What is the meaning of Proverbs 5:16? Why should your springs flow in the streets “Why should your springs flow in the streets” (Proverbs 5:16) is Solomon’s pointed question after urging, “Drink water from your own cistern” (Proverbs 5:15). The imagery turns a private well into “springs”—the life-giving, refreshing energies of marital love. Letting those springs “flow in the streets” suggests: • Making what God designed to be intimate a public spectacle. Songs 4:12 likens faithful love to “a garden locked,” not a roadside fountain. • Squandering covenant blessings outside the covenant. Hebrews 13:4 says marriage is to be “honored by all,” while Proverbs 4:23 calls us to “guard your heart”—not spill it out. • Opening the door to impurity. 1 Corinthians 7:2 counters this by urging each husband and wife to belong exclusively to one another. Instead of asking how far we can go before crossing a line, Solomon flips the conversation: Why go anywhere at all? Hold the treasure; don’t broadcast it. your streams of water in the public squares The second clause restates the first with stronger imagery: “your streams of water in the public squares.” A “stream” is more forceful than a spring, and “public squares” are the busiest places in town. Pouring a marriage’s deepest joys into such spaces pictures: • Sexual promiscuity—relationships without commitment (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4: “This is God’s will: your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality”). • Flirtations or emotional affairs—giving away affections meant for one spouse (Malachi 2:15 warns, “Do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth”). • Modern exhibitionism—posting suggestive images, sharing private details online, or consuming entertainment that trivializes intimacy (Ephesians 5:3: “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality”). A wiser path: • Delight freely in your spouse (Proverbs 5:18-19). • Invest romantically at home before scrolling elsewhere. • Filter entertainment, cultivate accountability partnerships, and remember that Christ “loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25); your marriage points to His covenant love, not to public consumption. summary Proverbs 5:16 asks why anyone would turn a private spring into a public spectacle. The verse calls husbands and wives to guard, enjoy, and exclusively share their God-given intimacy—never scattering it on the streets or in the squares. Remaining faithful keeps the waters clear, the marriage strong, and the testimony of God’s covenant love unmistakably bright. |
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