Passage

Proverbs 2.18

Book: Proverbs · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"16. To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words; 17. That forsaketh the friend of her youth, And forgetteth the covenant of her God:"

"18. For her house inclineth unto death, And her paths unto the dead;"

"19. None that go unto her return again, Neither do they attain unto the paths of life: 20. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, And keep the paths of the righteous." (Proverbs 2:16-20, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"16. To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words; 17. who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:"

"18. for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits."

"19. None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life: 20. that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous." (Proverbs 2:16-20, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"16. To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God."

"18. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead."

"19. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. 20. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous." (Proverbs 2:16-20, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"16. To deliver thee from the strange woman, From the stranger who hath made smooth her sayings, 17. Who is forsaking the guide of her youth, And the covenant of her God hath forgotten."

"18. For her house hath inclined unto death, And unto Rephaim her paths."

"19. None going in unto her turn back, Nor do they reach the paths of life. 20. That thou dost go in the way of the good, And the paths of the righteous dost keep." (Proverbs 2:16-20, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

H7585 - sheol

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.