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.