Proverbs 2:17

“Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, etc.] Not God, the God of her life, and who had provided for her from her youth up; nor her parent that had taken care of her in her infancy, and had been the guardian of her virgin state; but her husband, to whom she was married in her youth, and to whom she gave up herself to be guided and directed, ruled and governed, by: and as it is an aggravation of evil in a man to deal treacherously against the wife of his youth, and the wife of his covenant, (<390214>Malachi 2:14); so it is in a woman to forsake “the friend” or “companion of her youth”f45, as the phrase may be rendered; who loved her and espoused her in his youthful age, and with whom he had…”

“guide . . . youth--lawful husband (Jer 3:4). covenant . . . God--of marriage made in God's name.”

“The guide of her youth - Better, the familiar friend (compare Proverbs 16:28; Proverbs 17:9). The “friend” is, of course, the husband, or the man to whom the strange woman first belonged as a recognized concubine. Compare Jeremiah 3:4 The covenant of her God - The sin of the adulteress is not against man only but against the Law of God, against His covenant. The words point to some religious formula of espousals. Compare Malachi 2:14. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Forsaketh - Her husband whom she took to be her guide and governor, in her youth. The covenant - The marriage covenant: so called because God is the author of that mutual obligation: and because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn promise and covenant. Proverbs 2:18”

“2:17 By pursuing another man, an immoral woman has abandoned her husband. Her marriage covenant . . . before God included vows of faithfulness (cp. Mal 2:14-16).”

“the guide: Pro 5:18; Jer 3:4 forgetteth: Eze 16:8, Eze 16:59, Eze 16:60; Mal 2:14-16 Proverbs 2:18”

“17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God; 18 For she sinks down to death together with her house, And to the shadow of Hades her paths - 19 All they who go to her return not again, And reach not the paths of life אלּוּף, as here used, has nothing to do with the phylarch-name, similar in sound, which is a denom. of אלף; but it comes immediately from אלף, to accustom oneself to a person or cause, to be familiar therewith (while the Aram. אלף, ילף, to learn, Pa. to teach), and thus means, as the synon. of רע, the companion or familiar associate (vid., Schultens). Parallels such as Jer 3:4 suggested to the old interpreters the allegorical explanation of the…”