Proverbs — Chapter 5

Fili mi, attende ad sapientiam meam, et prudentiae meae inclina aurem tuam

My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline your ear to my prudence. Lapide: Chapter 5 is entirely about the danger of the adulteress and the remedy of conjugal love. Solomon prepares the young man's attention before delivering this most necessary warning. \"Attende ad sapientiam meam\" — the wisdom Solomon is about to give concerns the body, the passions, and the daily temptations of youth. It is practical wisdom, not speculative — it must be applied immediately and habitually. The discipline Solomon proposes is exterior (avoiding occasions of sin) and interior (custody of the heart). He says \"my wisdom\" and \"my prudence\" because he speaks from bitter personal experience of the dangers of impurity.

Favus enim distillans labia meretricis, et nitidius oleo guttur ejus

For the lips of the harlot drop honey, and her throat is smoother than oil. Lapide: This is a warning against the seductive power of impure speech. \"Favus distillans\" (dripping honeycomb) = words of a harlot seem exquisitely sweet and desirable — she flatters, promises pleasure, speaks with artful softness. \"Nitidius oleo\" (smoother than oil) = her voice slips into the ears and heart before the listener realizes the danger, like oil spreading without resistance. Lapide cites Hugo of St. Victor: \"In the honeycomb there are two things — honey and wax. In the harlot's face there is momentary sweetness and lasting bitterness.\"

Bibe aquam de cisterna tua, et fluenta putei tui

Drink water from your own cistern, and running waters from your own well. Lapide: This is the positive remedy against the seduction of the adulteress — the love of one's own legitimate wife. \"Cisterna\" and \"puteus\" (cistern and well) are traditional images for the wife, as the Song of Songs confirms (4:15). The husband is commanded to \"drink\" from his own source of lawful pleasure rather than from the polluted streams of adultery. Lapide explains at length the theology of conjugal chastity: true marital love is not carnal passion but ordered affection governed by reason and the grace of the sacrament. The faithful couple discover in their marriage a spiritual fount that never runs dry.

Respicit Dominus vias hominis, et omnes gressus ejus considerat

The Lord watches the ways of man and considers all his steps. Lapide: This verse provides the theological motivation for chastity — the divine omniscience. God sees every act of man, even the most hidden. \"Gressus\" (steps) includes not only external actions but interior movements of desire and thought. This should inspire both fear (to avoid sin) and confidence (God sees our struggles and rewards our fidelity). Lapide: \"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good\" (Prov. 15:3) — this divine vigilance is the supreme guardian of morality.