Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
Parallel translations
- KJV Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
- BSB Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
- NKJV Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you.
- NASB Let them be yours alone, And not for strangers with you.
- NLT You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers.
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
Let them be yours alone, not shared with strangers. Marital intimacy is to be exclusive and faithful.
Overview
Completing the thought of v. 16, the father insists that these 'springs' belong to oneself alone, not to outsiders. The exclusivity of the marriage bond is essential to its blessing. This reflects God's design of marriage as a faithful, covenant union between one husband and one wife (Mal 2:14-15; Matt 19:5-6).
Cross-references & the web
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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 5:17 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
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