Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
This instruction warns against sexual temptation, specifically the sins condemned in the latter part of the chapter. It urges the young man to fill his mind with the teaching of Proverbs 5. In the setting of Proverbs 5:15-18, it presents marriage as a source of complete and overflowing happiness, calling the husband to be content with his own wife and to keep his love within that union rather than share it with another.
It teaches that marital intimacy and the joys of the marriage bond are to remain only between husband and wife, with strangers or outsiders excluded. It establishes a rule of inviolable privacy and faithfulness for the home: no third party, even a friend or parent, is to intrude on the confidence between spouses or claim a place that belongs to the spouse.
Fidelity to this boundary protects the unity and well-being of husband, wife, and household. Disregarding the boundary brings distress and misunderstanding and can destroy trust and the home. There is no exception to this law of faithfulness.
This instruction warns against sexual temptation, specifically the sins condemned in the latter part of the chapter. It urges the young man to fill his mind with the teaching of Proverbs 5. In the setting of Proverbs 5:15-18, it presents marriage as a source of complete and overflowing happiness, calling the husband to be content with his own wife and to keep his love within that union rather than share it with another.
It teaches that marital intimacy and the joys of the marriage bond are to remain only between husband and wife, with strangers or outsiders excluded. It establishes a rule of inviolable privacy and faithfulness for the home: no third party, even a friend or parent, is to intrude on the confidence between spouses or claim a place that belongs to the spouse.
Fidelity to this boundary protects the unity and well-being of husband, wife, and household. Disregarding the boundary brings distress and misunderstanding and can destroy trust and the home. There is no exception to this law of faithfulness.