Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Proverbs 6:30

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Proverbs 6:30. Men do not despise a thief if he steal — Every man pities the poor culprit who was perishing for lack of food, and stole to satisfy his hunger; yet no law clears him: he is bound to make restitution; in some cases double, in others quadruple and quintuple; and if he have not property enough to make restitution, to be sold for a bondsman; Exodus 22:1-4; Leviticus 25:39.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

More about sexual misbehaviour (6:20-7:27)

Sometimes teaching can be so well known that people no longer take any notice of it. Therefore, they must remind themselves to be obedient to familiar truths (20-22). One matter concerning which the writer repeats his earlier warnings is sexual immorality. Offenders are merely destroying themselves (23-29). People may not despise a desperately hungry person who steals food; nevertheless, the person must be dealt with and made to repay (with interest) what was stolen. But people will certainly despise a man who takes another’s wife; and there is no repayment he can make that will calm the anger of the offended husband (30-35).
Chapter 7 gives a colourful picture of how an immoral woman can trap a weak, easily led young man. The section opens with a renewed emphasis on the importance of a young man’s getting wisdom and holding on to it firmly. Then he will know best how to resist the temptations he meets (7:1-5).
The writer imagines himself looking out the window and seeing a silly young man wandering around the streets at night (6-9). The young man is met by a prostitute who sees him as a likely customer (10-12). She assures him that there is nothing wrong with going to bed with her. After all, she is a very religious person who has just been to the temple, and she had the feeling that she would meet this particular man (13-17). Furthermore, her husband is away for a few weeks on business. Clearly, all the circumstances indicate that the young man is meant to go with her (18-20).
After some indecision the man gives in, and in exchange for a night’s pleasure his whole life is spoiled (21-23). All young men should take note and resist the temptations offered by such women (24-27).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

WARNING AGAINST THE HARLOT
AND THE ADULTERESS (THE TWELFTH DISCOURSE)

"My son, keep the commandment of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thy heart; Tie them about thy neck. When thou walkest, it shall lead thee; When thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee; And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; And the reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, From the flattery of the foreigner's tongue. Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; Neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread; And the adulteress hunteth for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom, And his clothes be not burned? Or can one walk upon hot coals, And his feet be not scorched? So he that goeth in to his neighbors wife; Whosoever toucheth her shall not be unpunished. Men do not despise a thief, if he steal To satisfy himself when he is hungry: But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; He shall give all the substance of his house. He that committeth adultery with a woman is void of understanding: He doeth it who would destroy his own soul. Wounds and dishonor shall he get; And his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man; And he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many girls."

There is a translation problem with these verses as a glance at the Revised Standard Version (RSV) will indicate. We shall follow the RSV in portions of this section. In previous references in Proverbs to the vice mentioned here, we have already made many comments that are also applicable in this section.

We appreciate Fritsch's statement regarding the purpose of these long sections on unlawful sex indulgence in Proverbs, "It is not to titillate the passions of the reader, as so much modern literature does, but to portray the disillusionment of illicit love and its certain end in unquenchable remorse and bitter death."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 4, p. 821. We find it difficult to think of Solomon as an instructor of his son Rehoboam as we study these lines. As Wordsworth stated it, "The unhappy example of Solomon in his old age was more potent for evil in the life of Rehoboam than the sacred precepts of Proverbs were for righteousness. At the age of forty-one Rehoboam was a feeble libertine. The warnings of Proverbs fell flat on the ears of the royal son of the author, and Rehoboam derived little benefit from the Book of Proverbs."Preacher's Homiletic Commentary, op. cit., p. 80.

"Lust not after her beauty in thy heart" "These words push the sin of adultery back to the heart of the sinner, even as does the New Testament (Matthew 5:28; Mark 7:21; James 1:14-15)."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 710.

There are two fundamentally different interpretations of this section; and the difficult text may be so translated as to support either one of them. This writer accepts the view that there are two different kinds of sexual misbehavior spoken of in this passage, namely cohabiting with a professional prostitute and committing adultery with a neighbor's wife.

