Proverbs 5:10
"And strangers will be filled with your strength and your hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien."
strangers
This is the Hebrew word zur which is the word stranger but also the word adulteresses. It is important to note that Solomon uses the plural form of the word to suggest that the result of the giving in to one harlot is chasing after many. Solomon is saying here – in a much more literal form – that your energy, money, and time will go in chasing after adulteresses. A man never just has one. It starts a chain of these sexual escapades that keeps you running after them like a donkey after the carrot. It always seems like the next one will be one who will really make you happy, but after awhile it will grow boring or filled with problems.
strength
This is the Hebrew word koach which means strength, power, ability, might, even wealth. Solomon means here that if you give into the lures of an adulteress, then it will become a convenient pathway to deal with troubles and pain. You will spend your time, energy, money, and abilities chasing sexual pleasure. One day you will wake up without anything to show for large sections of your life.
goods
This is the word etseb and really is the word translated by three words: hard earned goods. It means hurt, pain, toil, labor. Solomon is trying to point out the cost of what you will be giving up to go after a few moments of pleasure. He is saying that you will work hard and go through great pain to get paid and get a little ahead only to have it flow away from you to someone else after your 15 seconds of pleasure are over. Don't do it.
alien
Nokri is the Hebrew word which means foreign, alien, adulteress. The idea is of someone whom you are with that you should not be with. This person is alien to you in terms of what you are doing with her. This type of behavior is reserved for your spouse and yet you are seeking it from an alien, a stranger. If you are not married to this person, then that person is strange to you.
Solomon has said it every way he can in one verse. This person is one of many adulteresses that you will end up chasing if you go down that road. This person(s) will end up with the fruit of your hard labor. You will end up with nothing. This is nothing more than a path that promises a rich life but does not deliver.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz