This passage does not merely warn humans seeking wisdom about relationships with prostitutes. Upon closer examination, the wise man’s advice also addresses relationships with foreign women, reflecting concerns that arose in post-exilic Israel. Jews are encouraged to love their wife wholeheartedly, to have only one, and to choose her from within the Jewish community to avoid two main dangers: 1. In the economic realm, there was a risk that, if the husband died, his estate could fall into foreign hands, potentially leaving the family of the deceased at risk of servitude to a foreigner. 2. From a religious perspective, a non-Jewish wife could introduce the idols of her family into the new household with an Israelite, which was considered abominable in the eyes of the Lord.