reward? cp similar thought on the relationship of knowing and doing in Jn 7:17) ; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col 1:9-12 - see notes)

I like how the great British preacher and hymn writer (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross) Isaac Watts defined understanding...

By understanding I mean that faculty whereby we are enabled to apprehend the objects of knowledge, generals or particulars, absent or present, and to judge of their truth or falsehood, good or evil.

The 1828 Webster's Dictionary says that understanding is...

The faculty of the human mind by which it apprehends the real state of things presented to it, or by which it receives or comprehends the ideas which others express and intend to communicate. The understanding is called also the intellectual faculty. It is the faculty by means of which we obtain a great part of our knowledge.

Proverbs 5:2 That you may observe discretion and your lips may reserve knowledge. (Pr 10:21; 15:2,7; 16:23; 20:15; Psalms 45:2; 71:15; 119:13; Song of Solomon 4:11; Malachi 2:6,7)

That you may exercise proper discrimination and discretion and your lips may guard and keep knowledge and the wise answer [to temptation].   (Amplified Bible - Lockman)

Warren Wiersbe says God did not

put the "marriage wall" around sex to rob us of pleasure but to increase pleasure and protect it. In this chapter, Solomon explains the disappointments that come when people violate God's loving laws of sexual purity.
 

Discretion (04209) (mezimmah) is used 8 times in Proverbs and 4 times is used with the meaning of discretion or prudence (Pr 1:4, 2:11, 3:21, 5:2). Note especially Pr 2:11 ("discretion will watch over you") which pictures discretion as a guard who goes with us wherever we go to protect us from danger.

That you may observe discretion - The word "that" identifies this as an introduction by Solomon to the virtuous consequence of Pr 5:1. Solomon's point is that discretion, the ability to make responsible decisions and judge critically what is correct and proper, is intimately related to giving attention to Biblical  wisdom and understanding.

As Matthew Henry reminds us...

Solomon's lectures are not designed to fill our heads with notions, with matters of nice speculation, or doubtful disputation, but to guide us in the government of ourselves, that we may act prudently, so as becomes us and so as will be for our true interest.

Steven Cole in a sermon I highly recommend writes that...

Dwight Eisenhower once said, “War is a terrible thing. But if you’re going to get into it, you’ve got to get into it all the way.” That’s true in the war against lust. You won’t win by being halfway into it. But if you’ll get into the battle all the way—God’s way, using His strategy—you can win! (Beloved, if you are a man you MUST read Pastor Cole's pithy and powerful personal testimony on Winning the War Against Lust)
 

Your lips may reserve knowledge - The ESV says that "your lips may guard knowledge". The idea is to protect like a watchman and so to preserve the Words of Truth and Life (for they alone are the source of true knowledge) and when we speak to others we speak words that will benefit them (especially in this area of proper sexual contact).

Reserve (05341) (natsar) means to keep, tend, guard, protect, conceal, observe, preserve, be as a watchman. The main idea is holding fast to something with which you have been been entrusted - see use of natsar in Proverbs 4:23 -- Exposition (cp Ps 119:100, 115, 69). To cause to be safe from danger (Ps 40:12). A study of the things kept or guarded or protected gives insight into the meaning of this Hebrew verb. Here are the 62 OT uses - Ex 34:7; Deut. 32:10; 33:9; 2Ki. 17:9; 18:8; Job 7:20; 27:18; Note that most of the references in Psalms speak of us choosing to obey God and His Word! - Ps 12:7; 25:10, 21; 31:23; 32:7; 34:13; 40:11; 61:7; 64:1; 78:7; 105:45; 119:2, 22, 33, 34, 56, 69, 100, 115, 129, 145; 140:1, 4; 141:3; Pr 2:8, 11; 3:1, 21; 4:6, 13, 23; 5:2; 6:20; 7:10; 13:3, 6; 16:17; 20:28; 22:12; 23:26; 24:12; 27:18; 28:7; Is 1:8; 26:3; 27:3; 42:6; 48:6; 49:6, 8; 65:4; Je 4:16; 31:6; Ezek 6:12; Nah 2:1. If you are in need of reassurance of Who is guarding and protecting you, take a moment and hold your pointer over the following references and be still and ponder, knowing that He is God -- Ex 34:7, Deut 32:10, Ps 12:7, 31:23, 32:7, 40:11, 64:1, 140:1, 4, Pr 2:8.

