“My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways” (:26) — “heart” speaks of attitude, “ways” speaks of action. Dad invites his son to think like he thinks and act like he acts.
This is the reason why — “for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well” (:27). The “deep pit” and “narrow well” were most likely man-made, dug for specific agricultural, industrial or domestic purposes in antiquity.
But if someone ever found themselves at the bottom of either, it was probably a painful fall and it would have been tough getting out! Messing around with immoral women was like falling into such a deep narrow hole.
But, there’s more — “like a bandit she lies in wait” (:28). It’s an ambush! And she’ll rob us of whatever we have.
The saddest part of this whole three-verse wise saying is that it’s about “unfaithful men” (:28). In the end, both the fall into the hole in the ground and the ambush could have been avoided — by paying attention to what dad was saying (:26).
Of course, momma could have — and probably did — say the same things to her daughter! Hope they all listened…hope we are, too!