for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits.
Parallel Translations
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for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits.
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For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
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For her house sinketh down unto death, and her paths unto the shades;
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Proverbs 2:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 9:18 But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. Some of you were such, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
- Proverbs 5:4-14 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it. Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house. You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed, and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me! I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.”
- Galatians 5:19-21 Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
- Ephesians 5:5 Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
- Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Proverbs 6:26-35 For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished. Men don’t despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry; but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house. He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul. He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away. For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won’t spare in the day of vengeance. He won’t regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.
- Proverbs 7:22-27 He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose. Until an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hurries to the snare, and doesn’t know that it will cost his life. Now therefore, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to the words of my mouth. Don’t let your heart turn to her ways. Don’t go astray in her paths, for she has thrown down many wounded. Yes, all her slain are a mighty army. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the rooms of death.
- Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To them that are dead in body and soul.
To them that are dead in body and soul.
Her acquaintance with her familiars, and them that haunt her.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 2:18 For her house inclineth unto death, and…
Pro 2:18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
Ver. 18. For her house inclineth unto death.] Terence calleth harlots Cruces, quia iuvenes macerent et offligant. Venery {a} is death’s best harbinger: Venus ab antiquis λυσιμελης dicta. She provideth, saith one, {b} not for those that are already born, but for those that shall be born. Of Pope Paul the Fourth, that old goat, it went for a byword, Eum per eandem partem animam profudisse, per quam acceperat. Pope John the Twelfth being taken with an adulteress, was stabbed to death by her husband. {c} Alexander the Great and Otho the Third test their lives by their lusts. But how many, alas! by this means have lost their souls. Fleshly lusts, by a specialty, "fight against the soul." {1Pe 2:12} And nothing hath so much enriched hell, saith one, as beautiful faces.
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And her paths unto the dead.] Heb., El Rhephaim, to the giants: {d} To that part of hell where those damned monsters are, together with those sensual Sodomites, who, giving themselves over to fornication, and "going after strange flesh, are thrown forth, προκεινται, proiecti sunt, for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." {Jdg 1:7}
{a} The practice or pursuit of sexual pleasure; indulgence of sexual desire.
{b} Jacob. Revius.
{c} Barns.
{d} παρα τω Aδη μετα των γηγενων - Sept.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Her house inclineth unto death, conversation with her (which…
Her house inclineth unto death, conversation with her (which was most free and usual in her own house) is the ready and certain way to death, which it brings many ways; by wasting a man’s vital spirits, and shortening his life; by exposing him to many and dangerous diseases, which physicians have declared and proved to be the effects of inordinate lust; as also to the fury of jealous husbands or friends, and sometimes to the sword of civil justice, and undoubtedly, without repentance, to God’s wrath and the second death. This is here mentioned as one great privilege and blessed fruit of wisdom, to be delivered from this evil.
Unto the dead; or, as the Chaldee and some others render it, unto the giants, to wit, those rebellious giants, Gen 6:4; or, as others, unto the damned, or unto hell. See for this word Job 7:9; Psa 88:11; Pro 9:18; 21:16.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For her house inclineth unto death,.... Bends, verges, and…
For her house inclineth unto death,.... Bends, verges, and points that way; it lies in the way to death, and brings unto it, and sinks into it as into a ditch; or all that are in her house, that are familiar with her, live and dwell with her, and commit wickedness with her; these incline or are liable to lose, and do lose, their name, character, and reputation, which is a death upon them; and bring diseases upon their bodies, which issue in corporeal death; or are in danger of dying by the hand of the injured husband, or the civil magistrate; and also are exposed unto eternal death: or "she inclines to death, which is her house" (x), so Aben Ezra and Kimchi; and to which the Targum agrees,
"for in the pit of death is her house:''
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that is, the house she at last comes to and must dwell in, and all that are ensnared by her; see Pro 5:5; and the second death will be the portion of the whore of Rome and all her followers, Rev 14:10;
and her paths unto the dead; that is, her evil ways in which she walks, and into which she draws others to join with her; these lead both her and them to the "damned" (y) in hell, to keep company with them, and be punished as they are: the word "rephaim", here used, sometimes signifies "giants", and so the Targum renders it here; and may refer to the giants of the old world, who were cut off for their debauchery and uncleanness, Gen 6:4; and with whom such persons shall be for ever.
