Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 5:14

"I was well-nigh in all evil In the midst of the assembly and congregation." — Proverbs 5:14 (ASV)

The conscience-stricken sinner had been almost given up to every form of evil in the sight of the whole assembly of the townspeople; almost, therefore, condemned to the death which that assembly might inflict (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). The public scandal of the sin is brought in as its last aggravating feature.