Posted by Jeff Short on September 20, 2016 · 1 Comment
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
– Proverbs 5:19
This verse is both poetic and plain. It has the plainest statement in this section and informs the context that the intimate, physical relationship between husband and wife is emphasized throughout. A perusal of commentaries yields a number of fanciful interpretations that are purely allegorical. This is unnecessary and obscures the plain, literal, contextual sense of the passage.
The first phrase compares the wife to two animals that were symbolic of grace and beauty. The loving hind is an affectionate doe, or female deer. The pleasant roe is a graceful female mountain goat. Both creatures are surefooted and even on steep and difficult terrain they bound about gracefully. They were considered beautiful of form and symbolized the beauty of a woman. Solomon instructs his son to be smitten with the beauty of his own wife.
Breasts, or bosom, has obvious, plain meaning but also is spoken of in terms of the closeness of husband and wife (Song of Solomon 1:13). The word for satisfy means to drink one’s fill, to be saturated. At all times means the satisfaction is to be both continual and frequent. Solomon once again highlights the blessing and delight of faithful marriage, of which adultery is both a corruption and a poor substitute.
Ravished means to reel or stagger as in from the effects of intoxicating drinks. A husband is affected in every aspect by his wife’s love. The wife’s love encompasses all aspects of affection and action. Loving and being loved deeply is a blessing of faithful marriage and is unique to that union.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 19, 2016 · 1 Comment
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
– Proverbs 5:18
Solomon admonishes to be delighted in your wife. The verses in this section emphasize the physical relation of a husband and a wife, but the physical relation is never entirely physical. This is one of the reasons Paul warned the Corinthians against fornication (1 Corinthians 6:15-16). The physical in marriage is one of the aspects of the bonding of husband and wife together. All these work together over time to deepen the bond in marriage physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.
The second phrase is laden with meaning. To rejoice is to be glad, it speaks of more than a resigned contentment. It is a happiness that is shared and enjoyed. The wife of your youth refers to the design of marriage to be one man and one woman for life (Ecclesiastes 9:9). God has designed for husband and wife to live together from youth and share all the experiences of life together. To grow old together and to stand by one another through all that comes. Neither a wife nor a husband should ever be worried about the love and loyalty of their spouse (Malachi 2:14). This is the path of wisdom and the path of a blessed and satisfying life on earth.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 16, 2016 · 1 Comment
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
– Proverbs 5:15
Verses 15-19 give a beautiful picture of delight in marriage. The Bible employs some delicacy in euphemism when addressing such matters. Though the physical occupies a prime place in these instructions, it is never dealt with crassly. For example, the Song of Solomon speaks of marital intimacy by painting beautiful and poetic word pictures like a banquet in a garden. We shouldn’t shrink back from anything in the Bible, but we should let the Bible also guide us and give indication as to how certain topics should be publicly discussed and taught.
The first images used are that of a cistern and a well. The picture is of a man finding lasting satisfaction from water in his own well or cistern. The well is continual source and also a private source. God has designed marriage for a man and a woman to find a deepening relationship that exists only between them and satisfies them both mentally, emotionally, and physically (1 Corinthians 7:2-5). It’s not that a husband or wife take ownership of the other, but that each is to give themselves to the other.
Faithful marriage promises and provides lasting satisfaction, which the strange woman, fornication, and adultery do not (Proverbs 5:3-5). Faithful marriage provides a constancy between a husband and a wife and a growing relationship on an intellectual as well as emotional and physical level. The strange woman is unstable and unknowable and whatever momentary thrill she excites is nothing in comparison (Proverbs 5:6). Drinking water from your own well is also a picture of delight at home. The strange woman is not building a home but gadding about (Proverbs 7:10-11) and giving herself to many (Proverbs 6:26).
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Proverbs 5:19
Posted by Jeff Short on September 20, 2016 · 1 Comment
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
This verse is both poetic and plain. It has the plainest statement in this section and informs the context that the intimate, physical relationship between husband and wife is emphasized throughout. A perusal of commentaries yields a number of fanciful interpretations that are purely allegorical. This is unnecessary and obscures the plain, literal, contextual sense of the passage.– Proverbs 5:19
The first phrase compares the wife to two animals that were symbolic of grace and beauty. The loving hind is an affectionate doe, or female deer. The pleasant roe is a graceful female mountain goat. Both creatures are surefooted and even on steep and difficult terrain they bound about gracefully. They were considered beautiful of form and symbolized the beauty of a woman. Solomon instructs his son to be smitten with the beauty of his own wife.
Breasts, or bosom, has obvious, plain meaning but also is spoken of in terms of the closeness of husband and wife (Song of Solomon 1:13). The word for satisfy means to drink one’s fill, to be saturated. At all times means the satisfaction is to be both continual and frequent. Solomon once again highlights the blessing and delight of faithful marriage, of which adultery is both a corruption and a poor substitute.
Ravished means to reel or stagger as in from the effects of intoxicating drinks. A husband is affected in every aspect by his wife’s love. The wife’s love encompasses all aspects of affection and action. Loving and being loved deeply is a blessing of faithful marriage and is unique to that union.
Listen to the Proverbs sermon series
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