Adultery and its consequences

Adultery and its consequences

My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.

Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts. (Prov.6:20-35)

Ninth Paternal Appeal: Adultery Leads to Ruin. This is the second of three paternal appeals that focus on sexual ethics (cf. 5:1–23; 7:1–23). Wisdom here helps the son see past the immediate temptation to the consequences, namely, spiritual ruin in the midst of social and financial disgrace (and possibly even death). The fuller description of disaster here evokes and intensifies the description in 5:7–14. The emphasis on sexual sin may be due to the fact that it is an obvious representative of various kinds of sins; probably it is such a good representative because a person in the throes of sexual temptation easily ignores the consequences, and the results are so destructive. Wisdom, then, is the means by which God protects his faithful from such disaster (see note on 2:9–11).

Prov. 6:20: Your mother's teaching. In the appeals of chs. 1–9, usually only the father is mentioned. The mother as teacher appears here and in 1:8 (see note on 1:8). The young man's mother represents respect for the institutions of family and marriage.

Prov. 6:24–26: The adulteress. The specific situation here is another man's wife who would willingly commit adultery with the son being addressed. Such a case would present sexual temptation in its most powerful form. There are other kinds of temptation, of course, and the wise reader will apply this example by making the appropriate adaptations (see Introduction: Literary Features; also note on 5:1–23).

Prov. 6:25: Do not desire her beauty in your heart. See Matt. 5:28.

Prov. 6:26: The Hebrew of this verse is very difficult, and translations vary, but the esv rendering is most likely correct. The meaning is that a prostitute may be quite cheap—as cheap as a loaf of bread—but that having an affair with a married woman is fatal.

Prov. 6:27–31: The father applies two analogies to make his point that succumbing to this temptation leads to disaster. First, he says that one cannot engage in outrageously foolish behavior and not suffer for it (vv. 27–29). Embracing a neighbor's wife is taking fire to one's chest. Second, using an argument from lesser to greater, he reasons that if someone who steals under a sense of compulsion has to pay a severe penalty, how much greater penalty will a man suffer for committing a more disgraceful and altogether unnecessary offense.

Prov. 6:29: None . . . will go unpunished. The obvious question is, “By whom?” In Proverbs, the term “go unpunished” usually implies that God does the punishing (11:21; 16:5; 17:5; 19:5, 9; 28:20).

Prov. 6:35: He will accept no compensation. The offended husband will not be satisfied until you (singular, bringing the passage back to the son being addressed, vv. 20–25) have paid the full penalty.

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