What Does Proverbs 7:5 Mean?
That they may keep you from the strange woman, from the stranger whose words are smooth.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.THE KEY
The verse names flattery as speech made smooth enough to slip past the guard.
THE MEANING
Wisdom and understanding keep you now from the stranger whose words feel effortless to receive. The warning shows how smooth speech can make what is unfamiliar seem safe before its direction is clear.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that flattering speech is harmless because it feels good to hear.
THE ROOT
הֶחֱלִיקָה
heḥĕlîqāh she makes
GROWS FROM
חלק
Be smooth or make smooth; of speech, flatter by making it smooth.
“whose words are smooth” in this verse is heḥĕlîqāh she makes. The verb presents her as making the words smooth. The praise is not lost, but the Hebrew also gives the speech a texture: polished, easy to receive, and potentially slippery.
ALSO GROWS
ḥālāq: Smooth or slippery.
חָלָק
This adjective gives the speech a physical texture: it can slide easily past discernment.
ḥălāqôt: Smooth or flattering words.
חֲלָקוֹת
This form appears in warnings about smooth speech, showing that “flattery” carries the sense of words made easy to receive.
לִשְׁמָרְךָ
lishmorkha to keep
GROWS FROM
שׁמר
Guard, watch over, keep.
Within “keep” is the active work of watching over and guarding. Wisdom stands watch at the point where smooth speech reaches you.
ALSO GROWS
shōmēr: One who watches or guards.
שֹׁמֵר
The noun shows the watchful presence contained in the verse’s promise to keep you.
mishmeret: A watch or entrusted charge.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch presents keeping as sustained attention, not a momentary act.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom kept close becomes a watchful guard against what would draw you away.
Do not let go of her, and she guards you; love her, and she watches over you.The LORD watches over you from all harm; he watches over your living soul.But the Lord is steady, who will steady you and guard you from the one who works harm.THE THREAD
To keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of a stranger woman.This verse repeats שׁמר (shāmar, guard or keep) in “to keep thee,” and its “flattery” also comes from חלק (ḥālaq, make smooth). It names the tongue’s smoothness directly, showing what the guard in Proverbs 7:5 stands against.
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