Proverbs 6:24

by keeping ¹  you from the evil woman, ²  from the smooth tongue of ³  the loose woman. ⁴ 

keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.

To keep you from the evil woman, From the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

These commands and this teaching will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of an adulterous woman.

They'll protect you from wanton women, from the seductive talk of some temptress.

They will keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the strange woman.

to preserve you from the wife of another, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

To keep you from the evil woman, From the flattering tongue of a seductress.

by keeping ¹  you from the evil woman, ²  from the smooth tongue of ³  the loose woman. ⁴ 

¹ tn The infinitive construct is epexegetical here, explaining how these teachings function as lights: “by keeping you.” This verse is the transition from the general admonition about heeding the teachings to the practical application.

² tc The word translated “woman” is modified by רַע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of violating the codes of the community and inflicting harm on others. The BHS editors propose changing it to read “strange woman” as before, but there is not support for that. Some commentaries follow the LXX and read רַע as “wife of a neighbor” (cf. NAB; also NRSV “the wife of another”; CEV “someone else’s wife”) but that seems to be only a clarification.

³ tn The word “tongue” is not in construct; the word “foreign woman” is in apposition to “smooth of tongue,” specifying whose it is. The word “smooth” then is the object of the preposition, “tongue” is the genitive of specification, and “foreign woman” in apposition.

⁴ sn The description of the woman as a “strange woman” and now a “loose [Heb “foreign”] woman” is within the context of the people of Israel. She is a “foreigner” in the sense that she is a nonconformist, wayward, and loose. It does not necessarily mean that she is not ethnically an Israelite.