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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Proverbs 5:15 Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/proverbs/5-15.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/new9.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><meta property="og:image" content="https://biblehub.com/visuals/10/20_Pro_05_15.jpg" /><meta property="og:title" content="Proverbs 5:15 - Avoiding Immorality" /><meta property="og:site_name" content="Bible Hub" /><meta property="og:description" content="Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well." /><script type="application/javascript" 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cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/ad15.htm" width="100%" height="48" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="/proverbs/5-14.htm" title="Proverbs 5:14">◄</a> Proverbs 5:15 <a href="/proverbs/5-16.htm" title="Proverbs 5:16">►</a></div></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse"> <a href="#audio" class="clickchap2" title="Context and Audio Bible"> Audio </a> <a href="#crossref" class="clickchap2" title="Cross References"> Cross </a> <a href="#study" class="clickchap2" title="Study Bible"> Study </a> <a href="#commentary" class="clickchap2" title="Commentary"> Comm </a> <a href="#lexicon" class="clickchap2" title="Lexicon"> Heb </a> </div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheadingv"><b>Verse</b><a href="/bsb/proverbs/5.htm" class="clickchap" style="color:#001320" title="Click any translation name for full chapter">  (Click for Chapter)</a></div><div id="par"><span class="versiontext"><a href="/niv/proverbs/5.htm">New International Version</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nlt/proverbs/5.htm">New Living Translation</a></span><br />Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/esv/proverbs/5.htm">English Standard Version</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/bsb/proverbs/5.htm">Berean Standard Bible</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/kjv/proverbs/5.htm">King James Bible</a></span><br />Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nkjv/proverbs/5.htm">New King James Version</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb_/proverbs/5.htm">New American Standard Bible</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, And fresh water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb/proverbs/5.htm">NASB 1995</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nasb77/proverbs/5.htm">NASB 1977 </a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, And fresh water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsb/proverbs/5.htm">Legacy Standard Bible </a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern And fresh water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/amp/proverbs/5.htm">Amplified Bible</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship] And fresh running water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/csb/proverbs/5.htm">Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hcsb/proverbs/5.htm">Holman Christian Standard Bible</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, water flowing from your own well. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/asv/proverbs/5.htm">American Standard Version</a></span><br />Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cev/proverbs/5.htm">Contemporary English Version</a></span><br />You should be faithful to your wife, just as you take water from your own well. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/erv/proverbs/5.htm">English Revised Version</a></span><br />Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gwt/proverbs/5.htm">GOD'S WORD® Translation</a></span><br />Drink water out of your own cistern and running water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/gnt/proverbs/5.htm">Good News Translation</a></span><br />Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/isv/proverbs/5.htm">International Standard Version</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, and fresh water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/msb/proverbs/5.htm">Majority Standard Bible</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/net/proverbs/5.htm">NET Bible</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern and running water from your own well. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nheb/proverbs/5.htm">New Heart English Bible</a></span><br />Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wbt/proverbs/5.htm">Webster's Bible Translation</a></span><br />Drink waters out of thy own cistern, and running waters out of thy own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/web/proverbs/5.htm">World English Bible</a></span><br />Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. <div class="vheading2"><b>Literal Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lsv/proverbs/5.htm">Literal Standard Version</a></span><br />Drink waters out of your own cistern, "" Even flowing ones out of your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/ylt/proverbs/5.htm">Young's Literal Translation</a></span><br /> Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/slt/proverbs/5.htm">Smith's Literal Translation</a></span><br />Drink water from thy pit, and flowing from the midst of thy well.