I. Introduction: A Royal Warning Becomes Personal

After addressing the nation in Proverbs 4, Solomon narrows his focus in Proverbs 5 back to one listener: the future king.
This chapter is not general wisdom; it’s urgent, personal instruction from a father-king to his heir.
The warning is not about obvious wickedness but about the subtle, seductive pull of Torah abandonment.
The strange woman represents more than sexual temptation—she is the personification of compromise, of covenant unfaithfulness disguised as opportunity.
For a king, this temptation may look like political alliances, religious concessions, or pragmatic shortcuts that slowly erode Torah faithfulness.

II. A Call to Attention (5:1-2)

Solomon calls Rehoboam to deliberate attentiveness—“attend” and “bow thine ear.”
The language mirrors Proverbs 3:1, linking “wisdom” and “understanding” with “law” and “commandments.”
In Proverbs, wisdom = Torah. Understanding = faithful application.
The blessings for attending to this wisdom are discretion and knowledge—essentials for a king.
These virtues equip a ruler to discern deception and speak with authority rooted in God's Word.

Her speech is smooth and sweet, but her end is bitter and deadly.
She presents rebellion as attractive and harmless, but her path leads to death.
Her ways are unstable—she draws others off the path without revealing her destination.
This is not a surface-level morality tale—it's a symbolic warning against the drift from Torah under the guise of practicality or appeal.