The Immoral woman (3)
Proverbs 5:15-20 (NLT) Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife.
Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?
You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers.
Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.
Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?
The many figurative references to water- cistern, running, well, fountain, streams are interpreted as ones wife. The allusion is to quenching one’s sexual thirst
Proverbs 9:17-18
[17]“Stolen water is sweet;
Food eaten in secret is delicious!”
[18]But little do they know that the dead are there,
That her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.
Song of Solomon 5:1 (NLT) I have entered my garden, my treasure, my bride! I gather myrrh with my spices and eat honeycomb with my honey. I drink wine with my milk. Young Women of Jerusalem Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink! Yes, drink deeply of your love!
Solomon celebrated his consummation ( It is the first act of sexual intercourse after marriage between a husband and wife)
Song of Solomon 4:12 (NLT) You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.
These lyrics include three principal metaphors in the consummation sequence: garden, a fountain and a banquet. Solomon compared the Shulamite to a garden and spring or fountain, expanding first on the garden
Song of Solomon 4:13-14
[13]Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
With choice fruits,
With henna and nard,
[14]nard and saffron,
Calamus and cinnamon,
With every kind of incense tree,
With myrrh and aloes
And all the finest spices.
Pomegranates symbolises lovemaking and fertility
And then the fountain
Song of Solomon 4:15 (NLT) You are a garden fountain, a well of fresh water streaming down from Lebanon’s mountains.
The Shulamite continued the metaphor in her invitation to the wind to blow upon the garden causing its spices to flow out like a stream
Song of Solomon 4:16 (NLT) Awake, north wind! Rise up, south wind! Blow on my garden and spread its fragrance all around. Come into your garden, my love; taste its finest fruits.
Solomon then celebrated in the metaphor of a festive banquet
Song of Solomon 5:1
[1]I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
that drew together the imagery of the garden
Song of Solomon 4:12, 16 (NLT) You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.
Awake, north wind! Rise up, south wind! Blow on my garden and spread its fragrance all around. Come into your garden, my love; taste its finest fruits.
With it myrrh and spices
Song of Solomon 4:14 (NLT) nard and saffron, fragrant calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, and every other lovely spice.
And the honey and milk of the Shulamite kisses
Song of Solomon 4:11
[11]Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
Milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments
Is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
The banquet imagery continues with the Song writer encouragement to celebrate since friends in the singular was Solomon customary name for the Shulamite ( rendered “love” in
Song of Solomon1:9,15
I have compared you, my love, To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes. The Shulamite
Song of Solomon 2:2,10,13
Like a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. The Shulamite
My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs, And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away!
Song of Solomon 4 :1,7
you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, Going down from Mount Gilead.
You are all fair, my love, And there is no spot in you.
Song of Solomon 6:4
O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem, Awesome as an army with banners!
And beloved in the singular was the Shulamite’s customary name for Solomon
Song of Solomon 1: 13, 14, 16
A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, That lies all night between my breasts.
My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms In the vineyards of En Gedi. The Beloved
Behold, you are handsome, my beloved! Yes, pleasant! Also our bed is green.
Song of Solomon 2: 3,8,9,16,17
Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, So is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste. The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem
The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; He is looking through the windows, Gazing through the lattice.
My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies. (To Her Beloved)
Until the day breaks And the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag Upon the mountains of Bether.
Song of Solomon 4:16
My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies. (To Her Beloved)
Song of Solomon 5:2,4,5,6,8,9,10,16
I sleep, but my heart is awake; It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, “Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.”
My beloved put his hand By the latch of the door, And my heart yearned for him.
I arose to open for my beloved, And my hands dripped with myrrh, My fingers with liquid myrrh, On the handles of the lock.
I opened for my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, That you tell him I am lovesick! The Daughters of Jerusalem
What is your beloved More than another beloved, O fairest among women? What is your beloved More than another beloved, That you so charge us? The Shulamite
My beloved is white and ruddy, Chief among ten thousand.
His mouth is most sweet, Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, And this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!
Song of Solomon 6:1,2,3
Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside, That we may seek him with you? The Shulamite
My beloved has gone to his garden, To the beds of spices, To feed his flock in the gardens, And to gather lilies.