<div class="vheading2"><b>Catholic Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/drb/proverbs/5.htm">Douay-Rheims Bible</a></span><br />Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/cpdv/proverbs/5.htm">Catholic Public Domain Version</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern and from the springs of your own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nabre/proverbs/5.htm">New American Bible</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/nrsvce/proverbs/5.htm">New Revised Standard Version</a></span><br />Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.<div class="vheading2"><b>Translations from Aramaic</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/lamsa/proverbs/5.htm">Lamsa Bible</a></span><br />Drink water out of your own well, and running water from your own spring.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/hpbt/proverbs/5.htm">Peshitta Holy Bible Translated</a></span><br />Drink waters from your well and running waters from your spring,<div class="vheading2"><b>OT Translations</b></div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/jps/proverbs/5.htm">JPS Tanakh 1917</a></span><br />Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/sep/proverbs/5.htm">Brenton Septuagint Translation</a></span><br />Drink waters out of thine own vessels, and out of thine own springing wells.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/parallel/proverbs/5-15.htm">Additional Translations ...</a></span></div></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><a name="audio" id="audio"></a><div class="vheadingv"><b>Audio Bible</b></div><iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kpUA5ZltBeQ?start=841" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="vheadingv"><b>Context</b></div><span class="hdg"><a href="/bsb/proverbs/5.htm">Avoiding Immorality</a></span><br>…<span class="reftext">14</span>I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.” <span class="reftext">15</span><span class="highl"><a href="/hebrew/8354.htm" title="8354: šə·ṯêh- (V-Qal-Imp-ms) -- To drink. A primitive root; to imbibe.">Drink</a> <a href="/hebrew/4325.htm" title="4325: ma·yim (N-mp) -- Waters, water. Dual of a primitive noun; water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen.">water</a> <a href="/hebrew/953.htm" title="953: mib·bō·w·re·ḵā (Prep-m:: N-msc:: 2ms) -- A pit, cistern, well. From buwr; a pit hole.">from your own cistern,</a> <a href="/hebrew/5140.htm" title="5140: wə·nō·zə·lîm (Conj-w:: V-Qal-Prtcpl-mp) -- To flow, trickle, drop, distill. A primitive root; to drip, or shed by trickling.">and running water</a> <a href="/hebrew/8432.htm" title="8432: mit·tō·wḵ (Prep-m:: N-msc) -- Midst. From an unused root meaning to sever; a bisection, i.e. the centre.">from</a> <a href="/hebrew/875.htm" title="875: bə·’ê·re·ḵā (N-fsc:: 2ms) -- A well, pit. From ba'ar; a pit; especially a well.">your own well.</a> </span><span class="reftext">16</span>Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?…<div class="cred"><a href="//berean.bible">Berean Standard Bible</a> · <a href="//berean.bible/downloads.htm">Download</a></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="crossref" id="crossref"></a><div class="vheading">Cross References</div><div id="crf"><span class="crossverse"><a href="/songs/4-12.htm">Song of Solomon 4:12</a></span><br />My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/songs/4-15.htm">Song of Solomon 4:15</a></span><br />You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/jeremiah/2-13.htm">Jeremiah 2:13</a></span><br />“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/12-3.htm">Isaiah 12:3</a></span><br />With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/john/4-10.htm">John 4:10-14</a></span><br />Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” / “Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water? / Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?” ...<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/55-1.htm">Isaiah 55:1</a></span><br />“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/revelation/22-17.htm">Revelation 22:17</a></span><br />The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/john/7-37.htm">John 7:37-38</a></span><br />On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. / Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/jeremiah/17-13.htm">Jeremiah 17:13</a></span><br />O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/psalms/36-8.htm">Psalm 36:8-9</a></span><br />They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights. / For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/isaiah/44-3.htm">Isaiah 44:3</a></span><br />For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/1_corinthians/10-4.htm">1 Corinthians 10:4</a></span><br />and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/ezekiel/47-1.htm">Ezekiel 47:1-12</a></span><br />Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. / Next he brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and there I saw the water trickling out from the south side. / As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through ankle-deep water. ...<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/psalms/1-3.htm">Psalm 1:3</a></span><br />He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="crossverse"><a href="/revelation/21-6.htm">Revelation 21:6</a></span><br />And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.</div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="tsk" id="tsk"><div class="vheading">Treasury of Scripture</div><p class="tsk2">Drink waters out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own well.