Proverbs 5:3-6 - The Strange Woman - A Warning from Proverbs | Speak His Word Only

Speak His Word Only shares another important lesson concerning a woman described in the book
of Proverbs—the strange woman.

Who is the strange woman, and why does Scripture call her “strange”?

In Proverbs, the word strange carries the idea of someone who is foreign, outside, or estranged from what is right. In the passages concerning the strange woman, she represents a woman whose words, conduct, and influence entice a person away from wisdom, faithfulness, purity, and the commandments of God.

This is an important warning for the Church. Everything that is new, attractive, popular, flattering, or widely accepted should not automatically be followed. Something may look good and sound convincing while still leading us away from the truth of God's Word.

The question should never simply be, “Is everyone else doing it?”

The question must be, “Is it according to the Word of God?”

Her Words Are Flattering, but Her End Is Destruction

Proverbs 5 warns:

“For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.”
—Proverbs 5:3–6 KJV

Notice the contrast.

Her beginning appears sweet, but her end is bitter.

Her mouth is smooth, but the consequences are sharp.

Her words promise pleasure, but her path leads toward death.

This is the nature of deception. Deception rarely announces itself as deception. Temptation presents itself as something desirable. Flattery appeals to the emotions, desires, ego, or flesh before the consequences become visible.

Therefore, we cannot judge something merely by how it looks, sounds, or makes us feel. We must judge it by the Word of God.

“Her Ways Are Moveable”

Scripture says:

“Her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.”
—Proverbs 5:6 KJV

There is instability in her way. Her path does not remain anchored to righteousness and truth.

This gives us a broader spiritual principle: God's people must not become spiritually unstable, constantly running after every new teaching, trend, doctrine, movement, or voice.

The Word of God is our foundation.

Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). Heaven and earth shall pass away, but Christ declared, “my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

The culture may change. Popular teachings may change. Human opinions may change. But God's truth remains our standard.

Wisdom Protects Us

The answer to the strange woman's deception is not fear—it is wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discretion.

Proverbs teaches:

“My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.”
—Proverbs 5:1–2 KJV

Wisdom helps us recognize what merely looks good and what actually is good.

Understanding helps us look beyond flattering words to discern where a path will eventually lead.

Knowledge of God's Word gives us a standard by which everything else can be examined.

Discretion teaches us not to follow every voice simply because it sounds convincing.

Before following a teaching, person, movement, or spiritual claim, compare it with Scripture. Ask: Does this agree with the Word of God? What fruit will this produce? Where will this path ultimately lead me?

The Strange Woman in Proverbs 7

Proverbs 7 gives an even more vivid description of the danger:

“With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter...”
—Proverbs 7:21–22 KJV

The young man did not recognize the destination because he was captivated by the invitation.

That is the danger of temptation.

It causes us to concentrate on the present pleasure while ignoring the future consequence.

The lesson is therefore larger than sexual temptation alone. While Proverbs directly warns against adultery and sexual immorality, the principle teaches us something about deception itself: never allow flattering words, immediate gratification, appearances, or popularity to override godly wisdom.

A Warning to the Church

Church, we must know the Word of God for ourselves.

We cannot follow something merely because another church is doing it, because a preacher said it, because it is popular online, or because it sounds spiritual.

We must become like those who search and examine the Scriptures.

Wisdom asks questions.

Understanding examines the matter.

Knowledge remembers what God has already spoken.

Discretion recognizes danger before stepping into it.

The safest path is not necessarily the newest path. It is the path that remains faithful to God's truth.

Personal Application

Examine the voices influencing your life.

Are you being drawn closer to God, holiness, wisdom, obedience, and truth—or gradually being pulled away from them?

Do not wait until you reach the end of a destructive path to recognize that you should never have entered it.

Learn to recognize the warning signs early.

Do not allow flattering words to silence discernment.

Do not allow popularity to replace Scripture.

Do not allow curiosity to lead you where wisdom has already warned you not to go.

And do not exchange the established truth of God's Word for something merely because it appears new or exciting.

Stay with the Word. Walk in wisdom. Exercise discretion. Guard your heart. Know the path before you follow it.

Prayer

Father God, I pray for Your people. Give us wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discretion. Guard our hearts and minds from deception and keep our feet from every path that would draw us away from You.

Teach us to recognize flattering words, false appearances, ungodly influences, and anything that contradicts Your truth. Let Your Word be the standard by which we examine what we hear, what we believe, and what we follow.

Close every door that would lead us away from righteousness, and strengthen us to remain steadfast in the path of life. Let Your Word dwell richly within us so that we are not carried away by every new voice or teaching.

Give Your people ears to hear Your truth, hearts willing to obey You, and discernment to recognize what is contrary to Your will.

Keep us established in wisdom and grounded in Your Word.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Central Lesson

Everything that sounds good is not godly, everything that is popular is not truth, and everything that is new is not something we should follow. Wisdom teaches us to examine the path before we walk in it.

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 2:10–19; Proverbs 5:1–14; Proverbs 7:5–27

No Copyright — Original Bible Study Teaching

One important correction I made is that I did not define “strange woman” merely as “something new to you.” In Proverbs, the Hebrew terminology has the sense of a strange/foreign or outsider woman, and in context she is specifically portrayed as an adulterous or sexually immoral seductress. Your broader warning about following deceptive teachings can then be drawn as an application of the principle, rather than presented as the direct definition of the strange woman. This makes the teaching stronger exegetically.