Proverbs 5:9
New International Version
lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel,

New Living Translation
If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.

English Standard Version
lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,

Berean Standard Bible
lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;

King James Bible
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

New King James Version
Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one;

New American Standard Bible
Otherwise you will give your vigor to others, And your years to the cruel one;

NASB 1995
Or you will give your vigor to others And your years to the cruel one;

NASB 1977
Lest you give your vigor to others, And your years to the cruel one;

Legacy Standard Bible
Lest you give your splendor to others And your years to the cruel one;

Amplified Bible
Or you will give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one,

Christian Standard Bible
Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel;

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Otherwise, you will give up your vitality to others and your years to someone cruel;

American Standard Version
Lest thou give thine honor unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Lest you give others your power and your years to those who are merciless

Brenton Septuagint Translation
lest thou give away thy life to others, and thy substance to the merciless:

Contemporary English Version
You will lose your self-respect and end up in debt to some cruel person for the rest of your life.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.

English Revised Version
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Either you will surrender your reputation to others and [the rest of] your years to some cruel person,

Good News Translation
If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people.

International Standard Version
so that you don't give your honor to others, and waste your best years;

JPS Tanakh 1917
Lest thou give thy vigour unto others, And thy years unto the cruel;

Literal Standard Version
Lest you give your splendor to others, | And your years to the fierce,

Majority Standard Bible
lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;

New American Bible
Lest you give your honor to others, and your years to a merciless one;

NET Bible
lest you give your vigor to others and your years to a cruel person,

New Revised Standard Version
or you will give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless,

New Heart English Bible
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless;

Webster's Bible Translation
Lest thou give thy honor to others, and thy years to the cruel:

World English Bible
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

Young's Literal Translation
Lest thou give to others thy honour, And thy years to the fierce,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Avoiding Immorality
8Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house, 9lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel; 10lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.…

Cross References
Proverbs 5:8
Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,

Proverbs 5:10
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.

Proverbs 6:26
For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

Proverbs 31:3
Do not spend your strength on women or your vigor on those who ruin kings.


Treasury of Scripture

Lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel:

Proverbs 6:29-35
So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent…

Genesis 38:23-26
And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her…

Judges 16:19-21
And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him…

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Best Cruel Fear Fierce Honor Honour Merciless Others Strange Strength Vigor Vigour Wealth
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Proverbs 5
1. Solomon exhorts to wisdom
3. He shows the mischief of unfaithfulness and riot
15. He exhorts to contentedness, generosity, and chastity
22. The wicked are overtaken with their own sins














(9) Thine honour.--Rather, freshness, vigour.

Thy years.--The best years of thy life.

Unto the cruel.--That is the temptress herself, or her hangers-on and associates, whose sole idea is plunder.

Verse 9. - The reasons why the harlot is to be avoided follow in rapid succession. Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel. The word rendered "honour" (Hebrew, hod) is not so much reputation, as the English implies, as "the grace and freshness of youth." It is so used in Hosea 14:6; Daniel 10:8. The Vulgate renders "honour," and the LXX., ζώη, "life." Hod is derived from the Arabic word signifying "to lift one's self up," and then "to be eminent, beautiful." Thy years; i.e. the best and most vigorous, and hence the most useful and valuable, years of life. Unto the cruel (Hebrew, l'ak'zari); literally, to the cruel one; but the adjective akzari is only found in the singular, and may be here used in a collective sense as designating the entourage of the harlot, her associates who prey pitilessly on the youth whom they bring within the range of her fascinations. So Delitzsch. It seems to be so understood by the LXX., which reads ἀνελεήμοσιν, immitentibus; but not so by the Vulgate, which adheres to the singular, crudeli. If we adhere to the gender of the adjective akzari, which is masculine, and to its number, it may designate the husband of the adulteress, who will deal mercilessly towards the paramour of his wife. So Zockler. Again, it may refer, notwithstanding the gender, to the harlot herself (so Vatablus and Holden). who is cruel, who has no love for the youth, and would see him perish without pity. The explanation of Stuart and others, including Ewald, that the "cruel one" is the purchaser of the punished adulterer, is without foundation or warrant, since there is no historical instance on record where the adulterer was reduced to slavery, and the punishment inflicted by the Mosaic code was not slavery, but death (Numbers 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22), and, as it appears from Ezekiel 16:40 and John 8:5, death from stoning. The adjective akzari, like its equivalent akzar, is derived from the verb kazar, "to break," and occurs again in Proverbs 11:17; Proverbs 12:10; Proverbs 17:11. The moral of the warning is a wasted life.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
lest
פֶּן־ (pen-)
Conjunction
Strong's 6435: Removal, lest

you concede
תִּתֵּ֣ן (tit·tên)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

your vigor
הוֹדֶ֑ךָ (hō·w·ḏe·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1935: Splendor, majesty, vigor

to others,
לַאֲחֵרִ֣ים (la·’ă·ḥê·rîm)
Preposition-l | Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 312: Hinder, next, other

and your years
וּ֝שְׁנֹתֶ֗יךָ (ū·šə·nō·ṯe·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 8141: A year

to one who is cruel,
לְאַכְזָרִֽי׃ (lə·’aḵ·zā·rî)
Preposition-l | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 394: Terrible


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 5:9 Lest you give your honor to others (Prov. Pro Pr)
Proverbs 5:8
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