Proverbs 2:17
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Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
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Our perverse nation promotes casual sex and adultery, but godly women must be taught strongly to abhor it. Every father must eliminate any influence in her life that would lessen a girl's horror at the very thought of such a great sin. Two areas of life demanding strict attention are friends and various forms of entertainment, such as books, magazines, television, music, and movies. Evil communications corrupt good manners (I Cor 15:33).
The "guide of her youth" is her husband. And she forsakes him in a horrible way, when she is intimate with another man. Such a betrayal is heinous, since he has been her companion and guide from early youth. In contrast, a father's guidance may be forsaken, but the father himself is not truly forsaken by the adultery of a daughter.
Scripture describes the wife of a man's youth (5:18; Is 54:6; Joel 1:8; Mal 2:14-15). If girls married nearer biological maturity today, they would be husband and wife of youth. Our proverb is describing that general fact of Jewish life that marriage occurred early.
A father guides a girl in childhood (22:15). And it is his duty to preserve her virginity (Deut 22:14-17). But if marriage occurred early, as with the Jews, fatherly training would end near the time of youth, when the early husband would become the new guide.
Husbands have guided wives since Eden (Gen 3:16). He could annul her vows as easily as a daughter's (Num 30:8), and it was his duty to instruct her (I Cor 14:35). Men made the important decisions for their families, as they should (Gen 18:19; Josh 24:15).
We can divide life from birth to five as infants, from five to puberty as children, and from puberty to various definitions of majority as youth. Consider the following Scriptures among others: Lev 27:1-7; I Sam 12:2; Eccl 11:10; Jonah 4:11; I Cor 7:9,36; I Tim 4:12.
The perverse character of the strange woman is her ability to betray the husband of her youth in such a painful way. Many women cannot think of it. Let foolish men beware, if she has betrayed her husband, she will betray you even more easily and quickly.
The "covenant of her God" is her marriage covenant (Mal 2:14). Job made a covenant with his eyes (Job 31:1). Since the woman was made for the man, sexual loyalty is even more binding on the woman. A proper marriage covenant would also include God's will for sexual fidelity (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:13-21; 23:17; Heb 13:4).
Let every godly woman read Numbers 5:11-31 and see the help God gives husbands against cheating wives and the severity with which He judges them. This passage reflects the mind of the Lord, and every compromising thought to the contrary is an abomination.
A father has an important role in training daughters, for he is the main teacher (Eph 6:4). A mother cannot do nearly as well. What does a woman know about men? Let daughters be taught and soberly warned about virtuous conduct and profane men by their fathers.
Every girl who fears God should receive her father's instruction with a ready heart. And every married woman should remember the guide of her youth and the covenant she made before God. Due to her place in creation and God's roles for her, she will be judged severely for sexual infidelity. But for every repentant Mary, there is a forgiving Saviour.
Jesus called His saints adulterers and adulteresses to intensify the heinous nature of idolatry and worldliness (Ezek 16; James 4:4). The pain, betrayal, and perversity of adultery is an appropriate comparison for any departure from loving Him fully and only.
The strange woman, a whore or adulteress, is our subject from the previous verse. Solomon warns often in the early chapters of Proverbs against this dangerous seductress. And here the Preacher condemns the character of such women by two great offences. It is important every young man and woman learn to hate her with holy hatred.
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