Proverbs 5:16-18 · Bible study
Proverbs 5:16-18 Commentary: Faithful Love and Its Blessings
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Explore Proverbs 5:16-18 and the debate over its meaning: rhetorical warning against sexual straying or command to have many children?
Research Summary
- Meaning: A warning against adultery and a call to find joy in marital faithfulness, illustrated through water imagery.
- Key words: Ma'yān (spring), māqôr (fountain/spring), yāfūṣū (will they overflow?), ‘ishshâ (woman/wife), bārak (bless).
- Main debate: Whether v. 16 is a rhetorical question warning against promiscuity or a positive command to have many children (both views grounded in Hebrew grammar).
- Theological theme: God's design for exclusive, life-giving marital love as a source of blessing and joy.
- Best use: Teaching on marriage, sexual ethics, or God's good gift of physical intimacy within covenant.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
16Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
17Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.
18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
WEB World English Bible 2000
16Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
KJV King James Version 1769
16Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
18Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
16Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, And streams of water in the streets?
17Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee.
18Let thy fountain be blessed; And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
16Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.
17Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.
18Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
16Thy fountains shall be poured forth, as water-brooks in the broadways.
17Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18Let thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy youth.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
16Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters.
17Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee.
18Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Proverbs 5:16
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Proverbs 5:16-18 commends marital faithfulness and warns against adultery. The passage continues the wisdom teacher's appeal to guard oneself from the 'strange woman' (v. 3, 20). The imagery of water from one's own cistern (v. 15) represents lawful marital intimacy. There is, however, a well-known disagreement about verse 16. Some, like Adam Clarke and John Gill, interpret the 'springs' and 'streams' as children legitimately begotten and 'dispersed' (KJV, Darby, Geneva). They see the verse as a positive blessing: let your offspring be many. Others, including the Cambridge Bible and Keil & Delitzsch, read the verse as a rhetorical question: 'Should your springs overflow in the streets?', a warning not to scatter your sexual vitality promiscuously. The Hebrew verb yāfūṣū (will they overflow?) can be read either as an interrogative or a simple future, so the disagreement is grammatical and theological.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Procreativist view: V. 16 taken as imperative; 'springs' = children; supported by KJV, Darby, Geneva, and by Clarke, Gill, Wesley.
- Warning view: V. 16 taken as rhetorical question; 'springs' = sexual vitality not to be wasted; supported by Cambridge Bible, Keil & Delitzsch, and most modern translations (WEB, ASV, BSB, YLT).
- Allegorical/Christological view: Some early and medieval interpreters (e.g., Jarchi) read the passage as about devotion to the Torah or wisdom; found in a minority of traditional commentary.
What is clear: The passage as a whole advocates exclusive marital faithfulness against the backdrop of the allurement of adultery, and commands rejoicing in one's own spouse.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'springs' in v. 16 | The passage uses water imagery to talk about marital or sexual life. | Some (Clarke, Gill, Wesley) read 'springs' as children born from lawful marriage; others (Cambridge Bible, Keil & Delitzsch) read it as the man's own sexual vitality, which should not be scattered promiscuously. |
| Grammar of yāfūṣū (v. 16) | The verb is a qal imperfect, third masculine plural, and can be understood as declarative or interrogative. | Translations like KJV and Darby take it as an imperative/jussive ('let them flow'); WEB, ASV, BSB treat it as a rhetorical question ('should they overflow?'). |
| Who are 'strangers' in v. 17? | The verse instructs that the blessings of marital intimacy are not to be shared with outsiders. | Literal strangers (other sexual partners) vs. children who might be illegitimate (Gill: 'harlots' children have no known father'). |
| Scope of 'wife of your youth' | Refers to a man's wife, married in youth, whose love is to be cherished lifelong. | Little debate; the phrase is taken straightforwardly across traditions. Some apply it figuratively to wisdom or the law (Jarchi), but most see it as literal marriage. |
Historical & Cultural Context
In ancient Israel, marriage was the divinely ordained context for companionship, children, and the protection of family lineage. The 'strange woman' (zārâ or nokrîyâ) in Proverbs 5 likely refers to an adulteress or a foreign woman outside the covenant community (cf. 2:16-17). The father's instruction assumes a patriarchal household where the wife is the exclusive source of legitimate children. Children were seen as God's blessing (Psalm 127:3, 128:3) and family continuity as vital to the covenant.
The water imagery pervades the passage: a cistern (bôr) collected rainwater; a fountain (ma'yān or māqôr) was a flowing source. 'Drinking from your own cistern' (v. 15) drew on everyday experience, a man's wife is his exclusive wellspring of intimacy. The verbs in v. 16 (yāfūṣū, 'overflow') and v. 17 (yihyû, 'let them belong') shift tone abruptly. Ancient translations differ: the Septuagint renders v. 16 as an imperative ('let your fountains flow forth'), while the Masoretic Text can be read either way. This grammatical ambiguity explains the two interpretive traditions that continue among readers today.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Proverbs 5:16-18. The main textual issue is the reading of the verb yāfūṣū in v. 16: the Masoretic Text lacks an interrogative heh, so the form can be parsed as a simple imperfect (future) or a rhetorical question. Ancient versions differ, the Septuagint treats it as an imperative, while the Vulgate follows the plural sense. Modern BHS notes no variant reading, confirming the univocal consonantal text. Interpreters decide on the basis of context and syntactical flow.
