- Jul 24, 2007
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Let me preface that have have been reading a chapter of Proverbs each day for quite a few years now. I just discovered this wonderful section today. Today Solomon talks of drinking of a cup before you know what is in it.
The love of a stranger is bitter can sting a like an adder. The stranger is a unknown quantity. Perils lie beneath the surface of this brief pleasure as Solomon goes on to write.
It gives me pause to wonder if Solomon is speaking from experience or the experience of someone in his household. I have relatives that have had there home broken by the indiscretion of a member.
Conversely in marriage, the spouse knows what is in the cup. There are no nasty surprises lurking in the dark corners.
5 My son, attend unto my wisdom; Incline thine ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
The love of a stranger is bitter can sting a like an adder. The stranger is a unknown quantity. Perils lie beneath the surface of this brief pleasure as Solomon goes on to write.
8 Remove thy way far from her, And come not nigh the door of her house;
9 Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, And thy labors [be] in the house of an alien,
11 And thou mourn at thy latter end, When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, And my heart despised reproof;
13 Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
It gives me pause to wonder if Solomon is speaking from experience or the experience of someone in his household. I have relatives that have had there home broken by the indiscretion of a member.
Conversely in marriage, the spouse knows what is in the cup. There are no nasty surprises lurking in the dark corners.
16 Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, And streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.