Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his garments not be burned?
The picture is a question a child could answer: cloth held against live fire burns, every time. The warning is aimed at the man who thinks he can touch his neighbour's wife and walk away unmarked.
The force of the image is how obvious it is. One writer puts this picture beside the one in the next verse:
Two pictures now show the extreme folly of giving in to adultery. First, it is like carrying fire next to your chest. Who would really do that? Probably no one. Yet doing it would be no more foolish than committing adultery. In the same way, most people are not foolish enough to walk on hot coals. But they are willing to do something just as foolish: commit adultery.
The first charge here is folly, not just wickedness. This man does with his soul what nobody would do with his shirt.
Why does anyone try it? One writer shows how the trouble starts small, and why a man expects to get away with it:
But lust works quietly on both sides, and small beginnings, where a marriage already exists, tend to grow into great evils. Satan works on the flesh. He leads people who forget that God is present to take the risk, hoping in vain to escape. But can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? If such corruption cannot escape the fire of human revenge, how much less the fire of God's judgment? Any approach, however small or passing, is dangerous and evil.
Two things stand out. Forgetting that God is watching makes the risk feel safe. And the danger is not only at the end of the road. It is in the first step.
The verses that follow set adultery beside stealing, and stealing comes off better. Hunger draws pity; lust draws none:
When the need is plain, people make allowance for a thief who steals a little rather than starve. But what is as senseless, and as hateful a sin, as adultery? In the one case pity mixes with blame. Nothing can excuse the other. It is the worst disgrace to the husband. It ruins the trapped wife for life. It shames the house and everyone connected with it. And God, who judges it, hates it.
Notice how the burn spreads. One man takes the fire into his clothing, but it scorches four: the husband, the woman, the household, and the man himself, whom God judges.
Since the harm starts at the approach, the answer is not courage but distance. One writer reads the New Testament command the same way, and points to a man who lived it out:
"Flee from sexual immorality." Here you are not told to fight, but to keep far away from it, as Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife. Other sins may not involve the body in this way, but this is sin against one's own body.
Joseph served in Potiphar's house in Egypt. He did not stay to argue; he ran. That is the practical answer to a fire you cannot hold: put it down and leave the room.
The verse asks about clothes, and burnt clothes stay burnt. One writer follows the scorch into the man's later life:
Even in this world the adulterer will get wounds and disgrace, and his shame will not be wiped away… "For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge." Offering a ransom is useless. No amount of gifts will satisfy a man who cannot rest until the wrong is properly punished.
Some assume forgiveness removes the burn as well as the guilt. One writer keeps the two apart:
Grace can never be lost. God will surely carry every believer through the wilderness and present him in glory. But along the way God's unchanging principles of government touch us just as they touch anyone else. The flesh must not be indulged. Those who belong to Christ have crucified it with its passions and lusts. Treat it as an evil thing. Give it no room and no mercy.
- Fire — the question has only one answer: cloth held to flame burns, and no one is the exception.
- Approach — the burning starts before the sin does. "Any approach, however small or passing, is dangerous and evil," so small beginnings are the real warning.
- Forgetting — men risk it only because they forget that God is present and hope in vain to escape.
- Flight — the response commanded is not to fight the fire but to leave it, as Joseph left Potiphar's house.
- Scar — the wound and shame "will not be wiped away." Grace is never lost, but God's government still touches the believer on the road.
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?
Two questions sit side by side here: fire carried against the chest, and bare feet on hot coals. Both answer themselves. Solomon asks them for one purpose — to show that a man cannot go near another man's wife and walk away unharmed.
Fire needs no debate. It burns whoever handles it. The man tempted here hopes he will be the exception.
There is a baseness all its own, even among immoral people, when a man tampers with another man's wife. Lust is insidious on either side. Little beginnings, where that relationship exists, are apt to go on to great evils. For Satan acts on the flesh. He leads souls who forget God's presence to take the risk, in the vain hope of escape. But can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? Any approach, however small or passing, is dangerous and evil.
Human courts are not the last word on it either.
That corruption will not escape the fire of human vengeance, how much less of divine judgment?
Coals scorch the feet — the part that walks a man into trouble. Nobody plans the ruin; they plan the stroll. The danger is a man's confidence in himself.
