John Gill Commentary Proverbs 5:17

"Let them be for thyself alone, And not for strangers with thee." — Proverbs 5:17 (ASV)

Let them be only your own, and not strangers' with you .
] Or "they shall be your own" ^F21 , as the Targum; meaning not the cistern, the well, or the wife, but the fountains and rivers, or the children; by a man's cleaving to his own wife, who is a chaste and virtuous woman, he is satisfied that the children he has by her are his own, and not another's; whereas if he has to do with a common harlot, it is uncertain whose children they are, she prostituting herself to many: it may be applied to the peculiar possession and steadfast retention of the truths of the Gospel, in opposition to all divers and strange doctrines propagated by others; see (Revelation 2:25) (3:11) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F21: (Kl wyhy) "erunt tui", Mercerus, Cocceius; "erunt tibi", Baynus; "existent tibi", Schultens.