What Does Proverbs 5:19 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew verb behind “ravished” also appears in the next verse about the stranger, so the passage places the same intoxicating desire in two different bonds.
THE MEANING
Your beloved is both a bodily delight and a lasting attachment: her breasts satisfy you at every time, and her love keeps you absorbed. Desire here is intimate, embodied, and sustained within the bond.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
That devoted love must be passionless: the verse speaks of a woman’s body and love as a source of sustained delight.
THE ROOT
תִּשְׁגֶּה
tishgeh
GROWS FROM
שגה
shagah
To wander or go astray; in this setting, to reel or become intoxicated.
“ravished” in this verse is tishgeh. The poem uses this verb for delight in the wife here and repeats it for desire directed toward a stranger in the next verse. Its sense of both intoxication and wandering lets the surrounding relationship give the desire its direction.
ALSO GROWS
shagah: To wander or err.
שָׁגָה
The movement away from a path remains audible beneath the KJV’s “ravished.”
shogeh: One who strays or is deceived.
שֹׁגֶה
Proverbs 20:1 uses this form for someone deceived by strong drink, showing the root’s range from intoxication to misdirection.
יְרַוֻּךָ
yəravvukha
GROWS FROM
רוה
rawah
To be sated, drink one’s fill, or saturate.
The verb behind “satisfy” carries the image of drinking to fullness. Bodily pleasure appears here as a palpable, sustaining abundance.
ALSO GROWS
rawah: To be sated or drink one’s fill.
רָוָה
This base form makes the verse’s satisfaction feel like fullness that reaches the body.
hirwah: To saturate or give drink to fullness.
הִרְוָה
This causative form echoes the verse’s image of her breasts bringing the beloved to fullness.
חֵן
chen
GROWS FROM
חנן
chanan
To show favor or act graciously.
The image of the “pleasant roe” carries more than attractiveness: the Hebrew adds the sense of favor. The beloved appears as one received with delight and favor.
ALSO GROWS
chanan: To show favor or regard graciously.
חָנַן
This verb opens up the favor contained in the KJV’s “pleasant.”
channun: Gracious, showing favor.
חַנּוּן
This related form keeps favor present in the verse’s portrait of the beloved.
THE PATTERN
Scripture places embodied desire within lasting, mutual devotion.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.THE THREAD
And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?Proverbs 5:20 repeats the Hebrew verb behind “ravished,” now for desire directed toward a stranger. The paired lines locate the distinction in where desire attaches: within the beloved bond or in pursuit of a stranger.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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