An Exegetical Study of Proverbs Chapter 5: A Reconsideration of the Identity of the ‘Strange Woman’

This study approaches the identity of the “strange woman” in Proverbs 5 through an exegetical analysis focused on the chapter’s literary structure and recurring possessive expressions. The text first presents the wisdom student, the strange woman, and the wisdom teacher alike as ‘speakers’ through the repeated imagery of lips and speech. At the same time, the wisdom teacher distinguishes his instruction from that of the strange woman by describing it as “my wisdom” and “my understanding.” Beginning with a warning against the words of the strange woman, the passage proceeds to describe the concrete consequences of following her. Particular attention has been given to the repeated possessive expressions, such as “your honor” and “your wealth,” as well as to communal terminology such as “assembly” and “congregation,” and references to other communities through expressions such as “strangers” and “foreigners.” On the basis of these observations, this study argues that the strange woman in Proverbs 5 is the personification of the foreign teaching embodied by another community. By presenting concrete examples drawn from daily life, namely, water resources essential for the life and prosperity of the community and the wife who brings abundance and satisfaction within the household, the wisdom teacher reminds the wisdom student of his responsibility to preserve and transmit the wisdom of the community and thereby reinforces the exhortation not to follow foreign teaching. At the same time, he challenges the student to decide to whom he will ultimately entrust his life and community, warning that adherence to the teaching of the strange woman will lead to a departure from Yahweh. Accordingly, Proverbs 5 may be understood as a text that warns against the danger of foreign teaching. In the midst of the diverse ideas and values encountered by Israelite society, it functions as an exhortation directing the community toward the path it should follow.