Proverbs 2:16-18 - The Adulteress

 Prov 2:16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress [who] flatters with her words,
 Prov 2:17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.

"the covenant" 

Gill thought that "the covenant" here did not refer to Noah's covenant nor to Moses' covenant, but to the marriage act of covenant itself. But, it seems to me best to also relate it to the seventh commandment - Thou shalt not commit adultery - for the following reasons:

  1. The woman is part of the covenant people and violation of the seventh commandment is violation of God's covenant
  2. This is neither her covenant nor her husband's but God's. She forgets the impermissibility of divorce/forsaking within the covenant membership of God. 
  3. This "forsaking" as adultery is elaborated by Christ: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery." (Luke 16:18)
  4. Thus, this "immoral woman" is not necessarily a prostitute. She might just be someone else' wife, an adulteress who has no respect for the covenantal law.
  5. The violation of the marital covenant (Ezek 16:8; Ezek 16:59; Ezek 16:60; Mal 2:14-16) is also a violation of God's covenant for the same reason.
  6. Thus, the adulteress in the Jewish setting is not merely violating her marital covenant, but also violating the covenant of God that requires her to be faithful to her spouse.

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