Proverbs Chapter 2 verse 18 Holy Bible
For her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead;
read chapter 2 in ASV
For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades:
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-- for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead;
read chapter 2 in DARBY
For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
read chapter 2 in KJV
read chapter 2 in WBT
For her house leads down to death, Her paths to the dead.
read chapter 2 in WEB
For her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths.
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 18. - For her house inclineth unto death; rather, she sinks down to death together with her house (Bottcher, Delitzsch). The objection to the Authorized Version is that it does not tbllow the construction of the original, the verb "sinks down" (שָׁחָה, shakhah) being feminine, while "house" (בָיִת, bayith) is invariably masculine. Aben Ezra translates, "She sinks down to death, (which is to be) her house;" but it seems better to regard "her house" as an adjunct of the strange woman. Her house includes all who belong to her. She and they are involved in the same fate. The Authorized Version is evidently influenced by the Vulgate, Inclinata est enim ad mortem domus ejus, "For her house is inclined to death." The LXX. gives a different rendering, Ἕθετο γὰρ παρὰ τῷ θανάτῳ τὸν οϊκον αὐτῆς, "For she hath placed her house beside death." So the Arabic. The "for" (כִּי, ki) refers back to ver. 16, and indicates how great is the deliverance effected by wisdom. The meaning of the passage is aptly illustrated by Proverbs 7:27, "Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." And her paths unto the dead. The dead (רְפָאִים, r'phaim) are properly the quiet, or the feeble. They are the shadowy inhabitants or shades of Hades, the inferi of the Vulgate, and are here put for Sheol itself. Compare the ἔδωλα καμνόντων of Homer, and the umbrae, "shades," of Virgil. The word occurs again in Proverbs 9:18; Proverbs 21:16; and in Psalm 88:11; Isaiah 26:14, 19; Job 26:5.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(18) For her house inclineth . . .--Rather, she sinks down with her house: house and all, like Dathan and Abiram.Unto the dead.--In Hebrew the Reph?im. The word may signify those "at rest" (comp. Job 3:17 : "There the weary are at rest"); or the "weak." (Comp. Isaiah 14:10 : "Art thou also become weak as we?")