This is supported by the fact that "the strange woman" (Proverbs 6:24 KJV) cannot be applied to a neighbor's wife; and "one emendation reads for a harlot's sake," a translation that Kidner rejected on the grounds that, "The RSV shrugs off the first (harlotry) in a manner that is hardly true."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 74.

We call special attention to the fact that adultery with a neighbor's wife in the latter part of this long paragraph is definitely contrasted with thievery; and it is logical to understand the first half of the paragraph as a contrast between committing sexual sin with a prostitute and doing so with a neighbor's wife.

Furthermore, the RSV does not "shrug off" intercourse with a prostitute. Proverbs has already warned against this evil in the most vigorous language; and what is said here is merely that adultery with a neighbor's wife is even a whole lot worse!

Also note the following verse as rendered in the RSV: For a harlot may be hired for a loaf of bread, But an adulteress stalks a man's very life (Proverbs 6:26). The contrast stated here is profoundly true. Terrible and deadly as the prostitute most certainly is, cohabitation with the neighbor's wife is even a greater and more foolish sin.

Driver wrote that, "All of the Ancient Versions support the view that in this passage the harlot is contrasted with the neighbor's wife."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 136. We might add that the same is true of the Modern Versions: The Anchor Bible, the NIV, the new RSV, the Good News Bible, and Moffatt.

"Thus the RSV makes sexual intercourse with an adulteress far more dangerous and expensive than with a harlot."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), Vol. 5, p. 27. This is by no means hard to understand. The adulteress has a far greater advantage than the harlot, because the wrath and vengeance of the adulteress' husband is a key weapon under her control. Also, if a man steals his neighbor's pig, he can restore the animal, but he cannot do that if he steals his wife!

"He that committeth adultery… would destroy his own soul" "The adulterer pays a far greater price than the robber, viz, his own soul"!The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 4, p. 823.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Now let us turn to Proverbs, chapter 6. The first part of the Proverbs is exhortation to my son. It's just good fatherly advice to sons. And chapter 6 continues in these exhortations that are opened by the phrase:

My son, if you be surety for thy friend, or if you have stricken hands with a stranger, you've become snared with the words of your mouth, you've been taken with the words of your mouth. Now do this, and deliver yourself, my son, when you've come to the hand of your friend; go, and humble yourself, and make sure thy friend. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver yourself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, or as a bird from the hand of the fowler ( Proverbs 6:1-5 ).

Someone said the best way to lose a friend is to loan him money. And unfortunately, many friendships have been lost over this very thing. If you have guaranteed for a friend, if you've been a surety for him. You say, "Well, that's all right, just put it on my account, or I'll guarantee it," my son, you're in trouble. Go to your friend quickly. You've snared yourself with your mouth. Deliver yourself from him if at all possible. Humble yourself and get out of the situation. Or worse yet, if you've made an agreement with a stranger. That is, you say, "Okay, we'll do it," and you shake hands with the stranger. You've stricken hands. And of course, it is interesting over there to watch them in their negotiations even to the present day.

One of our favorite little side trips when we are in Israel is to go down to the sheep gate on Friday morning and watch as the Bedouins and all bring in their sheep to market. And the buyers and the sellers gather together and it is a sight that you just will never forget as you stand there and watch these Mercedes cabs come up, filled with these men with their caffias and all, they open up the door and out pours these men and the sheep and everything else. They open up the trunk and out come the sheep, you know. And the pickup trucks and all, and they herd all of these sheep into this area near the corner of the wall across from the Rockefeller Museum every Friday morning. And then these guys will begin to haggle and bargain over the sheep.

Now when they bargain, they yell at each other. I mean, they just stand there. They shake their fists. You expect them to pull a knife out from under their robe at any time and go at it 'cause they're just yelling like they're really angry. And it's quite a scene with all of the yelling and shouting, and the guy will turn and walk away, and turn around and yell at the guy. And then walk a bit and turn and yell some more, you know. And after they've gone through this for a while, pretty soon you see them slap their hands. You know, they'll... and the guy will reach in, get his wallet, pull out his money, and take the sheep and go off. And it's really quite a quite a scene. The striking of the hands is an indication, "All right, that's a deal, you made a deal."

