Proverbs 5:6
New International Version
She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

New Living Translation
For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.

English Standard Version
she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.

Berean Standard Bible
She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.

King James Bible
Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

New King James Version
Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.

New American Standard Bible
She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

NASB 1995
She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

NASB 1977
She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.

Legacy Standard Bible
Lest she watch the path of life; Her tracks are unstable, she does not know it.

Amplified Bible
So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life; Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.

Christian Standard Bible
She doesn’t consider the path of life; she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
She doesn’t consider the path of life; she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable.

American Standard Version
So that she findeth not the level path of life: Her ways are unstable, and she knoweth it not.

Contemporary English Version
She has missed the path that leads to life and doesn't even know it.

English Revised Version
So that she findeth not the level path of life: her ways are unstable and she knoweth it not.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
She doesn't even think about the path of life. Her steps wander, and she doesn't realize it.

Good News Translation
She does not stay on the road to life; but wanders off, and does not realize what is happening.

International Standard Version
You aren't thinking about where her life is headed; her steps wander, but you do not realize it.

Majority Standard Bible
She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.

NET Bible
Lest she should make level the path leading to life, her paths are unstable but she does not know it.

New Heart English Bible
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

Webster's Bible Translation
Lest thou shouldst ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them.

World English Bible
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
The path of life—lest you ponder, "" Her paths have moved—you do not know.

Young's Literal Translation
The path of life -- lest thou ponder, Moved have her paths -- thou knowest not.

Smith's Literal Translation
Lest thou shalt make level the path of life, her tracks wavered; thou wilt not know.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and unaccountable.

Catholic Public Domain Version
They do not walk along the path of life; her steps are wandering and untraceable.

New American Bible
Her paths ramble, you know not where, lest you see before you the road to life.

New Revised Standard Version
She does not keep straight to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
She does not tread upon the land of the living, her paths are devious, and are unknown.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And she treads not in the way of life, for her paths lead them astray and they are unknown.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Lest she should walk the even path of life, Her ways wander, but she knoweth it not.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For she goes not upon the paths of life; but her ways are slippery, and not easily known.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Avoiding Immorality
5Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol. 6She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable. 7So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.…

Cross References
Proverbs 2:18-19
For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits. / None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.

Proverbs 7:25-27
Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. / For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number. / Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.

Proverbs 9:13-18
The woman named Folly is loud; she is naive and knows nothing. / She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the heights of the city, / calling out to those who pass by, who make their paths straight. ...

Ecclesiastes 7:26
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

Jeremiah 3:6
Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there.

Jeremiah 18:15
Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.

Isaiah 47:10
You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

Hosea 4:12
My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.

Job 24:13
Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.

Psalm 36:3-4
The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and well-doing. / Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

Matthew 7:13-14
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. / But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 15:14
Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Romans 1:21-22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. / Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 3:16-18
ruin and misery lie in their wake, / and the way of peace they have not known.” / “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.


Treasury of Scripture

Lest you should ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that you can not know them.

ponder

Proverbs 4:26
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

Psalm 119:59
I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

the path

Proverbs 11:19
As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.

Psalm 16:11
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

her

Proverbs 6:12,13
A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth…

Proverbs 7:10-21
And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart…

2 Thessalonians 2:9,10
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, …

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Proverbs 5
1. Solomon exhorts to wisdom
3. He shows the mischief of unfaithfulness and riot
15. He exhorts to contentedness, generosity, and chastity
22. The wicked are overtaken with their own sins














She does not consider the path of life;
This phrase highlights a lack of wisdom and discernment. In biblical context, the "path of life" often refers to a way of living that aligns with God's commandments and leads to spiritual fulfillment and eternal life. The failure to consider this path suggests a disregard for divine guidance and moral principles. In Proverbs, wisdom is frequently personified as a woman who calls out to people to follow the righteous path (Proverbs 1:20-33). This contrast between wisdom and folly is a recurring theme, emphasizing the importance of choosing a life that honors God. The cultural context of ancient Israel placed a high value on wisdom as a means to live a prosperous and righteous life, and this verse warns against neglecting such wisdom.

she does not know that her ways are unstable.
The instability of her ways indicates a life built on poor choices and a lack of foundation in truth. This can be connected to the broader biblical theme of the consequences of sin and folly. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus speaks of the wise and foolish builders, illustrating the importance of building one's life on the solid foundation of His teachings. The instability here can also be seen as a warning against the seductive nature of sin, which may appear appealing but ultimately leads to destruction. Historically, the wisdom literature of the Bible, including Proverbs, served as a guide for living a life that is stable and secure, rooted in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10). This verse serves as a cautionary reminder of the dangers of ignoring divine wisdom and the resulting instability that affects all aspects of life.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Adulterous Woman
The primary subject of Proverbs 5 is the adulterous or immoral woman, representing temptation and the dangers of straying from the path of righteousness.

2. Solomon
Traditionally attributed as the author of Proverbs, Solomon imparts wisdom to his son, warning against the seduction of immorality.

3. The Path of Life
A metaphorical concept representing the way of righteousness and obedience to God's commandments.
Teaching Points
The Danger of Ignorance
Ignorance of the consequences of sin leads to instability. We must seek wisdom and understanding to discern the right path.

