What is the meaning of Proverbs 5:15?

Drink water

“Drink water…” (Proverbs 5:15) begins with an imperative that pictures receiving refreshment. Solomon uses the everyday act of drinking to symbolize sexual enjoyment within marriage.

• Water refreshes and sustains; marital intimacy is God’s life-giving provision (Proverbs 5:18-19).

• The command is personal—participate actively, not passively resist temptation (1 Corinthians 7:3-5).

• This invitation comes after warnings about the bitterness of adultery (Proverbs 5:3-11), showing God’s safer, sweeter alternative.

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from your own cistern

A cistern stores collected rainwater—valuable, protected, privately owned.

• “Your own” stresses exclusivity: the husband-wife covenant (Genesis 2:24).

• Guarded boundaries keep purity intact (Proverbs 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4).

• Just as a household would never allow strangers to drain its cistern, spouses must not share sexual privileges outside marriage (Exodus 20:14; 1 Corinthians 7:2).

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and running water

“Running water” (literally flowing or fresh) portrays intimacy that is vibrant rather than stagnant.

• Ongoing affection prevents thirst for forbidden streams (Proverbs 5:19-20).

• Fresh water suggests mutual delight continually renewed (Song of Songs 4:15).

• It is God who supplies the flow; when spouses honor Him, He keeps their union lively (Ecclesiastes 9:9).

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from your own well

A well taps a deep source; it belongs to the household by long-term right.

• Marital love is designed to be deep, enduring, and covenantally secure (Malachi 2:14).

• Drawing “from your own” highlights stewardship: cherish, invest, and protect what God entrusted (Ephesians 5:25-28).

• Straying to another’s well violates both God’s command and one’s spouse, bringing inevitable loss (Hebrews 13:4; Proverbs 6:27-29).

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summary

Proverbs 5:15 calls husbands (and by extension wives) to find all sexual fulfillment within the God-given bounds of marriage. Like refreshing water kept in a private cistern or drawn from a personal well, marital intimacy is exclusive, life-giving, and to be enjoyed continually. Staying faithful safeguards the soul, honors the spouse, and glorifies the Lord who designed marriage for our good and His glory.