Now, my son, if you strike hands with a stranger, you're in trouble. Be careful about that. Deliver yourself as quickly as possible as a deer from the hand of the hunter or as a bird from the snare of the fowler.

So the first little exhortation is against guaranteeing for somebody else. The second little exhortation is against slovenness.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when are you going to awake? Yet a little sleep, and a little slumber, and a little folding of your hands to sleep: and so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man ( Proverbs 6:6-11 ).

So a little exhortation against laziness. Go to the ant. Now, we are told that Solomon was a very prolific writer. That he wrote 3,000 proverbs, several songs, and he wrote books on biology and botany. And so he was a man who was very familiar with nature. And we will pick this up as we get to some other proverbs as he talks about the characteristics of other animals and insects.

But here he is saying, "Now go to the ant, learn of her ways and be wise." And watching ants is a very interesting experience. They are perhaps one of the most industrious of all little insects. The worker ants and how they go out and how they gather. How you see them. And I love to watch ants. I sometimes used to sit out in the backyard with bread and I'd just break off pieces of bread and throw it down and watch them as the little ant would get hold of it and try and pull it and pull it, and pretty soon another would get on and they'd hold the thing and just to watch them in their labor as they are laying up their food. So industrious. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; learn of her ways, and be wise. Which having no guide, or overseer, or ruler." And you wonder how they communicate. Yet, they evidently do communicate because you get a couple of them in your house and they discover something sweet, man, they communicate it to all their cousins and relatives and everybody else. And soon the whole tribe is in there.

I've often thought about miniaturization, you know. Everything is, the whole concept is that of miniaturizing everything. Have you ever wondered how big an ant's brain must be? Talk about something that's miniature. And yet, there is no doubt the capacity to communicate and surely the capacity of working together. And I think that this is the lesson to learn. Without a foreman out there yelling instructions and everything else, somehow they get this bread, chunk of bread together and pretty soon, they're carting the thing off. You can see this chunk of bread just moving across the ground. It may take them a little while, a little struggling and all. But ultimately, they get things coordinated without a guide, an overseer, or a ruler. Yet, learning to just work together. "Providing her meat in the summer, gathering her food in the harvest."

So be careful of laziness for a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of your hands to sleep and comes poverty. It's inevitable.

Now the next one that he talks about is the person who is:

A naughty person, a wicked man, who walks with a perverse mouth ( Proverbs 6:12 ).

The loud mouth braggart.

Who winks with his eyes, speaks with his feet, and teaches with his fingers; Perversity is in his heart, he devises mischief continually; he sows discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy ( Proverbs 6:13-15 ).

That's perverse person, the wicked man who has a perverse mouth, winketh with his eyes. Of all the crazy things, this evening when I knew I was going to be talking on this verse, before service I got an eye twitch underneath my left eye, and it's twitching. I looked in the mirror and crazy twitching. I thought, "Man, I hope nobody thinks I'm winking at them tonight when I have to teach on this verse." So I popped a bunch of vitamin B pills. I figured maybe I've got a shortage of B-stress or something and didn't have any yeast to put down, but hopefully get this twitching eye stopped. But it's not winking; don't put me in the category of this man. The thing that interests me is as God always says concerning the wicked, "Their calamity is coming." And in this case, it's coming suddenly and that without remedy. How tragic when God says of a man there's no cure. He's beyond, no hope, no remedy.

Now in the next little section we have:

Six things the LORD hates; in fact, there are seven that are an abomination unto him ( Proverbs 6:16 ):

Now I should seek to hate the things that God hates. And I should surely seek to avoid the things that God hates. So it is important that we look at these seven things, and it is more important that we not be guilty of any of these seven things.