Reception History
In the Jewish tradition, Rashi and other rabbis often read the 'fountain' of v. 18 allegorically as the Torah or wisdom, though the plain sense was always marital ethics. Christian commentators from the Reformation onward split on v. 16: the Geneva Bible (1599) and KJV (1611) read it as a commendation of large families ('Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad'), while Matthew Henry (1710) focused on the exclusive, joyful use of marriage. Wesley (1754) and Clarke (1826) saw children as the primary referent. The Cambridge Bible (1880) favored the rhetorical-question reading, which has influenced most modern translations. Across these centuries, the passage has been used both to celebrate marital fruitfulness and to warn against sexual sin, a rich, faithful tension.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Exclusive Fountain: Marital intimacy is designed to be exclusive, 'drink water from your own cistern' (v. 15). God blesses what is kept within the covenant.
- The Overflowing Blessing: Whether v. 16 speaks of children or of perils of straying, the point is that true life flows from faithfulness. What is contained and guarded becomes a source of life for others (Barnes: 'wedded love streams forth in blessing on all around').
- The Joy of Commitment: Verse 18 commands joy: 'Rejoice in the wife of your youth.' Faithfulness is not just duty but delight, a foretaste of God's own covenantal joy.
Five-point outline
- The context: Wisdom warns against seductive speech (v. 3-5).
- The command: Stay with your own cistern (v. 15).
- The question: Do you scatter your streams? (v. 16, as rhetorical warning).
- The resolution: Keep them yours alone (v. 17).
- The benediction: Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice (v. 18).
Illustration hooks
- Water conservation: In a drought, no one wastes water by pouring it on the street. The passage asks us to consider the value of our emotional and physical intimacy, where is it flowing?
- Garden gate: A garden with a locked gate produces fruit; one left open is trampled. Marriage is the garden where faithfulness yields lasting joy.
- Family legacy: A man who invests in his wife and children sees his influence multiplied through generations, like streams watering a whole community.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Can this passage still speak to single people or those whose spouse has died?
- Is the Bible really against sexuality, or does it celebrate it in the right context?
- How do I find joy in a long-term marriage when passion fades?
Leading a Discussion
Proverbs 5:16-18 sits in the middle of a longer warning against adultery and a celebration of marital love. The verses use vivid water imagery to make their point. As your group reads, note the shifts in tone: instruction, rhetorical question, command, blessing. Let the text challenge your assumptions about what God values in relationships.
Discussion questions
- Read Proverbs 5:15-20 as a whole. What do the water images (cistern, well, fountain, streams) suggest about the nature of marriage?
- Verse 16 can be read as a rhetorical question ('Should your springs overflow in the streets?') or as a positive command ('Let your fountains be dispersed.'). How does the way you read it change the meaning of the passage?
- What does verse 17 teach about ownership and intimacy? Why does the sage emphasize that these streams 'be for yourself alone'?
- In verse 18, the command to 'rejoice in the wife of your youth' is connected to a blessing on 'your fountain.' How does blessing and rejoicing go together in this context?
- Look at Ecclesiastes 9:9 (supplied). How does that verse reinforce or enlarge the message of Proverbs 5:18?
- What would it look like for a marriage today to be a 'blessed fountain' that brings life to others?
- How does this passage address the deeper human hunger for intimacy and commitment, not just physical restraint?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 24:60 | They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring possess the gate of those who hate them.” |
| Deuteronomy 33:28 | Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew. |
| Judges 12:9 | He had thirty sons. He sent his thirty daughters outside his clan, and he brought in thirty daughters from outside his clan for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. |
| Psalms 68:26 | “Bless God in the congregations, even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!” |
| Psalms 127:3 | Behold, children are a heritage of Yahweh. The fruit of the womb is his reward. |
| Psalms 128:3 | Your wife will be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house, your children like olive shoots around your table. |
| Isaiah 48:21 | They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and the waters gushed out. |
| Ecclesiastes 9:9 | Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity, for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that the verse speaks of a man’s legitimate children as his true source of honor. He sees the phrase for life force as referring to a person’s bloodline. This view holds hope for those who follow God’s ways.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes observes that wedded love blesses others only because the wife gives her exclusive love to her husband. The blessing spreads outward to children, neighbors, and the community precisely because that love is not scattered but concentrated on one person.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that purity in married life spreads like water from a fountain producing many children and good effects. It says the only way to have these benefits is through that purity.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Bible Notes sees a married couple as a single household with shared resources. Both partners own everything together and should rejoice together.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that some read these verses as referring to physical children born in lawful marriage. He also says others understand them as describing the spreading of Gospel teachings. Both views seek to be faithful to Scripture.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes the contrast between children of a harlot, who have no known father, and children of one's own wife, who do. This emphasizes the honor and certainty of legitimate offspring. He also
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch highlight the Hebrew distinction between a cistern (stagnant rainwater) and a fountain (living, running water). For them, the wife is called both, but the emphasis falls on the living water: the pure, life-giving satisfaction and blessing found only within marriage.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange stresses that this warning is directed toward a married young man, not a child, and the danger is specifically adultery within marriage.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that Solomon gives instructions for married love because he shows the harm of adultery. He believes lawful marriage was created to prevent uncleanness and should be enjoyed fully as God has provided proper satisfaction within it.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that fountains represent children who come from a person and their spouse. He also says that having children is a blessing because barrenness was seen as a curse.