SCRIPTURAL STRATEGIES
IN OUR WAR AGAINST LUST

Below are a number of Scriptural strategies for fighting the war against lust and for sexual impurity.  Please read the Scriptures for they are the sword the Spirit will use (Ps 119:9, 11 - see Memorizing His Word) and as we ponder the Living Word (Ps 1:2, 3-note), Christ will increase and we will decrease (Jn 3:30). All of these suggestions are predicated on the most important "step" and that is our relationship with God. If we are slipping in our time in God's Word and prayer, praise and thanksgiving, then all the "rules" in the world won't be of any value in this battle. We must continually seek first His kingdom (and His King, Jesus) and His righteousness, and He will provide for our daily needs in this daily spiritual battle.

1. Depend on God's power not your own for the Victory, learning to walk by the Spirit (1Sa 17:47 contrast with 1Sa 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Gal 5:16, 17-note, Eph 5:18-note, Php 2:12, 13-note, Ezek 36:27, Zech 4:6, Ro 8:13-note, 2Cor 12:9, 10)

2. Recognize and affirm that sexuality is a good gift from God. (James 1:17, Ge 2:24, 25; Pr 5:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20-notes, 1Co 7:3, 4, 5, 1Ti 4:3)

3. Recognize that God gives us prohibitions not to deny us something good but that we might experience His good and acceptable and perfect will for our lives. (Ex 20:14, 1Co 6:18, 1Co 7:2, 1Th 4:3-note)

4. Believe that God is for you in this battle and desires for us to be more than conquerors in Christ Jesus (Deut 10:12, 13, Ps 84:11, Ro 8:31, 32-note)

5. Consider and meditate on the potential temporal and eternal loss for those who make lust a lifestyle (Mt 5:27, 28, 29-note, Pr 5:4, 5, Pr 7:27-notes, Eccl 7:26, Jdg 16:18, 19, 20, 21-notes)

6. Consider the truth that there is more joy in God's presence than in the presence of sin. (Ps 16:11, Ps 73:25, 26)

7. Recognize that lust weakens our soul and we must fight against it by abstaining (1Peter 2:11-note, cp Mark 4:19)

8. Cultivate a passion for God's Word and His glory (1Pe 2:2-note, 2Sa 12:9, 10, 14 - note what David in his sin with Bathsheba despised!)

9. Develop a mental grid that views everything in relation to God. (1Co 10:31, Col 3:17-note)

10. Recognize that God designed marriage to be a picture of His commitment to His Bridegroom, the church. (Ephesians 5:21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32-notes)

11. Zealously guard your eyes, turning from anything that might give a provision to your lust (Job 31:1, Ro 13:14-note, 2Ti 2:22-note, Ps 101:3, see context Ps 101:1,2, 4)

12. Think often that Christ suffered to redeem you for purity, for His possession and for His purpose. (Titus 2:14-note, 1Pe 1:18-note; 1Pe 2:24-note, 1Co 5:15)

13. Beware of pride rising up making you think that past success guarantees future victory over lust (1Cor 10:12, Gal 2:13 contrasted with Acts 11:24, 1Pe 2:11-note wages war is present tense = continually until we die!)

14. Beware of feeling above accountability. (3 John 9 Diotrephes not submissive, James 4:6, 10, 1Pe 5:6-note, 2Chr 32:36, 33:12, 19, 23, Pr 18:12, 22:4, Is 57:15)

15. Seek a band of brothers where you wage war together encouraging one another daily in regard to the deceitfulness of sin. (Heb 3:12-note, Heb 3:13-note, 2Ti 2:22-note)

16. Memorize and meditate on many scriptures. (Ps 119:9, 11, 1:2, Josh 1:8-note, Job 23:12-note , Jer 15:16, 1Jn 2:14, Php 4:8-note)

17. Take every pernicious, prurient  thought captive to Christ and replace them with good thoughts (1Cor 10:3, 4, 5, Php 4:8-note)

18. Beware of the trap that you deserve relief through gratifying your sinful flesh, remembering that every test carries with it the potential of a temptation to sin (Acts 14:22, Luke 9:58, 2Ti 2:3-note, 2Ti 4:16, 17-note)

19. Pray at all times in the Spirit for God's protection and deliverance. (Ep 6:18-note, Lk 22:40, 46, Mt 26:40, 41, 1Chr 4:10, Ps 19:13, 119:116, 117, 133, Pr 30:8, 9, Mt 6:13-note)

20. Think often that God has given you even now many good things so how could you brazenly sin against Him! (Ge 39:7,8, 9)

Can I ask you a candid question? Is the seductive, deceptive lure of some sin such as anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, sexual immorality, etc, knocking at the door of your heart, dear saint? Are you getting ready to be captured by your own iniquities, bound by the cords of your own sin (Pr 5:22)? If so, than prayerfully, meditatively, take just a few moments (3' 43") and...