First of all, God hates:

A proud look ( Proverbs 6:17 ),

The Bible says, "Pride cometh before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" ( Proverbs 16:18 ). That proud look. How many times we are told in the scriptures to humble ourselves and we shall be exalted. The second thing God hates is:

a lying tongue, then hands that shed innocent blood, [next] a heart that devises wicked imaginations, [next] feet that are swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaks lies ( Proverbs 6:17-19 ),

One who bears false witness against someone else with a lie. And finally,

he who sows discord among brethren ( Proverbs 6:19 ).

God hates the dividing and the divisions that oftentimes come within the body of the church. Paul said, "Mark those which cause division among you. Avoid them" ( Romans 16:17 ). God hates those who sow discord among brethren. "How beautiful and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" ( Psalms 133:1 ). How that is honoring to God. And how God hates anyone who is guilty of just sowing discord among the brethren.

In the next section here, and all of these fall in little groups actually. It is dealing with listening to your parents' counsel and advice.

My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother: Bind them continually upon your heart, and tie them about your neck. When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep, it will keep you; when you awake, it will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is a light; and the reproof of instruction are the way to life ( Proverbs 6:20-23 ):

Important: the advice, the counsel of the parents. That is, that of course, assumes the godly parents. Their counsel is like a lamp. It is like a light to show you the way.

Now the next one, he picks on the evil woman again. The warning against women who are evil.

To keep thee from the evil woman, and from the flattery of the tongue of strange women. Lust not after her beauty in your heart; neither let her take you with her eyelids ( Proverbs 6:24-25 ).

They may be false.

For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a crust 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 a hot bed of coals, and his feet not be burned? So is he that goes in to his neighbor's wife; whosoever touches her shall not be innocent. Now men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; But if he is found, he shall restore sevenfold; and he shall give all the substance of his house. But whoso commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding: and he does it to the destruction of his own soul. A wound and dishonor 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 you give him many gifts ( Proverbs 6:26-35 ).

So keep yourself from the flattery of the strange woman. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart. In the New Testament, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, as He is talking concerning the law as it was being taught to them in that day and the law as it was intended when given by God was showing by many examples that when God gave the law, God was interested in the attitude of a man's heart more than the actions of a man's life. Because it is possible to have the right actions with the wrong attitude. And it is also possible to have the wrong actions with the right attitude. But God is looking at the heart.

Now the law said, and the Pharisees were teaching them that the law said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" ( Exodus 20:14 ). And yes, the law did declare, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." But Jesus said, "I say unto you, if any man looks upon a woman and lusts after her in his heart, he's already committed adultery" ( Matthew 5:28 ). In other words, it's the inner attitude of a man that is so important. That is why last week he said, "Keep your heart with all diligence, because out of the heart come the issues of life" ( Proverbs 4:23 ). So James tells us, "Let no man say when he is tempted that God tempted me the other day. For God doesn't tempt man to do evil. But a man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. And lust when it is finished brings sin" ( James 1:13-15 ). If you follow it through it will lead you right into sin. It begins in the heart. "Oh wow, you know. Look at that." Lookout! Don't. Cut it off at that point. As Paul said to Timothy, "Flee youthful lusts" ( 2 Timothy 2:22 ). For it will drown a man's soul in hell. Run if you must. Do as Joseph. Get out of there as quickly as possible if you feel that you know it's getting too hard to handle. Man, just turn and run as fast as you can go. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

11. The guilt of adultery 6:20-35

This extended warning against one of life’s most destructive practices is classic. We can profit from reading it frequently. Proverbs 6:20-23 indicate the start of a new section and stress again the importance of the precepts that follow. Solomon regarded the instruction he was giving as an expression of God’s law (cf. Proverbs 6:23; Psalms 119:105). Commenting on Proverbs 6:20-23, Paul Larsen wrote the following.

"Get hung up in your relationships with your parents and you’ll never get in a right relationship with yourself." [Note: Larsen, p. 67.]

The immoral act begins with the lustful look (Proverbs 6:25; cf. 2 Samuel 11:2). That is the place to weed out the temptation, when it is still small.

