"... The sage begins by emphasizing respect for marriage. The young man is to avoid jealousy toward his wife, else she may be provoked to evil. In 9:2 Ben Sira displays his cautious outlook (33:20): giving power to a woman could enable her to disgrace her husband by trampling on his dignity (Proverbs 31:3). Moreover, the male student should avoid intimacy with a strange (or foreign) woman, who might catch him in her snares (Proverbs 7:23). Sirach 9:5 advises against lustful thoughts toward a virgin (Job 31:1; Matthew 5:28). Moreover, the student associating too closely with a married woman will go down in blood to the grave (Proverbs 2:18; 7:27), probably a reference to the death penalty stipulated for adulterers (Leviticus 20:10) or to the husband’s revenge (Proverbs 6:34) ..."