drip honey Heb. נפת, an expression of sweetness.

the lips of a strange woman Apostasy.

her palate Heb. חכה, an expression of חךּ, a palate.

come near Heb. יתמכו, an expression of nearness.

Lest you weigh the path of life So did the Sages (Tanhuma Ekev 2) expound it: The Holy One, blessed be He, moved away (טלטל) the reward for the commandments and did not explain it [the reward], so that a person should not see a commandment for which the reward is great and cling to it and leave over the other commandments. This is the interpretation: Lest you weigh the ways of the Torah, which one to take and which one to leave, therefore its paths wandered off—God caused them to wander off and He did not make them known. This is the Midrash Aggadah, but according to the sequence of the verses, since after it is written: “And now, children, hearken to me and do not turn away from the sayings of my mouth. Distance your way from her,” it appears that he has not yet ended the section dealing with the harlot, and it should be interpreted as follows: Lest you weigh the path of life Do not weigh the path of life in conjunction with that strange one, saying what to do, whether this one or this one [i.e., whether to follow the path of life or the path of the strange woman], for the paths of the harlot have wandered off to the grave, and you will not know how to beware until you wander off and fall.

lest you give others your glory Lest you turn your heart to other gods to give them the glory of your beauty and your praise.

and your years to a cruel one To the prince of Gehinnom.

lest strangers be sated with your strength The prophets of Baal, who collect money with their lies and their hastiness.

and your labors And your toil, with which you were saddened and fatigued.

in the house of an alien In the pagan temple of the pagans.

And you shall moan when your end comes The end will be that you will moan when your end comes.

I was almost in all evil There is but a step between me and Gehinnom. (Because of a little thing, I was now “in all evil,” for I did not obey my instructors; had I obeyed them, this would not have happened to me. From Rabbi Joseph Kara.)

Drink water from your own cistern From the cistern that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave you for your share, viz. the Law of Moses.

your own cistern This denotes gathered water.

and running water Heb. ונזלים, spring water. In the beginning it is like gathered water, and at the end it gushes out more and more.

May your springs spread out In the end you will acquire disciples, and you will promulgate decisions in public, and you will gain a reputation.

in the squares of the city the rivulets of your water shall spread.

You alone shall have them You alone will be honored by them, and no one else will share your honor with you. Since he says above, “Lest strangers be satisfied with your strength,” he says here, “You alone shall have them, and thereby...”

Your fountain shall be blessed, and you shall rejoice with the wife of your youth That is the Torah which you learned in your youth.

you shall always be intoxicated Heb. תשגה. I saw in the words of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan that תשגה means “you shall always busy yourself,” and it is an Arabic expression. He cited as proof, “to seek shegiah,” meaning to seek business, but I do not know where it is stated. But our Sages explained it as an expression of intoxication (lit. inadvertence), as its apparent meaning. On account of her love, you shall be inadvertent in your other affairs, because she will guard your things. They said concerning Rabbi Eleazar the son of Pedath, that he was preaching in the lower market and his cloak was lying in the upper market. Once a man came and found a snake coiled on it.

For man’s ways are opposite the Lord’s eyes, and He weighs, etc. He weighs his ways and knows how many sins and how many merits he has.

His iniquities shall trap Heb. ילכדנו it. shall trap him, like ילכדוהו.

and he shall be hanged with the ropes of his sin יתמך, lit. he shall be supported. He shall be hanged, for the one hanged is supported by the ropes with which he is hanged.

He shall die without discipline Because he did not accept discipline.