"Playing with temptation is only the heart reaching out after sin." [Note: Ross, p. 937.]

". . . the ordinary harlot is after subsistence, will deprive a man of his money, but not ruin him; the unchaste married woman brings on him destructive social (and possibly legal) punishment." [Note: Toy, p. 137.]

In Proverbs 6:27-29 we have a series of physical analogies designed to illustrate spiritual cause and effect. Adultery brings inescapable punishment. One may contain the fire (Proverbs 6:27) at first, but others will discover it if it continues to burn. "His clothes" (Proverbs 6:27) may imply outward reputation, namely, what others see, as often in Scripture. "Touches her" is probably a euphemism for sexual intimacy (cf. Genesis 20:6; 1 Corinthians 7:1).

"’But sex is a normal desire, given to us by God,’ some people argue. ’Therefore, we have every right to use it, even if we’re not married. It’s like eating: If you’re hungry, God gave you food to eat; if you’re lonely, God gave you sex to enjoy.’ Some of the people in the Corinthian church used this argument to defend their sinful ways: ’Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods’ (1 Corinthians 6:13, NKJV). But Paul made it clear that the believer’s body belonged to God and that the presence of a desire wasn’t the same as the privilege to satisfy that desire (Proverbs 6:12-20)." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 54.]

Proverbs 6:30-35 draw another kind of comparison. Adultery is a practice good people look down on because it is never necessary. It is always the product of lack of self-control. It is this lack of self-restraint that seems to be the reason an unfaithful husband should not be a church elder (1 Timothy 5:6).

"The picture of the adulterer as social outcast may seem greatly overdrawn. If so, the adjustment that must be made is to say that in any healthy society such an act is social suicide." [Note: Kidner, pp. 74-75.]

Also, Hebrew poetry sometimes employs hyperbole.

12. The lure of adultery ch. 7

This chapter dramatizes the arguments Solomon advanced in the previous section (Proverbs 6:20-35). He told a story that illustrates his point.

The prologue (Proverbs 6:1-5) again urges the adoption of this advice, not just the reception of it. The apple (pupil) of the eye (Proverbs 6:2) is its most sensitive part (cf. Deuteronomy 32:10).

Proverbs 6:6-9 describe the victim of temptation as one who has not adopted Solomon’s counsel. In Israelite culture, the person viewing what was going on in the street would often have done so from a second story window, since the lower story would typically have lacked windows as a precaution against theft. [Note: Waltke, The Book . . ., p. 371.] The youth is "naive" (Proverbs 6:7), foolish innocently or deliberately.

Proverbs 6:10-12 picture the huntress on the prowl for sensual gratification, preying on anyone foolish enough to encourage her.

"The first step in coming to maturity is to develop a concept of deferred satisfaction." [Note: Larsen, p. 50.]

"Woe to the marriage whose partners cannot find values in their home and must constantly seek outside stimulation!" [Note: Plaut, p. 102.]

Proverbs 6:13-21 show her tactics: sensual assault (Proverbs 6:13), justification of her intent (Proverbs 6:14), flattery (Proverbs 6:15), visualization of delight (Proverbs 6:16-17), proposition (Proverbs 6:18), and reassurance of safety (Proverbs 6:19-20). We should probably favor the marginal reading of Proverbs 6:14: "Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me." The idea is that she had made a peace offering and had some of the food that was her portion of the offering at her house where she needed to eat it.

"Her refrigerator is full, as we would say." [Note: R. Laird Harris, "Proverbs," in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 563.]

Some peace offerings followed the end of a vow (votive offerings). This seems to have been the case here. This woman appears to be indulging herself after a period of self-sacrifice, as some people who fast during Lent do at the end of that season. It is quite clear that this woman knew exactly what she wanted.

Proverbs 6:22-23 portray the "kill." Evidently the youth hesitated, but then "suddenly" (Proverbs 6:22) yielded. Sin leads to death (cf. Romans 6:23; James 1:15)-along the same line, Solomon looked at the end result of the youth’s action, not its immediate effect.

