2:19

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

19a None who go to her return

19b or negotiate the paths of life.

Proverbs 2:19b explains in more detail what it means to “return.”

2:19a–b

None who go to her: In Hebrew, this phrase is a euphemism that refers to sexual intercourse. Sometimes it will be possible to translate this phrase with a natural euphemism in your language. In other languages, it may be better to translate the meaning without using a euphemism. Use an expression that your readers will consider to be appropriate. Some expressions that occur commonly in English are:

None who have sex with her (God’s Word)
-or-
None who sleep with her
-or-
None who make love with her

return or negotiate the paths of life: The words return and negotiate are parallel. Both refer to the same event or process. In this context, “None who go to her return” means that the person who begins a life of sexual immorality is on a figurative path that leads to death, from which he cannot return. It does not mean that a person who sleeps with an adulteress will never literally leave her house and return to his own home.

The phrase paths of life also occurs with slight variations in 5:6, 6:23, 10:17, 15:24. In all of the above verses except for 10:17, it is clearly contrasted with “death” or the “grave.” It may mean “road ⌊leading⌋ to life” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). It may also refer to experiencing ordinary earthly existence, probably with the connotation of a long and prosperous life. For example:

No one who goes to her comes back or walks the path of life again. (New Century Version)

In either case, it means that people who die cannot return from the world of the dead to resume their life on earth.

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