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The Believer’s Path Is Far Away from the Immoral Path

Proverbs 5:7-8 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁷And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,

And now, O sons, listen to me: After a section of giving his sons counsel about their unrealistic nature of ideas or desires about the strange woman’s suggestion of underlying passion and sensuality, the father enters into another plea for his sons to listen (Heb. šā·mǎʿ), that is pay attention and obey, never departing from his words.

And do not depart from the words of my mouth: The Hebrew for put away (sûr) from (4:24) meant to remove something concrete or abstract, to take it away, to cause it to go away. Here, the same Hebrew word (sûr) has the meaning depart, leave, that is, to make a movement away from the words of the father and the path of the righteous, life.

Keep your way far from her: The sons’ way (dě·rěḵ) or path of righteousness (life) is another route, which is different from the strange woman, that is, the immoral woman. The Hebrew far (rā·ḥǎq) is to be a great distance from another. The sons’ path of righteousness is certainly far removed from the immoral path of the strange woman. Her is the strange woman from verses 3-6.

And do not go near the door of her house: Passing by the door of her house may seem innocent enough but is really a dangerous situation that can lead to ultimate downfall. The son needs to see where there may not even be evidence that there is seduction in the air. Verse 8 has it contrasted as to the sons warning to keep themselves far from her and do not go near.

The sons need to stay as far away as possible from the door of temptation, the fleshly influence of the strange woman. There is no reason to take the risk of listening to her raspy voice, seeing her sensual figure, exposing them to her immodest clothing. How foolish to place human senses, seeing, hearing, and smelling, in the presence of temptation.

Bringing this counsel into the twenty-first century, we need to keep far away from all immoral influences, whether they come through a person or immoral music, entertainment, the internet, or even books and magazines.