</p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/proverbs/5-18.htm">Proverbs 5:18,19</a></b></br> Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth… </p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/1_corinthians/7-2.htm">1 Corinthians 7:2-5</a></b></br> Nevertheless, <i>to avoid</i> fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband… </p><p class="tskverse"><b><a href="/hebrews/13-4.htm">Hebrews 13:4</a></b></br> Marriage <i>is</i> honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.</p><div class="vheading">Jump to Previous</div><a href="/2_kings/18-31.htm">Cistern</a> <a href="/proverbs/4-17.htm">Drink</a> <a href="/psalms/147-18.htm">Flowing</a> <a href="/psalms/114-8.htm">Fountain</a> <a href="/psalms/92-14.htm">Fresh</a> <a href="/proverbs/2-8.htm">Ones</a> <a href="/proverbs/5-10.htm">Others</a> <a href="/proverbs/4-12.htm">Running</a> <a href="/proverbs/2-7.htm">Store</a> <a href="/psalms/147-18.htm">Water</a> <a href="/psalms/148-4.htm">Waters</a><div class="vheading2">Jump to Next</div><a href="/ecclesiastes/12-6.htm">Cistern</a> <a href="/proverbs/7-18.htm">Drink</a> <a href="/proverbs/5-16.htm">Flowing</a> <a href="/proverbs/5-18.htm">Fountain</a> <a href="/songs/4-15.htm">Fresh</a> <a href="/proverbs/7-7.htm">Ones</a> <a href="/proverbs/10-17.htm">Others</a> <a href="/proverbs/6-18.htm">Running</a> <a href="/proverbs/7-1.htm">Store</a> <a href="/proverbs/5-16.htm">Water</a> <a href="/proverbs/5-16.htm">Waters</a><div class="vheading2">Proverbs 5</div><span class="reftext">1. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/proverbs/5-1.htm">Solomon exhorts to wisdom</a></span><br><span class="reftext">3. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/proverbs/5-3.htm">He shows the mischief of unfaithfulness and riot</a></span><br><span class="reftext">15. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/proverbs/5-15.htm">He exhorts to contentedness, generosity, and chastity</a></span><br><span class="reftext">22. </span><span class="outlinetext"><a href="/proverbs/5-22.htm">The wicked are overtaken with their own sins</a></span><br></div></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div> </td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="combox"><div class="padcom"><a name="study" id="study"></a><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top"><a href="/study/proverbs/5.htm">Study Bible</a></td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/study/proverbs/" title="Book Summary and Study">Book ◦</a> <a href="/study/chapters/proverbs/5.htm" title="Chapter summary and Study">Chapter </a></tr></table></div><b>Drink water from your own cistern</b><br>This phrase emphasizes the importance of faithfulness and contentment within one's own marriage. In ancient Israel, water was a precious resource, and cisterns were used to collect and store rainwater. The imagery of drinking from one's own cistern suggests the value of cherishing and nurturing one's own marital relationship. This metaphor highlights the exclusivity and intimacy that should characterize marriage, reflecting the covenant relationship between God and His people. The idea of faithfulness is echoed in other scriptures, such as <a href="/malachi/2-14.htm">Malachi 2:14-16</a>, where God condemns unfaithfulness in marriage.<p><b>and running water from your own well</b><br>The mention of "running water" or "fresh water" from one's own well further underscores the idea of purity and vitality in the marital relationship. Wells were sources of fresh, living water, symbolizing life and renewal. In biblical times, wells were often associated with significant events and encounters, such as Jacob meeting Rachel at a well (<a href="/genesis/29.htm">Genesis 29:1-12</a>). This phrase suggests that just as one would seek fresh water from their own well, so should one find satisfaction and joy within their own marriage. The imagery of water also connects to the spiritual life, as seen in <a href="/john/4-14.htm">John 4:14</a>, where Jesus speaks of the living water He provides, symbolizing eternal life and spiritual fulfillment.<div class="vheading2">Persons / Places / Events</div>1. <b><a href="/topical/s/solomon.htm">Solomon</a></b><br>Traditionally attributed as the author of Proverbs, Solomon was the son of King David and known for his wisdom. He wrote Proverbs to impart wisdom and instruction.<br><br>2. <b><a href="/topical/a/ancient_israel.htm">Ancient Israel</a></b><br>The cultural and historical context of Proverbs is ancient Israel, where water was a precious resource, and wells and cisterns were vital for survival.<br><br>3. <b><a href="/topical/m/marriage.htm">Marriage</a></b><br>The verse metaphorically refers to the sanctity and exclusivity of the marital relationship, using the imagery of water to symbolize fidelity and satisfaction within marriage.<div class="vheading2">Teaching Points</div><b><a href="/topical/t/the_importance_of_fidelity.htm">The Importance of Fidelity</a></b><br><a href="/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15</a> emphasizes the importance of faithfulness in marriage. Just as one should drink from their own cistern, so should one find satisfaction and fulfillment within their own marriage.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/c/contentment_in_relationships.htm">Contentment in Relationships</a></b><br>The verse encourages contentment and satisfaction with what God has provided, particularly in the context of marriage. It warns against seeking fulfillment outside of God's design.