Proverbs 5:15–20
The son is told: rejoice in the wife of your youth
Study it word by word15Drink water from your own cistern, and flowing water from the midst of your own well.
16Should your springs be scattered outside, streams of water in the squares?
17Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.
18Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19a loving doe and a graceful mountain goat; let her breasts satisfy you at all times; in her love may you be lost always.
20And why would you be lost, my son, with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?
In its context
13And I did not listen to the voice of my instructors, and to my teachers I did not incline my ear.
14I almost came to be in every evil in the midst of the assembly and the community.”
…
21For before the eyes of YHWH are the ways of a man, and all his tracks he levels.
22His own iniquities will catch the wicked, and in the cords of his sin he will be held fast.
Its words in the original
- שְׁתֵהshete· drink
Drink.
- מַיִםmayim· water
Water. In Hebrew it is always plural ("waters").
- בּוֹרֶbore· pit, cistern
Pit or cistern dug to keep rainwater; when empty, it served as a prison; also the grave.
- נֹזְלִיםnozlim· flow; streams
Flow; streams, flowing waters.
- תּוֹךְtoch· midst
The middle, the center of something; "in the midst of", "among".
- בְּאֵרֶbeere· well
Well; also a pit.
- יָפוּצוּyafutsu· scatter
Scatter, disperse; be scattered.
- מַעְיְנֹתֶיmaynote· spring, fountain
Spring, fountain of water; figuratively, a source.
- חוּצָchutsa· outside
Outside, outdoors; the street.
- רְחֹבוֹתrechovot· square
Square: the open space of a town.
- פַּלְגֵיpalge· channel, stream
A small stream or channel of water, like those used for irrigation.
- יִהְיוּyihyu· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- בַדֶּvade· alone, apart; pole
Alone, apart; "besides". The same word (in another sense) means "pole", like the ones for carrying the ark, or a branch.
- זָרִיםzarim· strange, outsider
Be strange or foreign; the one who does not belong to the group (the family, the priesthood, the people).
- מְקוֹרְmekor· spring, flow
Spring, fountain; also a woman's flow of blood (Leviticus 12:7).
- בָרוּךְvaruch· bless, kneel
Bless. When God blesses, he gives good: life, children, fruit, prosperity. When a person "blesses God", he gives him nothing: he praises and thanks him. Between people, it is wishing the other the good that comes from God; also greet. The root also means kneel.
- שְׂמַחsemach· rejoice
Rejoice, be glad; make glad.
- אֵשֶׁתeshet· woman, wife
Woman; with a possessive ("his woman"), wife. In Hebrew it is "ishah", which sounds like "ish", man.
- נְעוּרֶneure· youth
Youth: the time of being young.
- אַיֶּלֶתayelet· doe
Doe: the female deer. In the title of Psalm 22, "The doe of the dawn" is probably the name of a tune.
- אֲהָבִיםahavim· love, lovemaking
Love, caresses; the love between husband and wife (or, in a bad sense, seduction).
- יַעֲלַתyaalat· female mountain goat
A female wild goat, a female mountain goat (ibex); an image of beauty and grace.
- חֵןchen· favor
Favor: someone's good disposition toward another. "Find favor in someone's eyes" is to be looked on with kindness. Also grace, charm.
- דַּדֶּיdade· breast
The breast; in the Song and in Proverbs, an image of the love of husband and wife.
- יְרַוֻּyeravu· drink one's fill, drench
To drink one's fill, to be soaked: to drink until satisfied; said of land, to be well watered.
- עֵתet· time
Time, moment, season; "now".
- אַהֲבָתָahavata· love
Love: the affection that joins one person to another; also the love of YHWH for his people.
- תִּשְׁגֶּהtishge· go astray, err
Go astray, err without realizing it; also stagger.
- תָמִידtamid· continually
Continually, always; what is done regularly and without interruption. As a noun, the regular daily offering.
- בְנִveni· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- תְחַבֵּקtechabek· embrace
Embrace.
- חֵקchek· bosom, lap
Bosom, lap: the chest and arms where one holds someone close.
- נָכְרִיָּהnachriya· foreign, stranger
Foreign, strange; a foreigner, someone outside the family.