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but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
Proverbs 5:4 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
  • BSB in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
  • NKJV But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
  • NASB But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.
  • NLT But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword.

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

In the end she is bitter as wormwood and sharp as a sword. The sweetness of illicit sin gives way to bitterness and ruin.

Overview

Against the honey and oil of v. 3, the outcome is wormwood and a double-edged sword, bitter, cutting, and deadly. Sin's pleasure is fleeting; its end is destruction. This unmasking of sin's true cost echoes the warning that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) and calls for sober vigilance.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • 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 57:4My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
  • Ps 55:21His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
  • Heb 4:12For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
  • Prov 9:18But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
  • Judg 16:15–21She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.”
  • Heb 12:15–16looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it;
  • Judg 16:4–6It came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
  • Prov 7:22–23He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose.
  • Prov 23:27–28For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
  • Prov 6:24–35to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 5:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 5:4 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.