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/g/guarding_the_heart.htm">Guarding the Heart</a></b><br>The imagery of water suggests purity and life. Guarding one's heart and maintaining purity in relationships is crucial for spiritual and relational health.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/t/the_value_of_commitment.htm">The Value of Commitment</a></b><br>Commitment in marriage is likened to maintaining one's own well. It requires effort and dedication but yields life-giving results.<br><br><b><a href="/topical/s/spiritual_implications.htm">Spiritual Implications</a></b><br>Beyond marriage, this verse can be applied to spiritual fidelity, urging believers to remain faithful to God and not seek spiritual satisfaction from worldly sources.<div class="vheading2">Lists and Questions</div><a href="/top10/lessons_from_proverbs_5.htm">Top 10 Lessons from Proverbs 5</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/q/how_does_'own_cistern'_fit_with_polygamy.htm">Proverbs 5:15–17: How does the “drink from your own cistern” analogy reconcile with the fact that polygamy was practiced in biblical times? </a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/q/should_you_drink_from_your_own_cistern.htm">Should you drink from your own cistern?</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/q/how_does_1_tim_3_2_apply_to_single_leaders.htm">How does 1 Timothy 3:2’s requirement of being “the husband of one wife” align with modern church leaders who are single, widowed, or divorced? </a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/q/who_was_watchman_nee_in_christianity.htm">Should you drink from your own cistern?</a><a name="commentary" id="commentary"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/proverbs/5.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(15-20) <span class= "bld">Drink waters out of thine own cistern </span>. . .--In these verses Solomon urges his disciples to follow after purity in the married life; he pictures in vivid terms the delights which it affords as compared with the pleasures of sin.<p><span class= "bld">Out of thine own cistern.--</span>The "strange woman," on the other hand, says, "Stolen waters are sweet" (<a href="/proverbs/9-17.htm" title="Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.">Proverbs 9:17</a>). The same figure is employed in <a href="/songs/4-15.htm" title="A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.">Song of Solomon 4:15</a>, where a wife is compared to "a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon." In <a href="/jeremiah/2-13.htm" title="For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.">Jeremiah 2:13</a> God compares Himself to a "fountain of living waters," and complains that Israel had deserted Him, and hewed out for themselves "broken cisterns that can hold no water." This passage in Proverbs has in like manner often been interpreted as an exhortation to drink deeply from the living waters of the Holy Spirit given in the Word and Sacraments (<a href="/john/7-37.htm" title="In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink.">John 7:37</a>).--For ref. see Bishop Wordsworth.<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/proverbs/5.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 15-19.</span> - <span class="accented">Commendation of the chaste intercourse of marriage.</span> In this section the teacher passes from admonitory warnings against unchastity to the commendation of conjugal fidelity and pure love. The allegorical exposition of this passage, current at the period of the Revision of the Authorized Version in 1612, as referring to liberality, is not <span class="accented">ad rem</span>. Such an idea had no place certainly in the teacher's mind, nor is it appropriate to the context, the scope of which is, as we have seen, to warn youth against indulgence in illicit pleasures, by pointing out the terrible consequences which follow, and to indicate, on the other hand, in what direction the satisfaction of natural wants is to be obtained, that so, the heart and conscience being kept pure, sin and evil may be avoided. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Drink waters out of thine own cistern,</span> etc.; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> in the wife of your own choice, or in the legitimate sphere of marriage, seek the satisfaction of your natural impulses. The pure, innocent, and chaste nature of such pleasures is appropriately compared with the pure and wholesome waters of the cistern and the wellspring. The "drinking" carries with it the satisfying of a natural want. Agreeably with oriental and scriptural usage, "the wife" is compared with a "cistern" and "well." Thus in the Song of Solomon the "bride" is called a spring shut up, a fountain sealed" (<a href="/songs/4-12.htm">Song of Solomon 4:12</a>). Sarah is spoken of under exactly the same figure that is used here, viz. the <span class="accented">bor</span>, or "cistern," in <a href="/isaiah/51-1.htm">Isaiah 51:1</a>. The figure was not confined to women, however, as we find Judah alluded to as "waters" in <a href="/isaiah/48-1.htm">Isaiah 48:1</a>, and Jacob or Israel so appearing in the prophecy of Balaam (<a href="/numbers/24-7.htm">Numbers 24:7</a>). The people are spoken of by David as they that are "of the fountain of