"Stupid animals see no connection between traps and death, and morally stupid people see no connection between their sin and death (cf. Proverbs 1:17-18; Hosea 7:11)." [Note: Waltke, The Book . . ., p. 384.]

In the epilogue to this story (Proverbs 6:24-27), Solomon advised a three-fold defense against this temptation. First, guard your heart (Proverbs 6:25 a). We are in danger when we begin to desire and long for an adulterous affair. Fantasizing such an affair is one symptom that we are in this danger zone. Second, guard your body (Proverbs 6:25 b). Do not go near or stay near someone who may want an adulterous affair. Third, guard your future (Proverbs 6:26-27). Think seriously about the consequences of having an adulterous affair before you get involved.

"A man’s life is not destroyed in one instant; it is taken from him gradually as he enters into a course of life that will leave him as another victim of the wages of sin." [Note: Ross, p. 942.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

[Men] do not despise a thief, if he steal,.... They do not discommend or reproach him for it, or fix a mark of infamy upon him, or expose him to public shame by whipping him; but rather excuse him and pity him when it appears what his case is, what put him upon it, and that he had no other intention in it than to do as follows;

to satisfy his soul; his craving appetite for food, having nothing to eat, nor no other way of getting any: the words should be supplied thus, "for he does this to satisfy his soul"; or, as the Syriac version, "for he steals to satisfy his soul": and so they are a reason why men do not despise him, nor use him ill, because it is done with no other view; not with a wicked design to hurt his neighbour, nor with a covetous intent to increase his own substance in an unlawful way, but only to satisfy nature in distress; and another reason follows, or the former confirmed;

when he is hungry; or for "he is hungry" s; pressed with famine; the temptation is great, nature urges him to it; and though it is criminal, men in such cases wilt not bear hard upon him for it. The Targum is,

"it is not to be wondered at in a thief that he should steal to satisfy his soul when it is hungry.''

The Vulgate Latin version is,

"it is not a great fault when anyone steals, for he steals to fill a hungry soul;''

it is a fault, but it is not a very heinous one, at least it is not so heinous as adultery, for the sake of which it is mentioned, and with which it is compared: the design of the instance is to show the adultery is far greater than that; and yet in our age we see that the one is severely punished even with death for trifling things, when the other goes unpunished.

s כי רעב "quia esurit", Cocceius, Michaelis.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:   21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.   22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.   23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:   24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.   25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.   26 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.   27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?   28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?   29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.   30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;   31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.   32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.   33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.   34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.   35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

      Here is, I. A general exhortation faithfully to adhere to the word of God and to take it for our guide in all our actions.

      1. We must look upon the word of God both as a light (Psalms 6:23; Psalms 6:23) and as a law, Psalms 6:20; Psalms 6:23. (1.) By its arguments it is a light, which our understandings must subscribe to; it is a lamp to our eyes for discovery, and so to our feet for direction. The word of God reveals to us truths of eternal certainty, and is built upon the highest reason. Scripture-light is the sure light. (2.) By its authority it is a law, which our wills must submit to. As never such a light shone out of the schools of the philosophers, so never such a law issued from the throne of any prince, so well framed, and so binding. It is such a law as is a lamp and a light, for it carries with it the evidence of its own goodness.

      2. We must receive it as our father's commandment and the law of our mother,Psalms 6:20; Psalms 6:20. It is God's commandment and his law. But, (1.) Our parents directed us to it, put it into our hands, trained us up in the knowledge and observance of it, its original and obligation being most sacred. We believe indeed, not for their saying, for we have tried it ourselves and find it to be of God; but we were beholden to them for recommending it to us, and see all the reason in the world to continue in the things we have learned, knowing of whom we have learned them. (2.) The cautions, counsels, and commands which our parents gave us agree with the word of God, and therefore we must hold them fast. Children, when they are grown up, must remember the law of a good mother, as well as the commandment of a good father, Ecclesiasticus iii. 2. The Lord has given the father honour over the children and has confirmed the authority of the mother over the sons.

