Proverbs 2:17

who leaves ¹  the husband ²  from her younger days, ³  and forgets her marriage covenant ⁴  made before God. ⁵ 

who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.

That leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God;

She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.

Who's faithless to the husband she married years ago, never gave a second thought to her promises before God.

Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind:

who forsakes the partner of her youth and forgets her sacred covenant;

Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.

who leaves ¹  the husband ²  from her younger days, ³  and forgets her marriage covenant ⁴  made before God. ⁵ 

¹ tn The construction is the active participle of עָזַב (’azav) with the article, serving as an attributive adjective. The verb means “to forsake; to leave; to abandon.”

² tn Heb “companion” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “partner.” The term אַלּוּף (’alluf, “companion”) is from the root אָלַף (’alaf, “to be familiar with; to cleave to”) and refers to a woman’s husband (Prov 2:17; Jer 3:4; see BDB 48 s.v. אַלּוּף 2). This noun follows the passive adjectival formation and so signifies one who is well-known.

³ tn Heb “of her youth.” The noun נְעוּרֶיהָ (nÿ’ureha, “her youth”) functions as a temporal genitive. The plural form is characteristic of nouns that refer to long periods of duration in the various stages of life. The time of “youth” encompasses the entire formative period within marriage.

⁴ tn Heb “the covenant.” This could refer to the Mosaic covenant that prohibits adultery, or more likely, as in the present translation, the marriage covenant (cf. also TEV, CEV). The lexicons list this use of “covenant” (בְּרִית, bÿrit) among other referents to marriage (Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8; Mal 2:14; BDB 136 s.v. 1.5; HALOT 157 s.v. A.9).

⁵ tn Heb “covenant of God.” The genitive-construct could mean “covenant made before God.” The woman and her husband had made a marriage-covenant in which God was invoked as witness. Her sin is against her solemn pledge to her husband, as well as against God.