LISTEN TO
"GUARD YOUR HEART"

Click here to listen to Steve Green's soul piercing rendition of Guard Your Heart. Dear brother (or sister), if you are "toying" (an oxymoron for this is not "child's play"!) with and making provision for an "affair" (A euphemism which is far too kind! Cp Ro 13:14-note, Gal 5:16-note; Gal 5:17-note), then take just a few moments and please listen carefully to the words of Steve's song and as you listen ponder the consequences in David's life - notice especially the last 2 verses in the following passages! (David's sin with Bathsheba and some of the consequences = 2Sa 11:1,2, 3, 4, 5, 12:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 13:1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31). As Steve Green rightly and passionately sings

"As a payment for pleasure it is a high price to pay"!

Remember that when sin comes in at the door of a person’s life, it eventually moves to the inner chambers and takes over.

If King David could speak to us today (and of course he is in one sense for the word is living and active, Heb 4:12-note, 1Pe 1:23-note), I have no doubt he would say that he would gladly forgo that 15-30' of pleasure he had with Bathsheba on that fateful night, if the terrible consequences of his sin could be erased. O, dear beloved brother in Christ, if you are being tempted in this area, as you read this note, know that I have prayed for you that the Spirit would quicken your heart, renew your mind and empower your will to turn around and away from the potential devastation you are about to enter into to because of the deceitfulness (Heb 3:13-note) of this pleasurable (Heb 11:25-note) but tragic sin of  porneia. Guard your heart --- for your God, for your wife and children, for your reputation, for the Lord's reputation, and remember that one day we will all stand before the Lord of Glory and give account for the deeds in the body (for believers at 2Cor 5:10 or unbelievers at Rev 20:11, 12, 13, 14, 15). See a related topic - Covenant: As It Relates to Marriage

Proverbs 5:3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey and smoother than oil is her speech; (Pr 2:16; 6:24; 7:21; Revelation 17:2, 3, 4, 5, 6) (Ps 55:21)

The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery writes that...

The Bible’s most graphic teachings against adultery come in Proverbs 5:1-23 and Pr 6:20ff, Pr 1-7:27, where images of injury, entrapment and death are used to underline the dangers and the sheer folly of adultery: “Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife” (Pr 6:28, 29 NIV). “He followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose.... Her house is a highway to the grave” (Pr 7:22, 27 NIV). Adultery in the wisdom literature comes to picture hidden deeds, which are done in secret because the perpetrator senses they are wrong, and which inevitably are found out: “The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he keeps his face concealed” (Job 24:15 NIV).
 

Matthew Henry introduces Solomon's strong cautions against sexual improprieties...

The caution itself, and that is to abstain from fleshly lusts, from adultery, fornication, and all uncleanness. Some apply this figuratively, and by the adulterous woman here understand idolatry, or false doctrine, which tends to debauch men's minds and manners, or the sensual appetite, to which it may as fitly as any thing be applied; but the primary scope of it is plainly to warn us against seventh-commandment sins, which youth is so prone to, the temptations to which are so violent, the examples of which are so many, and which, where admitted, are so destructive to all the seeds of virtue in the soul that it is not strange that Solomon's cautions against it are so very pressing and so often repeated (cp Pr 5:1,2, 5:7, 8, 6:20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 7:1, 2, 3, 4, 24, 25). Solomon here, as a faithful watchman, gives fair warning to all, as they regard their lives and comforts, to dread this sin, for it will certainly be their ruin.

Observe carefully that this woman's number one "weapon" is not necessarily her beauty but her speech (cp Ge 39:10, Pr 2:16, 22:14, Jdg 16:16, 17, 18, 19, 20-note)! The message for men seeking to be godly (1Ti 4:7, 8 ,9, 10, 11, 12-notes) is that we have to use great discretion when as a men we speak with women other than our wives, specifically when the topic is "personal". Be careful! We have to guard against being counselors to other women (give that job to your wife). We have to refuse to hear negative comments or complaints about their husbands or their lack of happiness with their marriage. As 1Cor 6:18 says we should "flee" these situations. They harbor the potential for the beginnings of a crack in the damn of fidelity we cherish in our marital bond. There are now many women in business, and this is a setting in which the man made wise by Proverbs 5-7 would indeed be wise to exert special precautions. And obviously this applies to business trips that one must take with a woman business associate. Be very careful and remember that God never allows us to be tempted beyond what we are able to endure but with the temptation He is faithful to supply for us not "a" way of escape, but "the" way, the specific way, one which we should be alert to perceive, lest we miss the divine provision and begin a downward journey that can only end in a veritable sexual abyss! To reiterate, be careful in your communication with the opposite sex young men, husbands, fathers, old men!

