Proverbs 5:21

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. FOR THE WAYS OF MAN ARE BEFORE THE EYES OF THE LORD, AND HE PONDERETH ALL HIS GOINGS - (; ; .) This answers by anticipation the objection of the whoremonger-I will act with such caution and secrecy as to evade all the penalties of fornication and adultery. But this is impossible, "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord," etc. As the argument in the first clause is from the omniscience of God, so that in the second is from His justice - "He pondereth" - i:e., He weighs in an even balance, and will reward accordingly "all man's goings....

15-23 Lawful marriage is a means God has appointed to keep from these destructive vices. But we are not properly united, except as we attend to God's word, seeking his direction and blessing, and acting with affection. Ever remember, that though secret sins may escape the eyes of our fellow-creatures, yet a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, who not only sees, but ponders all his goings. Those who are so foolish as to choose the way of sin, are justly left of God to themselves, to go on in the way to destruction....

Verse Proverbs 5:21. _FOR THE WAYS OF A MAN_] Whether they are public or private, God sees all the steps thou takest in life....

One more warning. The sin is not against man, nor dependent on man’s detection only. The secret sin is open before the eyes of Yahweh. In the balance of His righteous judgment are weighed all human acts. PONDERETH - Note the recurrence of the word used of the harlot herself (see Proverbs 1:6 note): she ponders not, God does....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 5:1 8. _Eighth admonitory discourse. Warning against adultery, and commendation of marriage. _The teacher, in this discourse, recurs to a subject which he has glanced at before in Proverbs 2:15, and which he again treats of in the latter part of the sixth and in the whole of the seventh chapters. This constant recurrence to the same subject, repulsive on account of its associations, shows, however, the importance which it had in the teacher's estimation as a ground of warning, and that he ranked it among the foremost of the temptations and sins which called the young off from the pursuit of Wisdom, and so led them astray from "the fear of the Lord." The vividness with which the ruin, bodily and moral, ensuing with absolute certainty on a

FOR THE WAYS OF A MAN [ARE] BEFORE THE EYES OF THE LORD,.... Both good and bad; the ways of a chaste and virtuous man, who cleaves to his own wife and shuns the harlot, which are approved of by the Lord; and the ways of a lewd man, all the impure thoughts, desires, and contrivances of his mind, and all the steps he takes to commit lewdness, and all the filthy actions he is guilty of, these are all open and naked to the omniscient God: the adulterer seeks the twilight, and flatters himself with secrecy, not considering that the eye of God is upon him; there are many, that, were their filthy actions known to men, they would be ashamed of them; and this consideration greatly deters from them, and puts them upon secret ways of committing them; much more should the consideration of the divine omniscience weigh with them to avoid them; which is the argument here made use of; AND HE PONDERETH...

CHAPTER 5 _ 1. Shun the strange woman and sinful passion (Proverbs 5:1)_ 2. The life of chastity (Proverbs 5:15) Proverbs 5:1. It is a warning against literal fornication and the accompanying spiritual fornication, turning away from the worship of Jehovah and worshipping idols. The dreadful results of sinful lust are vividly described. How many a young man has found out the truth as given in these words in his licentious life. _ And thou mourn at thy latter end_ When thy flesh and thy body are consumed. Solomon received these repeated warnings, yet after great prosperity and honor came to him, and his glory spread in every direction like many a rich and successful man o

PROVERBS 5:1; PROVERBS 5:10; PROVERBS 5:20. Three hortatory discourses exactly similar to those in Proverbs 5:2 and Proverbs 5:3. The subject is the praise of Wisdom, and the description of the blessings she confers. PROVERBS 5:3 F. One of the few passages referring to Heb. educational methods (pp. 109f.). Instruction is oral, given by the father or the mother (Proverbs 1:8

MAN. A MAN. Hebrew. _'ish._ App-14. Illustrations: Cain (Genesis 4:5; Genesis 4:6); Babel's builders (Genesis 11:4); Sodom (Genesis 18:21, &c.); Uzzah (2Sa 6:6, 2 Samuel 6:7; 1 Chronicles 15:13.Numbers 4:15; Numbers 4:15); David ...

_For_; as an additional reason for avoiding sin. _pondereth_ The primary sense of the Heb. word, which is the same as in Proverbs 5:6 of this chapter, is adhered to in R.V. text: HE MAKETH LEVEL, i.e. however intricate and tortuous man makes them, before God's all-seeing eye they lie spread out like a map (Hebrews 4:13). εἰς δὲ πάσας τὰς τροχιὰς αὐτοῦ σκοπεύει, LXX. It may mean, however, that God makes man's ways level, in the sense of making them lead swiftly and surely to their appointed end (Proverbs 5:22). Others take it in contrast with the next verse: God makes a man's ways level (right), but sin involves him in difficulties from which he cannot extricate himself. The derived sense PONDERETH (or,