How many a man who trusted himself has been lured in! A little license rapidly betrays a man into shameful sin. If the Jews were God's people, our relationship is much closer — we are His children, bought with a price, which they in their blindness despised. We are not our own. We are called to beware of an immoral woman, and even more of another man's wife, an adulteress. Here the evil is worse still: ruin of both soul and body, and a special object of God's judgment.
Some people plan one controlled experiment with sin. They tell themselves it is only this once, and that they can stop when they like.
Whoever goes in for sin (for just this once, not much harm in it, don't mean to practice it) does so at his or her peril. On these very lines Solomon in his happier days asks, "Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?" (Prov. 6:27). Solomon, with great wisdom and vast resources of wealth, gratified his every whim under the sun. In his old age, as he drew near to the gates of death, all he could do was wail out, "Behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."
The burn is not always immediate, and the delay deceives people. A fire can smoulder for years before it shows.
We may go on for years in a course of secret evil. We may cultivate some unholy principle, indulge some unholy lust, or give way to some unholy temper or feeling. But the smouldering flame must in the end break out, and show us the real character of our doings. This is a truly sobering thought. We cannot hide things from God, nor cause Him to think that our wrong ways are all right. We may try to reason ourselves into such a thought. We may persuade our hearts by plausible arguments that such and such things are right, good, or lawful. But "God is not mocked: for whatever one sows, that will he also reap."
If the burn is certain, willpower on the coals is not the remedy. The feet need a different route, and it starts in the thoughts.
If we do not want to yield to the sin, we should take care not to walk past the thing that tempts us, or sit at its door. Do not discuss in your thoughts what you do not mean to let into your heart. If we do not mean to be burned, let us not walk on the coals of temptation.
- Fire. The question answers itself on purpose. Clothes burn, feet scorch, and sin works the same way — "any approach, however small or passing, is dangerous and evil."
- Feet. What gets scorched is the part that walks. A man is not ambushed into this sin; he strolls into it, because "a little license rapidly betrays a man into shameful sin."
- Fantasy. Every tempted heart believes it will be the exception. Souls "forget God's presence" and take the risk "in the vain hope of escape."
- Fuse. Delay is not escape. A man may nurse secret evil for years, but "the smouldering flame must in the end break out."
- Flee. Distance is the only safe move. Self-control at close range is not enough: "if we do not mean to be burned, let us not walk on the coals of temptation."
So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
Proverbs 6:29 ends a run of images about fire and burning with one flat fact: this sin leaves no one innocent. Can anyone come near it and still walk away clean?
The warnings in this chapter build. Commentators note a sharpening here: not just a loose or immoral woman, but a woman who belongs to another man.
The warning here is even stronger, because it deals with a worse and more destructive evil. It is not only the evil woman, or the woman who is a stranger, or the loose woman. It is the wife of another man, as in the last clause. The language grows more severe, because marriage is a tie God Himself made. God hates the breaking of it, and He judges those who break it.
The verse does not name only the act of adultery. It warns the man who touches her, because this sin starts small.
Even among people who live loose lives, there is a special kind of vileness in a man who tampers with another man's wife. But lust works quietly on both sides. Where that relationship exists, small beginnings tend to grow into great evils. Satan works on the flesh. He leads people who forget that God is present to take the risk, hoping in vain that they will escape... That corruption will not escape the fire of human vengeance, how much less of divine judgment? Any approach, however small or passing, is dangerous and evil.
The practical answer is to refuse the situation before it becomes a decision.
If we do not want to give in to the sin, we should take care not to walk past the occasion, or sit at its door. Do not argue in your thoughts with what you do not mean to let into your heart. If we do not mean to be burnt, let us not walk on the coals of temptation. When you are bold enough to lay your head in the lap of a temptation, you are daring God to let your hair be cut.
The verses that follow set this man beside a thief who steals because he is starving. The comparison shows why he cannot be called innocent.
This is the foolish wickedness of a man who is seduced by his neighbour's wife. He will not go unpunished (v. 29). If a man steals food when he is starving, people do not despise him for it. Yet he must pay back seven times over when he is caught. In other words, justice demands punishment even for a small offence like that. So what about the far more serious guilt of adultery? The man who falls into this has no understanding: he destroys his own soul. Such sin is above all against his Maker, but it harms others too.
The guilt does not stop with the two people involved. It spreads, and the law of Moses priced it far above theft.
In the one case pity mixes with blame, but nothing can excuse the other. It is the foulest dishonour to the husband. It is the lifelong ruin of the trapped wife. It is the shame of the house and of everyone connected with it. God hates it, and He judges it... For stealing, the law set fines of four times, five times, and seven times over, as the guilt rose. But for adultery, Moses commanded death in the Lord's name.
