Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 2:16

"To deliver thee from the strange woman, Even from the foreigner that flattereth with her words;" — Proverbs 2:16 (ASV)

The second great evil, the warnings against which are frequent (see the marginal reference). Two words are used to describe the class.

1. “The strange woman” is one who does not belong to the family, one who by birth is outside the covenant of Israel.
2. “The stranger” is none other than a foreigner.

It is the word used for the “strange” wives of Solomon (1 Kings 11:1, 1 Kings 11:8) and for those of the Jews who returned from Babylon (Ezra 10, various verses). The two words together, in connection with what follows them, which implies both marriage and a profession of religious faith, point to some interesting facts in the social history of Israel.

Whatever form the sin referred to here had assumed before the monarchy (and the Book of Judges testifies to its frequency), contact with Phoenicians and other nations under Solomon had a strong tendency to increase it. The king’s example would naturally be followed, and it probably became a fashion to have foreign wives and concubines.

At first, it would seem, this was accompanied by some show of proselytism (Proverbs 2:17); but the old pagan leaven (influence) soon broke out, and the sensual worship of other gods led the way to a life of harlotry.

The stringent laws of the Mosaic code (Leviticus 19:29; Leviticus 21:9; Deuteronomy 23:18) probably deterred the women of Israel from that sin and led to a higher standard of purity among them than prevailed among other nations.

Most interpreters have, however, generalized the words as speaking of any adulteress. The Septuagint, as if reluctant to speak of facts so shameful, has allegorized them and seen in the temptress the personification of “evil counsel.”