Bible Strands
Proverbs 9:18
But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Wisdom's counterpart, the woman of folly, addresses the simple during her seductive banquet. She promotes her illicit feast as a hidden pleasure that tastes sweeter precisely because it is concealed.
The words — The Hebrew רְפָאִים (repa'im) literally means "shades" or "the dead," denoting disembodied spirits. The phrase בְּעִמְקֵי שְׁאוֹל (be'imkei sheol) translates to "in the depths of Sheol," marking a place of descent and finality.
The thread — This declaration aligns with the same warning pattern in Proverbs 5:5, Proverbs 7:27, and Proverbs 2:18, where the adulteress's house and paths consistently descend to death and Sheol.
Why it lands — The text states that the invited guests are already among the dead in Sheol, directly negating the promise of secret enjoyment. It requires the reader to accept that hidden sin terminates in death rather than delivering the concealed reward it claims.
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
But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 7:27 Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.
- Proverbs 2:18 For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
- Proverbs 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.
- Psalms 82:5 They do not know or understand; they wander in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
- Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
- Proverbs 6:26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
- 2 Peter 3:5 But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,