Some read this as an old rule for an old nation. Commentators argue the opposite: the claim on a Christian is stronger.
The Jews were God's people, but our relationship is much closer. We are His children, bought with a price — the very price they despised in their blindness. We are not our own. We must beware of a loose woman, and even more of another man's wife, an adulteress. Here the evil is still more serious: it ruins both soul and body, and it draws God's special judgment.
The New Testament gives the same warning. It puts the danger inside close, friendly circles.
We are also warned about the flesh. It can take advantage of the free and happy fellowship among Christians, and indulge itself in impurity in the way we treat one another. The Lord will avenge any wrong of this kind against a brother. God has called us to holiness. So to give way to these gross passions is not only to sin against one another. It is to despise God, and to ignore the Holy Spirit He has given us.
- Touch. The verse condemns the first contact, not just the final act. Any approach, however small or passing, is dangerous and evil.
- Burn. If you do not mean to be burnt, do not walk on the coals of temptation.
- Guilt. A starving thief draws pity, yet still pays back seven times over. The adulterer has no excuse, and no understanding: he destroys his own soul.
- Ruin. The damage reaches the husband, the trapped wife, and the whole household. The law punished theft with fines, and adultery with death.
- Avenger. Christians stand closer still: bought with a price, and not their own. Wrong a brother here, and the Lord Himself will avenge it.
They do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry
Proverbs 6:30 sits inside a warning about adultery, and it works by comparison. The writer picks the crime people forgive most easily — a starving man taking food — to measure a sin they will not forgive.
People guard what they own, yet even they soften toward a man driven by starvation. One writer weighs that pity against the sin the chapter is really about:
The writer contrasts it even with stealing, though men are extremely sensitive about any loss to their property. If the need is plainly desperate, men make allowance for a thief who steals a little rather than starve to death. But what is so senseless, and so utterly sinful, as adultery? Pity mixes with blame in the one case; nothing can excuse the other. The law set fines of fourfold, fivefold, and sevenfold for growing guilt in stealing; but for adultery Moses commanded death in the Lord's name.
Sympathy does not cancel the debt. The next verse still makes the thief pay in full. One writer uses that to measure the greater sin:
If one steals food when he is starving, people do not despise him for this, yet he must restore sevenfold when found out. In other words, even for a small offence like this, justice demands punishment. What then of the deeply serious guilt of adultery? One who falls into this is destitute of understanding: he destroys his own soul.
Later in the same book, a man prays that poverty will not drive him to steal. Commenting there, one writer looks at what hungry men do with God's Name:
He recognises the danger of stealing and taking God's Name in vain, and will not trust himself; his trust is in God. If men steal to satisfy their hunger, they often use God's Name to justify it. But this is false, an outrage against that Name. We can easily understand a man's feelings when he steals in such a case. But honest prayer to God would bring a righteous answer, however hopeless the situation seemed.
Verse 31 does not send the thief to prison; it sends him to the person he robbed. One writer shows what victims lose when the law works the other way:
Human laws merely punish, brutalise and perpetuate offenders; they make no reparation. A man cheats people out of their life savings; he is jailed, and the victims get nothing back. But God's law did more than punish a thief. It made him work for wages to pay back the theft to his victims, Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 6:4. He was not jailed and kept at the taxpayers' expense, and his victims did not suffer and starve.
So what is the honest answer to need? One writer roots it in what God laid on man after the fall:
God has set us here, and humble diligence is a duty now — His ordinance since the fall. "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread." "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat." The opposite of peaceful labour for one's need is the violence and robbery already spoken of.
Repayment is where the law stops. One writer shows grace taking the same man further:
The thief is to become a labourer and even a giver, for grace transforms. The law required the thief to make restitution, but grace makes him positively generous.
- Pity — people excuse the hungry thief. Pity mixes with blame in his case, and the verse starts there.
- Penalty — pity never cancels the bill. Even this small offence meets justice. If the excusable act must pay, what about adultery?
- Prayer — need explains a man's feelings, but it does not excuse the act. Using God's Name to justify theft is an outrage against it. Honest prayer brings a righteous answer instead.
- Repayment — God's law aims at repair, not just punishment. The thief works and pays his victim back, instead of sitting in a cell while the robbed go without.