I am my beloved’s, And my beloved is mine. He feeds his flock among the lilies. Praise of the Shulamite’s Beauty The Beloved
Song of Solomon 7:9,11
And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. The Shulamite The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved, Moving gently the lips of sleepers.
Come, my beloved, Let us go forth to the field; Let us lodge in the villages.
Song of Solomon 8: 14
Make haste, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag On the mountains of spices.
The songwriter addresses the couple by the names they most commonly called each other.
This blessing is at the centre of the song’s lyrics and is the conclusion of its central section.
The song writer dramatically appears. After encouraging the wedding guests at the end of the wedding day
Song of Solomon 3:5, 11 (NLT) Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and wild deer, not to awaken love until the time is right.
Come out to see King Solomon, young women of Jerusalem. He wears the crown his mother gave him on his wedding day, his most joyous day.
He blesses the wedding couple at the end of wedding
Song of Solomon 5:1 (NLT) I have entered my garden, my treasure, my bride! I gather myrrh with my spices and eat honeycomb with my honey. I drink wine with my milk. Young Women of Jerusalem Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink! Yes, drink deeply of your love!
His authorial perspective is all- knowing and all-present hinting that he speaks for God. Readers have often thought it curious that mothers appear five times
Song of Solomon 3:4,11
Scarcely had I passed by them, When I found the one I love. I held him and would not let him go, Until I had brought him to the house of my mother, And into the chamber of her who conceived me.
Go forth, O daughters of Zion, And see King Solomon with the crown With which his mother crowned him On the day of his wedding, The day of the gladness of his heart.
Song of Solomon 6:9
My dove, my perfect one, Is the only one, The only one of her mother, The favourite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her And called her blessed, The queens and the concubines, And they praised her.
Song of Solomon 8:2,5
I would lead you and bring you Into the house of my mother, She who used to instruct me. I would cause you to drink of spiced wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate. (To the Daughters of Jerusalem)
Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth; There she who bore you brought you forth. The Shulamite to Her Beloved
But the father’s not at all, even where expected
Song of Solomon 8:8-9
We have a little sister, And she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister In the day when she is spoken for?
If she is a wall, We will build upon her A battlement of silver; And if she is a door, We will enclose her With boards of cedar. The Shulamite
Perhaps it is because the voice of the songwriter speaks for the ultimate father who orchestrates the romance. As the wedding’s preeminent guests, the Great song writer gives blessings to love and the lovers.
In conclusion many houses had their own private cistern to store rain water. Well springs, and streams supplied refreshing water. The father prayed that God would bless his sons wife, with the result that the son would always rejoice in her since something that is blessed is by definition able to satisfy
Proverbs 3:33 (NLT) The LORD curses the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the upright.
Proverbs 22:9 (NLT) Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.
The wife of your youth is the first wife
Proverbs 2:17 (NLT) She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.
Isaiah 54:6
[6]The Lord will call you back
As if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
A wife who married young,
Only to be rejected,” says your God.
Malachi 2:14-15
[14]You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
[15]Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
A man should not seek another wife or a different woman. Loving implies sexual love
Proverbs 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love.
Hosea 8:9 (NLT) Like a wild donkey looking for a mate, they have gone up to Assyria. The people of Israel have sold themselves— sold themselves to many lovers.
Satisfy : Jeremiah 31:25 (NLT) For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.” Also means water or be filled
Isaiah 16:9
[9]So I weep, as Jazer weeps,
For the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,
I drench you with tears!
The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit
And over your harvests have been stilled.
Isaiah 58:11
[11]The Lord will guide you always;
He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
And will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
Like a spring whose waters never fail.
In this context of Proverbs 5:19 to be enraptured is to drift unconsciously in pleasure. In other contexts it is used of intoxication Proverbs 20:1 (NLT) Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.
Or straying from righteousness
Proverbs 5:23
[23]For lack of discipline they will die,
Led astray by their own great folly.
Proverbs 19:27
Cease listening to instruction, my son, And you will stray from the words of knowledge.
Deuteronomy 27:18 (NLT) ‘Cursed is anyone who leads a blind person astray on the road.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
Why in Proverbs 5: 20 suggests the action is inexcusable. On enraptured, on immoral woman and seduction.