but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Here we have, I. A solemn preface, to introduce the caution which follows, Pro 5:1, Pro 5:2. Solomon here addresses himself to his son, that is, to all young men, as unto his children, whom he has an affection for and some influence upon. In God's name, he demands attention; for he writes by divine inspiration, and is a prophet, though he begins not with, Thus saith the Lord.
Commenting on Proverbs 5:1-14
But her end is bitter as wormwood,.... Which is opposed to the honeycomb her lips are said to drop; so that, as Juvenal says (g), "plus aloes quam mellis habet": the end which she brings persons to, or the issue of complying with her, is bitterness; such as loss of credit, substance, and health, remorse of conscience, and fear of death, corporeal and eternal; see...
her end--literally, "her future," in sense of reward, what follows (compare Psa 37:37; Psa 73:17). Its nature is evinced by the use of figures, opposite those of Pro 5:3. The physical and moral suffering of the deluded profligate are notoriously terrible.