- Transformation — the far side of the story is work and generosity. The law can extract restitution from a thief; grace turns him into a giver.
and if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
Proverbs 6:31 sits inside a warning about adultery, and it starts with the mildest theft anyone can imagine: a starving man taking food. Even that theft strips his house bare — so what will adultery cost?
Theft is the example here; adultery is the target. The law had a scale of fines for stealing, and a different sentence for adultery.
The inspired writer contrasts it even with stealing, though people are very sensitive about any loss of their property. Where the need is clearly desperate, men excuse a thief who steals a little rather than die of starvation. But what is as senseless, or as disgustingly sinful, as adultery? Pity mingles with blame in the one case, but nothing can excuse the other. It dishonours the husband in the worst way. It ruins the trapped wife for life. It shames the house and everyone connected with it. God hates it and judges it… The law set fines of four times, five times, and seven times the value, as the guilt of the theft rose. But for adultery, Moses commanded death in the Lord's name.
The verse picks the thief who is easiest to pity, and fines him anyway. That is the first step in the argument.
If a man steals food when he is starving, people do not despise him. Yet when he is caught, he must restore sevenfold. In other words, only for a small infraction such as this, justice demands punishment. Therefore, what of the deeply serious guilt of adultery?
Notice who receives the payment. God's law aimed it at the victim, not at a prison.
Human laws only punish offenders, harden them, and keep them offending. They pay nothing back. A man cheats people out of their life savings; he is jailed, and the victims get nothing back. But God's law did both. It punished the thief and made him work for wages to pay his victims back, Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 6:4. He was not jailed and kept at the taxpayers' expense, and his victims did not suffer and starve.
Now raise the principle higher. A thief can empty his house for his neighbour, but no one can hand God enough to cover what we have taken from Him.
But the question for our souls is this: if God condemns robbing a fellow man like this, what can meet the sin of robbing God? How can those who are already sinners make restitution to Him? It is impossible. Left to ourselves, we would have remained under the consequences of our trespasses for ever. But we read in the Psalms of One who said, "Then I restored that which I took not away" (Psalm 69:4)… Under the law the offender had to make restitution himself. We could not do this. If there had been no substitute for us — no one to restore to God what He had not taken away, but we had — we would have been answerable to His claims for ever. Answerable for ever, and with nothing to pay.
Dennett quotes Psalm 69:4 from an older translation, which reads that line as a statement rather than a question.
Repayment is where the law leaves the thief. It is not where the gospel leaves him.
The thief is to become a worker and even a giver, for grace transforms. The law required the thief to pay back what he took. Grace makes him generous as well.
Restitution is also a sign of real repentance. Zacchaeus, a tax collector, showed it after he met Jesus.
Among other signs of true repentance we shall notice a willingness to make restitution to anyone who has been wronged… Zacchaeus wanted to see the Lord Jesus. The Lord answered his desire with grace and brought salvation to his house. Then Zacchaeus said, "If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold" (Luke 19:8). That is a case of bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance.
- Sympathy — Hunger softens how people judge a thief, and Scripture allows the pity. Pity is still not a defence.
- Sevenfold — The excusable crime still strips the house bare. The verse prices the lesser sin high so the reader will do the sum on the greater one.
- Restitution — God's law aimed repayment at the victim. The thief worked to pay back what he took, so the person he robbed was not left with nothing.
- Bankruptcy — Scale it up and the system breaks. Every one of us has robbed God, and no house on earth holds enough to repay Him.
- Substitution — Christ restored what He never took away, and paid the debt we could not pay. Grace then turns the thief himself into a worker and a giver.
Whoso committeth adultery with a woman is void of understanding he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
Proverbs 6 is a chapter of warnings for the young, and this verse sharpens one of them. The adulterer is not only wicked; he has no sense, and the first person he ruins is himself.
The verse names the man's own lack of sense first. Only then does it turn to the harm he does to others.
Anyone who falls into this has no understanding: he destroys his own soul. This sin is first of all against his Maker, but it harms others too. He will get wounds and disgrace, with contempt and shame.
The surrounding verses set adultery beside stealing. People can pity a thief. This sin leaves nothing to pity.
But what is as senseless, and as disgustingly sinful, as adultery? With a thief, pity is mixed with blame; with the adulterer, nothing can excuse him. It is the foulest dishonor done to the husband. It is the lifelong ruin of the trapped wife. It is the shame of the house and of everyone connected with it. God, who judges it, detests it. And how bitter must the anger be of the man wronged most of all? No wonder the evildoer is said to lack understanding or heart, and to destroy his own soul.
