Proverbs 2:15-16 (ESV)
15 men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.
16 So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words.
As we have seen, wisdom does not merely inform, it delivers. In these verses, Solomon identifies two specific dangers from which wisdom protects. He completes his description of evil men and then turns to the forbidden woman, also called the adulteress.
First, wisdom delivers from men whose paths are crooked. The Hebrew word translated crooked is iqqesh. It describes what is twisted, bent, or warped. It is used of rough and uneven terrain and stands in contrast to a smooth and straight path. These men have departed from what is right. Their ways deviate from the path of righteousness, and their desires are disordered. They are not neutral influences. Having rejected wisdom themselves, they seek to draw others away from it. What they pursue governs how they think, speak, and live.
Second, the father warns his son about the forbidden woman. The word translated forbidden is the Hebrew zar, meaning strange or outside what is acceptable. She is an outsider to God’s design. She is called an adulteress because she belongs to another man. Adultery places her outside the covenant boundaries God has established. She is described as foreign not ethnically, but morally. Her life and actions violate God’s good design for human life.
The danger of the adulteress lies largely in her words. While the words and the paths of evil men are crooked, her speech is smooth. She flatters. Her words feel gentle and persuasive. She says what the heart wants to hear. But flattery conceals deception. Psalm 55:21 warns that an enemy’s mouth is smooth, but war is in his heart. Her promises of pleasure hide selfish motives. What she offers feels inviting, but it leads to ruin. Wisdom exposes her trap before the feet ever step toward it.
Our culture not only approves of but celebrates sex outside of marriage and may even pity those who submit their desires to God’s law. Scripture teaches that God designed sex, and he knows how to order its power for good. Physical intimacy belongs within the covenant of marriage, where it protects rather than destroys. If a man is not ready to be your husband, he is not ready to have access to you physically. No amount of flattery changes that truth. Wisdom keeps the fire where it belongs. God cares about who you are in your heart and what you do with your body. His commands are not meant to deprive you, but to guard and protect you.