5:5
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
5a
Her feet go down to death ;
5b
her steps lead straight to Sheol.
In 5:4, the focus was the result of sleeping with an adulteress. In 5:5, attention changes to the woman herself. In some languages, this change of focus may need to be made explicit. See the first meaning line in the Display for 5:5a–b (combined/reordered) for one way to do this.
5:5a–b
Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol: The phrase Her feet is a figure of speech (synecdoche) that refers to the woman herself. She is described as going down to death. The Jews commonly thought of the place of the dead as being “down,” under the earth. The parallel clause her steps lead straight to Sheol indicates that the woman is walking deliberately and directly toward the place of the dead.
In Hebrew, verses 5:5–6 mention only the woman. However, in the context of 5:3–4, verse 5:5 contains an implied warning to the young man that the woman will lead him to the same place. Some English versions make this explicit. For example:
She will take you down to the world of the dead; the road she walks is the road to death. (Good News Translation)
Other versions leave this warning implied. In deciding whether to make this information explicit, be sure to consider the whole context.
to death…to Sheol: In Hebrew, death is parallel to Sheol. Both terms refer here to the place where dead people stay.
5:5b
Sheol: In Hebrew, Sheol refers to the place of the dead. For more information on ways to translate “Sheol,” see the note on 1:12a.
General Comment on 5:5a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the parallel parts. For example:
That woman is going directly toward Sheol, the place of the dead.
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