The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.
Parallel translations
- WEB None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:
- KJV None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
- BSB None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.
- NKJV None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life—
- NASB None who go to her return, Nor do they reach the paths of life.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
None who go to her return or regain the paths of life. It matters because it warns of the gripping, life-stealing power of this sin.
Overview
The path to the adulteress is portrayed as a near point of no return, robbing one of the way of life. The warning is sobering though not denying repentance; it stresses sin's enslaving power. True restoration to the path of life is found only through Christ, who alone conquers death.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Eccl 7:26I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.
- Ps 81:12So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels.
- Hos 4:14I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin.
- Matt 19:24–26Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.”
- Jer 13:23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
- Heb 6:18that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
- Prov 4:18But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 2:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.