[ 1 minutes to read ]

But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
– Proverbs 5:4

[E]nd means future and is a stern reminder there is an after, as Kidner pointed out. She may at first appear with smooth sweetness and delicious promises of where she is going but the reality is opposite. Rather than sweetness is bitterness, and rather than smoothness is sharpness. Solomon uses two figures to illustrate how all adulterous activity must end. Wormwood is usually related to bitterness and is a symbol of suffering in Scripture (Deuteronomy 29:18). The sword is obviously a symbol of death as that is what her house inclines to and her path leads to (Proverbs 2:18).

Solomon demonstrates the nature of wisdom in this warning. Wisdom considers and weighs. Wisdom looks to the end or the outcome of a path and not just the exciting prospect at the beginning. In relation to the strange woman, Solomon intends for this end to be considered before she is ever met in person (Proverbs 5:8).

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