What makes stolen water seem sweet (Proverbs 9:17)?

(1) It will not be expected that there should be much comment upon Amnon's sin. The first-born of a despotic king, this had doubtless helped to nurture in him the growth of unrestrained will; while the atmosphere of a polygamous household, loosening family ties, could not but at the same time encourage the rambling inclinations of a luxurious temper. The very fence not such but that it might be leaped — around the object of his pursuit might encourage it: prohibition broken through has its own charm with it, — "the pleasures of sin, for a season": "stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant; but he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell."

Wisdom had her maidens to send forth, as she herself cried; for she was earnest to win for Jehovah and warn from Him, and sought the highest places of the city. Folly had no such maidens, any more than the generous provision of wisdom. Maidens indeed! She might well be ashamed and blush if she could before maidens, as they would assuredly blush for her words and ways. Yet both are represented as making appeal in terms of strong resemblance, but how opposite their wish and aim! "Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither" (vv. 4 and 16). And it is to be remarked, that the foolish woman in particular addresses her call to those that pass by, who go right on their ways. What malicious pleasure to lead such astray!

The difference comes out strongly in what wisdom, as compared with folly, says to him that is void of understanding. "Come, eat ye of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake follies, and live; and go in the way of understanding." All was open, sound, holy, and unselfish on wisdom's part. How sinister the speech of the foolish woman! "Stolen waters are sweet, and pleasant is the bread of secrecy." But the appeal of wisdom needs grace to make it palatable; her rival's invitation is just suited to the dark heart of man as he is. He enjoys what is prohibited, and can only be snatched guilefully or by cunning; he suspects what is given freely, and cannot understand the greatest good as a matter of grace. Wisdom's gifts are therefore distrusted and despised; folly's call to stolen waters is as sweet to fallen nature as to drink them, and the bread of secrecy is as pleasant in prospect as to the taste.

How solemn when the curtain is drawn enough to let us see the dread reality! "But he knows not that the dead (or departed, shades) [are] there; that her guests [are] in the depths of Sheol." As the language about wisdom rose in the chapter before into a living and glorious person, an incomparable object of delight to Jehovah, and with no less incomparable delight of love going out to the sons of men, so here chapter 9 ends with a more awful view than is at all usual in the Old Testament of the lot that befalls those that lend their ear, and follow the tempting words of the foolish woman. What a contrast with leaving off folly and going on the way of intelligence!

Again, we are warned against the gross folly of the woman who gives herself up to the repulsive lusts of the flesh. She is clamorous, her words noisy and empty (v. 13). She is simple, in the sense of ignorant: true knowledge is foreign to her. She sits in lazy self-indulgence at the door of her house, or on a seat in some prominent place in the city, calling to those who pass by (vv. 14-15). She has no interest in maintaining a reputable household, but the opposite.

Whoever is simple (lacking in common sense) let him go in the way of evil (v. 16). It is his own folly that so leads him. Having no understanding, he listens to the foolish woman as she says to him, "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant" (v. 17). Of course, this is an appeal merely to sinful flesh, and those who love folly accept it without realizing that "the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell" (v. 18). How many there are who, sadly, wake up too late!

Clamorous, simple, and ignorant! Who would listen to her? But she will allure those who are not entirely careless. She calls passengers who go right on their ways. Not the indifferent. She can let them pass on. They go on to judgment without her aid. She appeals to those who seek a plain path. “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” She allures “through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error” (2 Peter 2:18). She commends the indulgence of the fleshly will of man, and her victim “knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell.”

Verses 1-12. The first section of Proverbs closeth with a contrast of Wisdom and Folly, both personified. The one, our Lord, the other under the symbol of a foolish woman. Wisdom sends forth her invitation after her house is built and the feast is spread. It reminds us of the parable of the great supper (Luke 14). Here too is the gracious invitation, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled."

Verses 13-18. Folly too has her house and sitteth in the door on a seat in the high places of the city to call to her victims. She invites to the stolen waters, so sweet to the natural man, to eat bread in secret places, equally pleasant. But what is the end? "The dead are there; ... her guests are in the depths of hell." The foolish woman is the world with its lusts.

This, and not the law, is the true rule of life for the Christian. Without Christ there can be nothing but a rule of death. And to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure. What was forbidden provoked the flesh to desire it. Stolen waters were sweet; and so it is still where Christ is unknown. Nothing is pure to the defiled and unbelieving, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled: an awful sentence morally, but most true. It is not only that their lower nature is corrupt, but the highest part of them, even that which ought to delight in good, and presumes to discuss divine things and God Himself, is no less defiled. Religion in such a condition is at least as impure and loathsome as anything else.

All this would seem obvious enough, yet it seems necessary to argue it; for advantage is given to opponents continually by its being loosely said that the Scripture says this or that, when really it only says that such a person said it. How often do we hear people assert that the Bible says, "Stolen waters are sweet," when the fact is that so far from that, the Scripture says that a wicked woman said it! Mr. Jay preached from Job 2:4, "All that a man hath will he give for his life." When the sermon was printed, by a mistake of one letter, the word "life" was changed to "wife." Jay wrote in the margin that that depended upon circumstances. It however depends no more upon circumstances than the original statement does; for it was the devil who was speaking, and this was one of those half-truths which are worse than whole lies. Millions of men have refused to give up their principles to save their lives; and Job, himself, proved the falsity of so cynical a statement.

