Don't Wear Yourself Out
For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well. Proverbs 23:27 · Berean Standard Bible
Sexual temptation and adultery pull you down into a trap from which escape becomes nearly impossible—you'll find yourself trapped in something much deeper than you realized.
The teacher is about to describe how sexual compromise looks attractive but is actually devastatingly dangerous. In the ancient world, this meant economic ruin, family destruction, and loss of honor. He's painting a picture of how seductive danger can be and how deep the consequences run.
A protective mentor, someone who's seen the damage and is warning earnestly because he cares.
Throughout Scripture, sexual unfaithfulness is presented not as a private matter but as a breach of covenant—with your spouse, with God, with your own integrity. The consequences are real and deep because this sin strikes at the heart of trust and commitment.
Sexual infidelity and the pursuit of forbidden partners is an inescapable trap that draws the unwary deeper into destruction through its deceptive allure.
The verse employs the metaphor of geological danger: a 'deep pit' (bôr ʿamôq) and a 'narrow well' (bêr ṣārâ)—spaces from which one cannot easily escape. In the ancient Near Eastern context, adultery carried legal, social, and spiritual consequences that were genuinely ruinous: the wronged husband's honor demanded restitution or blood vengeance, and the woman herself became a pariah. The distinction between the prostitute (zōnâ) and the adulteress (ʾiššat rēʿ) is significant: one operates in social margins, the other violates the covenant bonds of an established household.
The wisdom teacher, employing vivid, almost visceral language to warn against sexual transgression—addressing the young man's particular vulnerability to desire.
This warning stands within the broader biblical concern for sexual covenant and fidelity that runs from Genesis through the Prophets to the New Testament. It anticipates Jesus's radicalization of the commandment against adultery to include lustful intention (Matthew 5:27-30), and grounds later Christian theology of marriage as covenant reflecting God's fidelity.
25May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
27For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
28Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Read all of Proverbs 23 — Do not wear yourself out to get rich. Have the wisdom to show restraint. Riches sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.
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