5:3 a strange woman. The so-called “strange woman” (or “foreign woman”) is mentioned some ten times in Proverbs. The emphasis, however, is not on the fact that she was foreign born, but instead had not been instructed in the laws of God, as had the women of Israel, and so often tended to practice idolatrous promiscuity. She was also called a “foolish woman” (Proverbs 9:13), and is actually personified as “the foolish” or “folly,” in contrast to “wisdom.”