Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Hear me - O ye children - בנים banim, sons, young men in general: for these are the most likely to be deceived and led astray.

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible

AN INJUNCTION TO AVOID THE STRANGE WOMAN

"Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me.

And depart not from the words of my mouth.

Remove thy way far from her,

And come not nigh the door of her house."

There are some temptations that must be avoided in order to be successfully resisted; and fornication, adultery and related vices are in that category. The New Testament echoes the same admonition. "Flee youthful lusts" (2 Timothy 2:22). "Obedience to this injunction might very well require that we should change our job, break with a set of friends,"[16] or renounce certain entertainment.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Hear me now therefore, O ye children,.... Since such is the character, this the wretched end, and these the ways of the adulterous woman; those that are young in years, and liable to be ensnared by her, should hear what Solomon, or Christ, here says, for their caution and instruction; and especially such who are, or profess themselves to be, the children of God and of Christ; and therefore, as dear children, should be followers of them, and not of an harlot;

and depart not from the words of my mouth; the warnings, directions, and exhortations given to avoid the whorish woman; the doctrines of Christ, the truths of the Gospel: these should not be forsaken, but abode by; and also his precepts and ordinances, which should be closely attended unto.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

Proverbs 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Ver. 7. O ye children.] See Proverbs 4:1. Shechem, though at ripeness of age, yet is called a child. [Genesis 39:19] Neque distulit puer. And the young man, or the child, deferred not to do the thing. A child he is called, that is, a fool, quia non ratione sed affectu rapitur, saith an interpreter, (a) because not reason but lust overruled him. "As for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel," said she to her libidinous (b) brother Amnon. [1 Samuel 23:13]

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

7.Hear me — Compare Proverbs 7:24.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

children = sons.

words = sayings. Hebrew. "imrah. App-73.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. For it will not be enough to hear, unless thou shall express words by deeds (T. Cartwright).

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(h). Eighth Discourse:—Against Adultery, and in Praise of Marriage (Proverbs 5:7-23).

(7) Hear me now therefore, O ye children.—In this verse Solomon apparently ceases to report the words of his father, and resumes his speech in his own person.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Hear

4:1; 8:32-36; 22:17-21; Hebrews 12:25

and depart

3:21; 4:21