The Importance of Discernment
Just as the adulterous woman does not consider her ways, we must be vigilant in examining our own lives and choices.

Stability in Righteousness
True stability comes from walking in the path of life, which is grounded in God's Word and His commandments.

Guarding Against Temptation
Recognize the seductive nature of sin and actively guard against it by staying rooted in Scripture and prayer.

The Role of Wisdom
Wisdom is a safeguard against the instability of sin. Pursue wisdom through study, prayer, and fellowship with other believers.(6) Lest thou shouldest ponder . . .--The meaning of the English version appears to be, "To prevent thy choosing the path of life, she leads thee by devious paths that thou knowest not where thou art." It may also be rendered, "Far from smoothing for herself the path of life, her steps wander without her observing it." By these words is described the reckless career of a vicious woman, who at last dares not think whither her steps are leading her, but as it were with eyes shut, totters on till she falls to rise no more.

Verse 6. - Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them. This verse should be rather rendered, she walks not in the path of life, her ways fiuctuate, she knows not. It consists of a series of independent proposiyions or statements, all of which are descriptive of the singularly fatuous conduct of "the strange woman." In the previous verse the teacher has said that her conduct leads to ruin; he here further emphasizes the idea by putting forward the same truth from the opposite, or, as we may say, from the negative point of view, and so completes the picture. "The words," as Plumptre remarks, "describe with terrible vividness the state of heart and soul which prostitution brings on its victims." Her course is one o(persistent, wilful, headstrong, blind folly and wickedness. Lest; pen; here "not," equivalent to לא (lo). So the LXX., Vulgate, Targum, Syriac. The use of pen, in this sense is, however, unique (Gesenius). Delitzsch and Zockler, following Luther, Geier, Holden, etc., assign to it an emphatic negative force, as, "She is far removed from entering," or, "she never treadeth." Others take pen as a dependent prohibitive particle, equivalent to the Latin ne forte, "lest," as in the Authorized Version, and employed to connect the sentence which it introduces either with the preceding verse (as Schultens) or with the second hemistich, on which it is made dependent (Holden, Wordsworth, Aben Ezra, loc., Michaelis, etc.). Thou shouldest ponder; t'phalles, connected by makkeph with pen, as usual (Lee), is either second person masculine or third person feminine. The latter is required here, the subject of the sentence being "the strange woman," as appears clearly from the second hemistich, "her ways," etc. The verb patas (cf. Proverbs 14:26) here means "to prepare," i.e. to walk in, or to travel over. Thus Gesenius renders, "She (the adulteress) prepareth not (for herself) the way of life:" i.e. she does not walk in the way of life; cf. the LXX. εἰσέρχεται, Vulgate ambulant (sc. gressus ejus), and other ancient versions, all of which understand the verb in this sense. The meaning of the phrase, pen t'phalles, is, therefore, "she walks not" in the way of life - the way that has life for its object, and which in itself is full of life and safety. Far from doing this, the teacher goes on to say, her ways are movable; literally, go to and fro, or fluctuate; i.e. they wilfully stagger hither and thither, like the steps of a drunkard, or like the uncertain steps of the blind, for the verb nua is so used in the former sense in Isaiah 24:20; Isaiah 29:9; Psalm 107:27; and in the latter in Lamentations 4:14. Her steps are slippery (LXX., σφαλέραι), or wander (Vulgate, vagi); they are without any definite aim; she is always straying in the vagrancy of sin (Wordsworth); cf. Proverbs 7:12. That thou canst not know them (lo theda); literally, she knows not. The elliptical form of this sentence in the original leaves it open to various interpretations. It seems to refer to the way of life; she knows not the way of life, i.e. she does not regard or perceive the way of life. The verb yada often has this meaning. The meaning may be obtained by supplying mah, equivalent to quicquam, "anything," as in Proverbs 9:13, "She knows not anything," i.e. she knows nothing. The objection to this is that it travels unnecessarily out of the sentence to find the object which ought rather to be supplied from the context. The object may possibly be the staggering of her feet: she staggers hither and thither without her perceiving it (Delitzsch); or it may, lastly, be indefinite: she knows not whittler her steps conduct her (Wordsworth and Zockler).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
She does not
פֶּן־ (pen-)
Conjunction
Strong's 6435: Removal, lest

consider
תְּפַלֵּ֑ס (tə·p̄al·lês)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 6424: To roll flat, prepare, to revolve, weigh

the path
אֹ֣רַח (’ō·raḥ)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 734: A well-trodden road, a caravan

of life;
חַ֭יִּים (ḥay·yîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life

she does not
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

know that
תֵדָֽע׃ (ṯê·ḏā‘)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

her ways
מַ֝עְגְּלֹתֶ֗יהָ (ma‘·gə·lō·ṯe·hā)
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 4570: An entrenchment, track

are unstable.
נָע֥וּ (nā·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5128: To quiver, wave, waver, tremble, totter


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 5:6 She gives no thought to the way (Prov. Pro Pr)
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