Proverbs 5:20

5:20 But why should you be captivated, ¹  my son, by an adulteress,

and embrace the bosom of a different woman? ² 

[5:20]  ¹ tn In the interrogative clause the imperfect has a deliberative nuance.

[5:20]  ² tn Heb “foreigner” (so ASV, NASB), but this does not mean that the woman is non-Israelite. This term describes a woman who is outside the moral boundaries of the covenant community – she is another man’s wife, but since she acts with moral abandonment she is called “foreign.”