Bible Strands
Proverbs 2:18
For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author of Proverbs addresses a student, using the preceding warning about the adulterous woman to illustrate the consequences of abandoning one's youthful covenant. The passage functions as a direct caution within a wisdom discourse.
The words — The Hebrew verb שָׁחָה (shaḥah) means "she sank down," applied to בֵּיתָהּ (beṯāh, "her house") to indicate a downward movement. The noun רְפָאִים (rephāʾîm, "the departed spirits") is paired with מַעְגְּלֹתֶיהָ (maʿgəlōṯêhā, "her tracks") to specify the destination of her path.
The thread — The trajectory to death and the realm of the dead appears again in Proverbs 9:18, which states her guests are in the depths of Sheol, and echoes the warning in Proverbs 5:4 regarding the bitter end of the same pursuit.
Why it lands — The text states that the path leads unerringly to death and separation from the living, requiring the reader to recognize the point of no return and turn away before crossing it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 9:18 But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- Proverbs 5:4 in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
- Galatians 5:19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Ephesians 5:5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
- Revelation 21:8 But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Proverbs 6:26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
- Proverbs 7:22 He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap,
- Revelation 22:15 But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.