Israel" (<a href="/psalms/68-26.htm">Psalm 68:26</a>). A similar imagery is employed in the New Testament of the wife. The apostles St. Paul and St. Peter both speak of her as "the vessel (<span class="greek">τὸ σκεῦος</span>)" (see <a href="/1_thessalonians/4-4.htm">1 Thessalonians 4:4</a> and <a href="/1_peter/3-7.htm">1 Peter 3:7</a>). The forms of the original, <span class="accented">b'or</span> and <span class="accented">b'er</span>, standing respectively for "cistern" and "well," indicate a common derivation from <span class="accented">baar</span>, "to dig." But <span class="accented">bor</span> is an artificially constructed reservoir or cistern, equivalent to the Vulgate <span class="accented">cisterna</span>, and LXX. <span class="greek">ἄγγειος</span>, while <span class="accented">b'er</span> is the natural spring of water, equivalent to the Vulgate <span class="accented">putens.</span> So Aben Ezra, who says, on <a href="/leviticus/2.htm">Leviticus 2</a>:36, "<span class="accented">Bor</span> is that which catches the rain, while <span class="accented">b'er</span> is that from within which the water wells up." This explanation, however, does not entirely cover the terms as used here. The "waters" (Hebrew, <span class="accented">mayim</span>) may be the pure water conveyed into the cistern, and not simply the water which is caught in its descent born heaven. The parallel term, "running waters" (Hebrew, <span class="accented">noz'lim</span>), describes the flowing limpid stream fit, like the other, for drinking purposes. A similar use of the terms is made in the <a href="/songs/4-15.htm">Song of Solomon 4:15</a>, "a well of living waters (<span class="accented">b'er mayim khayyim</span>) and streams (<span class="accented">v'noz'lim</span>) from Lebanon." It may be remarked that the allusion to the wife, under the figures employed, enhances her value. It indicates the high estimation in which she is to be held, since the "cistern" or "well" was one of the most valuable possessions and adjuncts of an Eastern house. The teaching of the passage, in its bearing on the subject of marriage, coincides with that which is subsequently put forward by St. Paul, in <a href="/1_corinthians/7-9.htm">1 Corinthians 7:9</a>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/commentaries/proverbs/5-15.htm">Parallel Commentaries ...</a></span><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><a name="lexicon" id="lexicon"></a><div class="vheading">Hebrew</div><span class="word">Drink</span><br /><span class="heb">שְׁתֵה־</span> <span class="translit">(šə·ṯêh-)</span><br /><span class="parse">Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_8354.htm">Strong's 8354: </a> </span><span class="str2">To imbibe</span><br /><br /><span class="word">water</span><br /><span class="heb">מַ֥יִם</span> <span class="translit">(ma·yim)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - masculine plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_4325.htm">Strong's 4325: </a> </span><span class="str2">Water, juice, urine, semen</span><br /><br /><span class="word">from your own cistern,</span><br /><span class="heb">מִבּוֹרֶ֑ךָ</span> <span class="translit">(mib·bō·w·re·ḵā)</span><br /><span class="parse">Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_953.htm">Strong's 953: </a> </span><span class="str2">A pit, cistern, well</span><br /><br /><span class="word">and running water</span><br /><span class="heb">וְ֝נֹזְלִ֗ים</span> <span class="translit">(wə·nō·zə·lîm)</span><br /><span class="parse">Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_5140.htm">Strong's 5140: </a> </span><span class="str2">To flow, trickle, drop, distill</span><br /><br /><span class="word">out of</span><br /><span class="heb">מִתּ֥וֹךְ</span> <span class="translit">(mit·tō·wḵ)</span><br /><span class="parse">Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_8432.htm">Strong's 8432: </a> </span><span class="str2">A bisection, the centre</span><br /><br /><span class="word">your own well.</span><br /><span class="heb">בְּאֵרֶֽךָ׃</span> <span class="translit">(bə·’ê·re·ḵā)</span><br /><span class="parse">Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular<br /></span><span class="str"><a href="/hebrew/strongs_875.htm">Strong's 875: </a> </span><span class="str2">A pit, a well</span><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading">Links</div><a href="/niv/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="//bibleapps.com/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 BibleApps.com</a><br /><a href="//bibliaparalela.com/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="//holybible.com.cn/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="//saintebible.com/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 French Bible</a><br /><a href="/catholic/proverbs/5-15.htm">Proverbs 5:15 Catholic Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/proverbs/5-15.htm">OT Poetry: Proverbs 5:15 Drink water out of your own cistern (Prov. Pro Pr) </a></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="/proverbs/5-14.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Proverbs 5:14"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Proverbs 5:14" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="/proverbs/5-16.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Proverbs 5:16"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Proverbs 5:16" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>