The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
Parallel translations
- WEB The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit. He who is under Yahweh’s wrath will fall into it.
- BSB The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
- NKJV The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; He who is abhorred by the Lord will fall there.
- NASB The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; He who is cursed of the Lord will fall into it.
- NLT The mouth of an immoral woman is a dangerous trap; those who make the Lord angry will fall into it.
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
The seductive speech of an immoral woman is a deep pit; the ungodly fall into it. It matters as a warning against sexual sin and its entrapment.
Overview
The flattering words of an adulteress are a deadly trap, and those under God's judgment fall in (Proverbs 2:16-19; 5:3-5). The verse warns of the destructive power of sexual temptation. It echoes Proverbs' larger call to flee immorality and cling to wisdom, which guards the way of life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eccl 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
- Prov 23:27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
- Prov 6:24–29To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
- Prov 7:5–27That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
- Neh 13:26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.
- Judg 16:20–21And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
- Prov 2:16–19To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
- Prov 5:3–23For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
- Deut 32:19And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
- Ps 81:12So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 22:14 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.