(x) "ad mortem quoad domum suam", Cocceius; "ad mortem domum suam", Gejerus; "quod ad domum suam", Michaelis. (y) "ad damnatos", Tigurine version; "ad orcinos", Schultens.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain For - Conversation with her (which was most usual…
For - Conversation with her (which was most usual in her own house) is the certain way to death, which it brings many ways, and undoubtedly, without repentance, to God's wrath and the second death.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. For her house inclineth unto death] It…
Verse 18. For her house inclineth unto death] It is generally in by and secret places that such women establish themselves. They go out of the high road to get a residence; and every step that is taken towards their house is a step towards death. The path of sin is the path of ruin: the path of duty is the way of safety. For her paths incline unto the dead, רפאים repheim, the inhabitants of the invisible world. The woman who abandons herself to prostitution soon contracts, and generally communicates, that disease, which, above all others, signs the speediest and most effectual passport to the invisible world. Therefore it is said,
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 2:18-19. For her house inclineth unto death —…
Pro 2:18-19. For her house inclineth unto death — Conversation with her (which was most usual in her own house) is the certain way to death, which it brings many ways, and undoubtedly, without repentance, to God’s wrath and the second death. None that go unto her — That is, few or none; a hyperbolical expression, used Isa 64:7; return again — From her and from this wicked way unto God and his ways. Whoremongers and adulterers are very rarely brought to repentance, but are generally hardened by the power and deceitfulness of their sin, and by God’s just judgment, peculiarly inflicted upon such persons, Heb 13:4; neither take they hold of the paths of life — Of those courses which lead to true and eternal life and happiness.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The house of the adulteress is as Hades, the…
The house of the adulteress is as Hades, the realm of death, haunted by the spectral shadows of the dead (Rephaim, see the Psa 88:10 note), who have perished there.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain God. The law forbids adultery, and all impurities, Deuteronomy…
God. The law forbids adultery, and all impurities, Deuteronomy xxiii. 17., and Leviticus xx. 10. Both the parties, guilty of adultery, were punished with death. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain inclineth--sinks down (compare Num 13:31).
inclineth--sinks down (compare Num 13:31).
the dead--or shades of the departed (Psa 88:10).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18. Her house inclineth unto death — “The house…
18. Her house inclineth unto death — “The house of the adulteress is as hades, the realm of death, haunted by the spectral shadows of the dead, the Rephaim, who have perished there.” — Speaker’s Com. Psa_88:11; Isa_14:9. Her paths unto the dead — Lead to the region of the dead, of shadows, shades, ghosts. Zockler renders: —
Her house sinketh down to death,
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And her paths (lead) to the dead,
Miller, last clause, “to the shades.” The Septuagint renders the 18th verse thus: “For she has fixed her house near death, and (guided) her wheels near hades with the giants.” Comparatively few persons who give themselves up to licentious habits ever recover themselves to a virtuous life. Debauchery destroys both their soul and body.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 18. her house &c.] It is a steep descent,…
18. her house &c.] It is a steep descent, ending in death. The rendering of R.V. marg., she sinketh down unto death which is her house, is less forcible and impairs the parallelism.
the dead] Lit. the Rephaim. The Rephaim were among the Aborigines of Canaan (Gen_14:5; Gen_15:20) and were people of giant stature (Deu_2:11; Deu_2:20-21, R.V.). They may have come to be identified in the popular mind in the dim retrospect of the past, with the shadowy spectres that loomed large in Sheol (Isa_14:9, R.V. marg.). See Smith’s Dict. of Bible, Art. Rephaim.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (18) For her house inclineth . . .—Rather, she…
(18) For her house inclineth . . .—Rather, she sinks down with her house: house and all, like Dathan and Abiram.
Unto the dead.—In Hebrew the Rephâîm. The word may signify those “at rest” (comp. Job_3:17 : “There the weary are at rest”); or the “weak.” (Comp. Isa_14:10 : “Art thou also become weak as we?”)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For her house inclineth unto death; rather, she sinks…
For her house inclineth unto death; rather, she sinks down to death together with her house (Bottcher, Delitzsch). The objection to the Authorized Version is that it does not allow the construction of the original, the verb "sinks down" (hjv, shakhah) being feminine, while "house" (tyib, bayith) is invariably masculine. Aben Ezra translates, "She sinks down to death, (which is to be) her house;" but it seems better to regard "her house" as an adjunct of the strange woman. Her house includes all who belong to her. She and they are involved in the same fate. The Authorized Version is evidently influenced by the Vulgate, Inclinata est enim ad mortem domus ejus, "For her house is inclined to death." The LXX gives a different rendering, Eyeto ga tw yanatw to , "For she hath placed her house beside death." So the Arabic. The "for" (yKi, ki) refers back to ver. 16, and indicates how great is the deliverance effected by wisdom. The meaning of the passage is aptly illustrated by Pro_7:27, "Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." And her paths unto the dead. The dead ( r"phaim) are properly the quiet, or the feeble. They are the shadowy inhabitants or shades of Hades, the inferi of the Vulgate, and are here put for Sheol itself. Compare the edwla kamnontwn of Homer, and the umbrae, "shades," of Virgil. The word occurs again in Pro_9:18 Pro_21:16; and in Psa_88:11 Isa_26:14, 19 Job_26:5.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 her house leads down to death
her house leads down to death
Possible meanings are 1) "going to her house leads to death" or 2) "the road to her house is the road to death."
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her tracks will lead you
Possible meanings are 1) "the paths to her house will lead you." This refers to the tracks or path that lead to her house, or 2) this is a metaphor that speaks of her way of life as if it were a path on which she walks. AT: "her way of life will lead you" (See: Metaphor)
to those in the grave
This refers to the spirits of dead people and is a metonym for the place of the dead. AT: "to the grave" (See: Metonymy)
go in to her
This means to go into her house to sleep with her, as one would with a prostitute. (See: Euphemism)
they will not find the paths of life
Possible meanings are 1) "they will not return to the land of the living" or 2) "they will never live a happy life again."
translationWords
die
grave
life
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:18-19 leads . . . to the grave: Adultery…
2:18-19 leads . . . to the grave: Adultery betrays a fundamental covenant with one’s spouse and with God (see also Gen 39:2-9; Mal 2:14).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.