2:18

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

18a For her house sinks down to death,

18b and her tracks to the departed spirits.

There is an ellipsis in 2:18b. In some languages, the missing words will need to be supplied from 2:18a. For example:

18b and her tracks ⌊sink down⌋ to the departed spirits of the dead.

2:18a–b

For: This word introduces an explanation for the statement in 2:16 that wisdom will save the young man from getting involved with an adulteress. Verse 2:18 gives the severe consequences from which wisdom will save him. It does not introduce the reason why the woman ignored her marriage vows. In some languages, it may be clearer to leave the connection between these verses implied. For example:

Entering her house leads to death (New Living Translation (2004))

her house sinks down to…her tracks to: In Hebrew, the first phrase is more literally “she sinks down to death, her house.” Almost all versions understand her house to be the subject of the sentence. Most scholars also understand sinks down to refer to paths that lead down to the world of the dead, not to a house that literally sinks down.

The parallel phrase her tracks to probably means here “the tracks that lead to her” rather than “the tracks that she takes.” Together, these parallel phrases indicate that men who choose to get involved with an adulteress are acting in a way that will lead to death. Other ways to translate these parallel lines are:

18a Her house is on the way to death;

18b those who took that path are now all dead. (New Century Version)
-or-
18a If you go to her house, you are traveling the road to death. 18b To go there is to approach the world of the dead. (Good News Translation)

death…the departed spirits: In this verse, death refers to an early or unexpected literal death, the consequence of adultery. Death is a figure of speech (metonymy) that represents Sheol, the world of the dead. Sheol is regarded as being under the surface of the earth (also see the notes on 1:12a–b and 9:18b).

The parallel phrase that is translated by the Berean Standard Bible as the departed spirits is one word in Hebrew. It refers to the spirits of the dead who inhabit Sheol, the place of the dead. Other ways to translate this Hebrew word are:

the world of the dead (Good News Translation)
-or-
the grave (New Living Translation (2004))

General Comment on 2:18a–b

Because of the similar meaning of the parallel parts, it may be preferable in some languages to combine and/or reorder the parts. For example:

The road to her house leads down to the dark world of the dead. (Contemporary English Version)

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