The lips...speech - Solomon first warns us not to listen to the charms of the sin of sexual immorality, for the pleasures promised by the lust of the flesh in this area are very powerful and very tempting. Even as honey was the sweetest substance known in Israel, so could be the sensual, seductive words of a woman on the prowl! He says her persuasions are so good that they entice him (see Pr 7:21). Although Solomon does not say specifically "Don't listen to her", the command is clearly implied.

Adulteress (ESV = forbidden woman, Amp = Loose woman, NKJV = immoral woman) (02114) (zur) is a Hebrew verb which means to be a stranger (from literal meaning of to turn aside as for lodging, but also can mean to go astray).  Although some see this as indicative only of a prostitute who hires out her body for sexual favors, others are more general and see it as including for example another man's wife. The Septuagint translates it with two Greek words that describe literally a "low grade, morally base and substandard, worthless woman"!

TWOT writes that the verb zur

is principally used in the participial form, zār, appearing sixty-nine times. It carries the force of a noun, and is so listed by KB. It is used for some action strange to the law (Lev 10:1), and for one who is a stranger to another household (Deut 25:5), to another person (Pr 14:10), and to another land (Ho 7:9). The basic thought is of non-acquaintance or non-relatedness. The feminine form, “The Strange Woman,” often in Prov is the adulteress. (Harris, R L, Archer, G L & Waltke, B K Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Moody Press) 

Here are the uses of zur in Proverbs - Pr. 2:16; 5:3, 10, 17, 20; 6:1; 7:5; 11:15; 14:10; 20:16; 22:14; 23:33; 27:2, 13

Drip honey - The initial encounter seems quite pleasant and desirable, but as Solomon describes in this section sexual sin is attractive in prospect (cp Heb 11:25) but hideous in retrospect. This metaphor gives the picture of a seductive, tempting woman.

The allure of a tryst (secret appointment, a private, romantic rendezvous between lovers, who if unfaithful is a rendezvous of two sinners!) may seem "sweet" but the ugly end will inevitably come as Solomon explains.

Smoother (02509) (chalaq -- see discussion of the root verb chalaq - 02505 also in the context of sexual immorality) is an adjective is used to describe the smooth skin of Jacob as opposed to hairy Esau (Ge 27:11), and the smooth stones in a wadi (Is 57:6).  Chalaq is used figuratively by Solomon to describe the mouth of the flatterer (here in Pr 5:3; cp Pr 26:28). Chalaq is used 5 times in the OT - Ge 27:11; Pr. 5:3; 26:28; Is 57:6; Ezek 12:24.

Smoother than oil is her speech - The NET says "her seductive words are smoother than olive oil." She flatters with smooth alluring words that excite the man’s lustful desires.

Proverbs 5:4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. (Pr 6:24-35; 7:22,23; 9:18; 23:27,28; Eccl 7:26; Heb 12:15,16) (Judges 16:4, 5, 6,15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21; Psalms 55:21; Hebrews 4:12)

But - Bitter and sharp present a striking contrast with honey and smooth...oil (Pr 5:3)! Here's the point in the context of sexual temptations - the payoff of passing pleasure is bitter and painful! Do not keep being deceived by the siren song of this present evil (and growing daily more so) age that you can taste a bit of forbidden (stolen) honey and get away with it. This is a lie straight from the father of lies (Jn 8:44), who seeks to cloak his "product" in the "skin" of relative values (no absolutes or constraints re sexual behavior) so that the unwary, naive or foolish bite into this "apple of deception" (cp Satan's schemes - Rev 12:9, 10, 2Co 11:3) and in the end are devoured and destroyed (cp 1Pe 5:8, Job 1:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,  Job 2:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; King David - 2Sa 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15!)

Wormwood is a plant from which a bitter-tasting juice is made and used as a medicine. In short,  what at first appears pleasant like honey ends up like a bitter tasting medicine. You can mark it down that sexual temptation, like many other forms of enticement, is thoroughly deceptive in nature for it is never in reality (and consequence)  what it appears to be at the outset. As King David and Samson found out, Sexual temptation, represented by the adulteress, promises one thing yet delivers quite another.  The painful consequences of the violation of God’s will are lost in the excitement of the moment. However, the reality of judgment, and even death, is just around the corner for those who give in to her seductive voice.

A two edged sword (literally sword of edges) - This phrase pictures sexual impropriety as causing wounds and pain.
 

Matthew Henry writes...

What fruit will the sinner have of his honey and oil when the end will be (1) the terrors of the conscience: It is bitter as wormwood. What was luscious in the mouth rises in the stomach and turns sour there; it cuts, in the reflection, like a two-edged sword; take it which way you will, it wounds. Solomon could speak by experience