Nobody arrives at this sin in one step. It starts small, and it starts with the hope of getting away with it.
Even among people who live loosely, there is a lowness all its own in a man meddling with another man's wife. But lust creeps in on both sides, and where that marriage exists, small beginnings tend to grow into great evils. For Satan works on the flesh, and leads people who forget that God is present to take the risk, hoping in vain to get away with it. But can a man carry fire against his chest and his clothes not be burned?
The verse says he "destroys himself." Older translations read "destroys his own soul," and the ruin is not only inward. The next verses put part of it in the hands of the husband he has wronged.
What about the husband, when a man commits adultery with his wife? His jealousy is right, and it may make him furious. Of course he will do all he can to get some satisfaction for this wickedness. A thing like this is not forgiven easily, and he will usually refuse any payment offered.
One writer sums up the chapter in a line: nothing can make up for adultery (J. N. Darby).
So the wise answer is not to test how close a man can stand. One writer puts the safeguard in where a man lives — in his body and in his thoughts.
The special warning is to keep away: do not come near the door of her house. Live somewhere else in thought and in life, where the will does not walk the path of lust, and lust gets no chance to seize hold of the will. Disaster and ruin follow that path... It means handing over yourself and your self-control to sin that gains nothing. So when a man is ruined, what he remembers is not that he failed to follow a right path, but that his own will was at work and he had despised the warnings.
The verse says what a man does to himself. It does not shut the door on him. David fell into this same sin, and his way back is worth watching.
It is true that his act had wronged another man. He had taken the poor man's one little ewe lamb. But in all this he had sinned against God as well. When he saw and felt that, he said, "I have sinned against the Lord." The effect was to leave him alone with God... He suffers chastening for the wrong he had done, but the wages of sin are cancelled.
- Senseless. The first charge is folly, not cruelty. The man "lacks sense" — no understanding, no heart.
- Small. It starts with small beginnings, and with a vain hope of escaping the fire.
- Self. He destroys himself first. The sin is first of all against his Maker, though others are harmed too.
- Settled. No payment fixes it. Nothing makes up for adultery, and the wronged husband takes no compensation.
- Safety. The remedy is distance: live in another world of thought, where lust gets no hold on the will. For the man already fallen, honest confession still finds mercy — though chastening remains.
A wound and contempt shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
Proverbs 6:33 closes a long warning about another man's wife. It names the price the adulterer pays in this life, not the next, and raises a hard question: why does this wrong leave a mark that no apology or payment can erase?
The verse speaks about what happens here and now. One writer says the shame sticks even where a whole culture excuses the sin.
Even in this world, the adulterer will get wounds and dishonour, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. That holds despite the paganism that dared to treat this outrage, and every other, as sacred. It holds despite a Christian civilisation that once took up pagan ways and now seems to be going back to them.
The chapter sets adultery beside theft. That comparison is what makes the reproach permanent. A thief can pay back what he took. The adulterer has nothing to give back.
The inspired writer contrasts it even with stealing, though people are extremely sensitive about any loss of property. If real need is obvious, people make allowances for a thief who steals a little rather than starve to death. But what is so senseless and so disgusting a sin as adultery? In the one case pity mixes with blame, but nothing can excuse the other. It is the foulest dishonour of the husband. It is the lifelong ruin of the trapped wife. It is the shame of the house and of everyone connected with it. God hates it and judges it. The law set fines of four times, five times and seven times over for growing guilt in stealing; but Moses, in the Lord's name, commanded death for adultery.
The word "wounds" does not describe an accident. The chapter has just pictured a man carrying fire in his clothes and walking on hot coals. He does the damage to himself, one small step at a time.
But lust is deceptive on both sides, and small beginnings, where that relationship exists, tend to grow into great evils. Satan works on the flesh. He leads people who forget God's presence to take the risk, in the empty hope of escaping... This corruption will not escape the fire of human revenge — how much less the judgment of God? Any approach, however small or brief, is dangerous and evil.
One writer sums up the whole chapter's warning in a single line.
You should avoid the adulteress like fire: there is no reparation for adultery.
Another writer looks at what the wronged husband does about it.