And in what did their failure consist? Were they spurious priests? Were they mere pretenders? By no means. They were genuine sons of Aaron — true members of the priestly family — duly appointed priests. Their vessels of ministry and their priestly garments, too, would seem to have been alright. What, then, was their sin? Did they stain the curtains of the tabernacle with human blood, or pollute the sacred precincts with some crime which shocks the moral sense? We have no proof of their having done so. Their sin was this: "They offered strange fire before the Lord which he commanded them not." Here was their sin. They departed in their worship from the plain word of Jehovah, who had fully and plainly instructed them as to the mode of their worship. We have already alluded to the divine fullness and sufficiency of the word of the Lord, in reference to every branch of priestly service. There was no room left for man to introduce what he might deem desirable or expedient. "This is the thing which the Lord has commanded" was quite sufficient. It made all very plain and very simple. Nothing was needed, on man's part, save a spirit of implicit obedience to the divine command. But, herein, they failed. Man has always proved himself ill-disposed to walk in the narrow path of strict adherence to the plain word of God. The by-path has ever seemed to present resistless charms to the poor human heart. "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." (Prov. 9:17) Such is the enemy's language; but the lowly, obedient heart knows full well that the path of subjection to the word of God is the only one that leads to "waters" that are really "sweet," or to "bread" that can rightly be called "pleasant." Nadab and Abihu might have deemed one kind of "fire" as good as another; but it was not their province to decide as to that. They should have acted according to the word of the Lord; but, instead of this, they took their own way, and reaped the awful fruits thereof "He knows not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell."

Hardly had the echo of the shout of victory died away (Leviticus 9) ere the elements of a spurious worship were prepared. Hardly had the divine position been assumed ere it was deliberately abandoned through neglect of the divine commandment. No sooner were those priests inaugurated than they grievously failed in the discharge of their priestly functions. And in what did their failures consist? Were they spurious priests? Were they mere pretenders? By no means. They were genuine sons of Aaron, true members of the priestly family, duly-appointed priests. Their vessels of ministry and their priestly garments too would seem to have been all right. What then was their sin? Did they stain the curtains of the tabernacle with human blood? or pollute the sacred precincts with some crime which shocks the moral sense? We have no proof of their having done so. Their sin was this: They "offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not." Here was their sin. They departed in their worship from the plain word of Jehovah, who had fully and plainly instructed them as to the mode of their worship. We have already alluded to the divine fulness and sufficiency of the word of the Lord in reference to every branch of priestly service. There was no room left for man to introduce what he might deem desirable or expedient. "This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded" was quite sufficient. It made all very plain and very simple. Nothing was needed on man's part save a spirit of implicit obedience to the divine command; but herein they failed. Man has always proved himself ill‑disposed to walk in the narrow path of strict adherence to the plain word of God. The by-path has ever seemed to present resistless charms to the poor human heart. "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." (Proverbs 9: 17.) Such is the enemy's language; but the lowly, obedient heart knows full well that the path of subjection to the word of God is the only one that leads to "waters" that are really "sweet" or to "bread" that can rightly be called "pleasant." Nadab and Abihu might have deemed one kind of "fire" as good as another, but it was not their province to decide as to that. They should have acted according to the word of the Lord, but instead of this they took their own way, and reaped the awful fruits thereof. "He knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell."

"The foolish woman is clamorous; she is stupid, and knoweth nothing. And she sitteth at the entry of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, to call passers-by who go right on their ways; Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. And to him that is void of understanding she saith, Stolen waters are sweet, and the bread of secrecy is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; (that) her guests are in the depths of Sheol." Prov. 9:13-18.

With all its boast of knowledge, this world is foolish, for we read, "has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" 1 Cor. 1:20. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has demonstrated forever the folly of man away from God. We note here that while this woman appeals to the simple ones, she has not true wisdom to offer them. We have before referred to the fact that both of these women have houses, suggesting a circle of fellowship, indicating that they have something to offer to these whom they call upon to enter. What then has this foolish woman to offer? Is it wisdom to the simple ones whom she calls? If so, it can only be the wisdom which James in his epistle warns us to avoid. "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish," James 3:15. Mark again, this woman calls to those who go right on their ways and we may well ask, "To what does she call and what has she to offer?"; "Stolen waters and the bread of secrecy." She may say they are "sweet … and pleasant," but whoever yields to her invitation will prove that her sweetmeats are bitter-sweets. We do well to listen to what the apostle Paul wrote of such a fellowship, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them," Eph. 5:11. Death to both body and soul is the result of consorting with the system which this foolish woman portrays. This world goes on with the secret things of darkness and the pleasures of sin for a season, but death and destruction await it at the end.