Proverbs 5:4

but in the end ¹  she is bitter ²  as wormwood, ³  sharp as a two-edged ⁴  sword.

biblegateway Pro 5:4

but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.

biblegateway Pro 5:4

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

biblegateway Pro 5:4

But the result is as bitter as poison, sharp as a double–edged sword.

biblegateway Pro 5:4

But it won't be long before she's gravel in your mouth, a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.

SABDAweb Pro 5:4

But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword;

bibleoremus Pro 5:4

but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

biblegateway Pro 5:4

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two–edged sword.

biblegateway Pro 5:4

but in the end ¹  she is bitter ²  as wormwood, ³  sharp as a two-edged ⁴  sword.

¹ sn Heb “her end” (so KJV). D. Kidner notes that Proverbs does not allow us to forget that there is an afterward (Proverbs [TOTC], 65).

² sn The verb “to be bitter” (מָרַר, marar) describes things that are harmful and destructive for life, such as the death of the members of the family of Naomi (Ruth 1:20) or finding water that was undrinkable (Exod 15:22-27). The word indicates that the sweet talking will turn out badly.

³ tn The Hebrew term translated “wormwood” refers to the aromatic plant that contrasts with the sweetness of honey. Some follow the LXX and translate it as “gall” (cf. NIV). The point is that there was sweetness when the tryst had alluring glamour, but afterward it had an ugly ring (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 74).

⁴ sn The Hebrew has “like a sword of [two] mouths,” meaning a double-edged sword that devours/cuts either way. There is no movement without damage. There may be a wordplay here with this description of the “sword with two mouths,” and the subject of the passage being the words of her mouth which also have two sides to them. The irony is cut by the idiom.