His rightful jealousy may make him furious. We can expect him to do everything in his power to get some satisfaction for this wickedness. Certainly a thing like this is not easily forgiven, and the husband will not usually accept the compensation offered. Many gifts will not make up for this offence.
Does God forgive a believer who falls? He does — but mercy and consequence are two different things. One writer looks back at David.
These events took place more than three thousand years ago. But the passing of three thousand years does not change what happened: one of God's servants dishonoured Him. It has been possible to blot out the sin, but the shame brought upon God remains.
The same distinction runs through the whole Bible.
Grace forgives; but the wheels of government roll on in all their terrible majesty. Adam was completely forgiven, but his sin produced its own results. The guilt on his conscience was removed, but not the sweat of his brow.
This warning is not only for obvious wrongdoers. One writer applies it to believers.
These warnings are deeply necessary. Even the people of God are not exempt from this temptation. We see it in the history of David, and, sadly, in cases we have known ourselves. We depend continually on God's preserving grace.
- Approach — the ruin starts small. One step toward another man's wife is fire carried in your clothes, and the flame does the rest.
- Wound — the man wounds himself. He is ruined before anyone else touches him.
- Reproach — people pity a hungry thief, and he can pay back what he took. The adulterer has no excuse and nothing to hand back, so the shame sticks.
- Ransom — no gift satisfies the wronged husband. There is no reparation for adultery, and that is why the disgrace stays.
- Grace — God forgives fully, as David shows. Forgiveness clears the guilt, but the consequences still roll on.
For jealousy is the rage of a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance;
Proverbs 6 ends with a long warning about the wife of another man. Verse 34 gives the reason the warning is so severe: the wronged husband's jealousy leaves no room for bargaining. Why can this wrong not be settled like other wrongs? And what does that say about God, who set marriage in place?
The chapter has already warned about immoral women in general. Here the language sharpens, because the woman belongs to someone else.
The warning here is even stronger, because it deals with a worse and more destructive evil. It is not only an evil woman, or an immoral woman, or a prostitute. It is the wife of another man, as the last clause says. The language grows more severe, because marriage is a divine tie. God hates its breaking and judges those who break it.
Verse 34 follows a comparison with theft. We can pity a hungry thief, and he can pay back what he took. The adulterer can do neither, and the penalties under the law of Moses show the gap.
The inspired writer even contrasts it with stealing, though men are very sensitive about any loss of their property. If dire need were evident, men excuse a thief when he steals a little rather than die of starvation. But what is so senseless, and so detestable a sin, as adultery? Pity mingles with blame in the one case, but nothing can excuse the other. It is the foulest dishonour to the husband. It is the lifelong ruin of the trapped wife. It is the shame of the house and of everyone connected with it. God hates it and judges it. And how deep must the resentment be of the man who is wronged most? No wonder Scripture says the evildoer lacks understanding or heart, and destroys his own soul. The law set fines of four, five, and sevenfold as the guilt of a theft rose. But for adultery Moses commanded death in Jehovah's name.
The verse does not present the husband's rage as a character flaw. It presents it as what any man in that position will feel, and what the offender should expect.
What of the husband, with whose wife a man commits adultery? His rightful jealousy may make him furious. Of course he will do everything in his power to get some satisfaction for this wickedness. A wrong like this is not easily forgiven.
The next verse says the husband will accept no ransom. Verse 34 explains why. The injured man does not want compensation. Money cannot reach what he has lost.
Even in this world the adulterer will get a wound and dishonour, and his reproach will not be wiped away. This holds despite the paganism that dared to make this outrage sacred, along with every other. It holds despite a Christian world that once adopted pagan ways and now seems to be returning to them... Here it has to do with man's feelings. The offer of any ransom is useless; giving many gifts does not satisfy the man who cannot rest until the wrong gets the punishment it deserves.
Nothing can repair the damage afterwards. So the chapter's advice points further back — to the first step, not the last.
But lust is deceptive on both sides. Where a marriage tie exists, small beginnings tend to grow into great evils. For Satan works on the flesh, and leads people who forget God's presence to take the risk in the vain hope of escaping. But can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? ... That corruption will not escape human vengeance — much less the judgment of God. Any approach, however small or brief, is dangerous and evil.
The word here describes a man's fury. But Scripture also uses jealousy in a good sense. Love refuses to share what belongs to it.
Almost universally men speak of jealousy in an evil sense; Scripture hardly ever does so. It even speaks of a "godly jealousy." The Apostle can say of believers, "I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:2). His love for Christ and his love for the saints made him jealous. He would not have anyone or anything come between them and Christ.
- Tie — Marriage is a divine bond; God hates its breach and judges those who break it. That is the root of everything else in the verse.
- Theft — We can pity a hungry thief, and he can repay sevenfold. The adulterer has nothing to repay with, and the law answered him with death.
- Fury — The husband's jealousy is rightful, not petty. He will seek satisfaction, and a wrong like this is not easily forgiven.
- Ransom — No sum reaches the injury. The wound and the reproach stay; gifts do not satisfy a man who cannot rest until the wrong gets what it deserves.
- Fire — Nothing repairs this afterwards, so the only safety is at the start. No one can carry fire next to his chest without burning his clothes, and no approach is too small to be dangerous.
he will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content though thou multipliest [thy] gifts.
Proverbs 6 moves from practical folly to moral ruin, and it closes with a warning that has no escape clause. One summary of the chapter's flow puts the point of this last verse in a single phrase:
In Proverbs 6 wisdom will not guarantee another person's debt. It is not lazy, not violent, and not deceitful. Stay away from the adulteress as you would from fire: nothing can make up for adultery.
The wronged husband wants the wrong punished, not paid for:
Even in this world the adulterer will get wounds and dishonour, and his disgrace will not be wiped away... Here the verse looks at man's feelings. Jealousy is the rage of a man, so he will not spare in the day of vengeance. Offering any ransom is useless. Many gifts do not satisfy the man who cannot rest until the wrong gets the punishment it deserves.
The fury is not an overreaction. It is the natural response of a betrayed husband:
What of the husband, with whose wife a man commits adultery? His rightful jealousy may make him furious. You can expect him to do everything in his power to demand satisfaction for this wickedness. A thing like this is not forgiven easily, and he will usually refuse any payment offered.
The verses just before set adultery beside theft. A thief can be priced. The adulterer cannot:
If dire need were evident, men make allowances for a thief who steals a little rather than starve to death. But what is so senseless, and so sinful, as adulterous wickedness? Pity mixes with blame in the one case, but nothing can excuse the other. It is the foulest dishonour of the husband. It is the lifelong ruin of the trapped wife. It is the shame of the house and of everyone tied to it. God hates it and judges it. And what must the man feel who is wronged most of all? No wonder the wrongdoer is said to lack understanding, and to destroy his own soul. The law set fines of four, five, and seven times the value as the guilt of stealing rose. For adultery, Moses commanded death in the Lord's name.
The danger rarely starts big. It starts with a small step, taken in the hope of getting away with it:
But lust is deceptive on both sides. Small beginnings, where that relationship exists, tend to grow into great evils. Satan works on the flesh. He leads people who forget God's presence to take the risk, in the empty hope of getting away with it. But can a man take fire to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? If that corruption will not escape the fire of human vengeance, how much less the fire of divine judgment? Any approach, however small or brief, is dangerous and evil.
Where the penalty is trivial, the leniency exposes the judges more than the accused:
Christendom claims to judge the world. If it shows wicked carelessness by passing a light sentence, it tells its own tale of corruption. That corruption will draw down the strong hand of the Lord God in judgment.
The word behind "compensation" means a covering price. Across Scripture it runs from a debt no one can pay to a ransom God Himself supplies:
In the Old Testament, except in Ex. 21:30, the word is kopher, which literally means 'a covering.' It is related to kaphar, often translated 'atonement.' No one can redeem his brother, or give God a ransom for him (Ps. 49:7). But God could say that He has found a ransom, and deliver the man from going down to the pit (Job 33:24)... In the New Testament the word is lutron, or antilutron, from a verb meaning 'to loose, set free.' Christ gave Himself, His life, a ransom for many. The precious blood of Christ shows that every claim of God against the believer has been answered.
- No price. The wronged husband will take no payment; gifts cannot buy off a man who wants the wrong punished.
- No excuse. A hungry thief gets pity and a fixed fine; adultery gets no allowance at all, and under Moses the sentence was death.
- No escape. Fire in the chest burns the clothes. Anyone who thinks he can venture close and slip away has forgotten God's presence.
- No leniency. When a community treats this sin lightly, the light sentence exposes the corruption of the judges.
- One ransom. The word here is the word for a covering price. No one can pay it for a brother. But God says, "I have found a ransom." Christ gave His life as that ransom, and it answers every claim.