      3. We must retain the word of God and the good instructions which our parents gave us out of it. (1.) We must never cast them off, never think it a mighty achievement (as some do) to get clear of the restraints of a good education: "Keep thy father's commandment, keep it still, and never forsake it." (2.) We must never lay them by, no, not for a time (Psalms 6:21; Psalms 6:21): Bind them continually, not only upon thy hand (as Moses had directed, Deuteronomy 6:8) but upon thy heart. Phylacteries upon the hand were of no value at all, any further than they occasioned pious thoughts and affections in the heart. There the word must be written, there it must be hid, and laid close to the conscience. Tie them about thy neck, as an ornament, a bracelet, or gold chain,--about thy throat (so the word is); let them be a guard upon that pass; tie them about thy throat, that no forbidden fruit may be suffered to go in nor any evil word suffered to go out through the throat; and thus a great deal of sin would be prevented. Let the word of God be always ready to us, and let us feel the impressions of it, as of that which is bound upon our hearts and about our necks.

      4. We must make use of the word of God and of the benefit that is designed us by it. If we bind it continually upon our hearts, (1.) It will be our guide, and we must follow its direction. "When thou goest, it shall lead thee (Psalms 6:22; Psalms 6:22); it shall lead thee into, and lead thee in, the good and right way, shall lead thee from, and lead thee out of, every sinful dangerous path. It will say unto thee, when thou art ready to turn aside, This is the way; walk in it. It will be that to thee that the pillar of cloud and fire was to Israel in the wilderness. Be led by that, let it be thy rule, and then thou shalt be led by the Spirit; he will be thy monitor and support." (2.) It will be our guard, and we must put ourselves under the protection of it: "When thou sleepest, and liest exposed to the malignant powers of darkness, it shall keep thee; thou shalt be safe, and shalt think thyself so." If we govern ourselves by the precepts of the word all day, and make conscience of the duty God has commanded to us, we may shelter ourselves under the promises of the word at night, and take the comfort of the deliverances God does and will command for us. (3.) It will be our companion, and we must converse with it: "When thou awakest in the night, and knowest not how to pass away thy waking minutes, if thou pleasest, it shall talk with thee, and entertain thee with pleasant meditations in the night-watch; when thou awakest in the morning, and art contriving the work of the day, it shall talk with thee about it, and help thee to contrive for the best," Psalms 1:2. The word of God has something to say to us upon all occasions, if we would but enter into discourse with it, would ask it what it has to say, and give it the hearing. And it would contribute to our close and comfortable walking with God all day if we would begin with him in the morning and let his word be the subject of our first thoughts. When I awake I am still with thee; we are so if the word be still with us. (4.) It will be our life; for, as the law is a lamp and a light for the present, so the reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Those reproofs of the word which not only show us our faults, but instruct us how to do better, are the way that leads to life, eternal life. Let not faithful reproofs therefore, which have such a direct tendency to make us happy, ever make us uneasy.

      II. Here is a particular caution against the sin of uncleanness.

      1. When we consider how much this iniquity abounds, how heinous it is in its own nature, of what pernicious consequence it is, and how certainly destructive to all the seeds of the spiritual life in the soul, we shall not wonder that the cautions against it are so often repeated and so largely inculcated. (1.) One great kindness God designed men, in giving them his law, was to preserve them from this sin, Psalms 6:24; Psalms 6:24. "The reproofs of instruction are therefore the way of life to thee, because they are designed to keep thee from the evil woman, who will be certain death to thee, from being enticed by the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman, who pretends to love thee, but intends to ruin thee." Those that will be wrought upon by flattery make themselves a very easy prey to the tempter; and those who would avoid that snare must take well-instructed reproofs as great kindnesses and be thankful to those that will deal faithfully with them, Proverbs 27:5; Proverbs 27:6. (2.) The greatest kindness we can do ourselves is to keep at a distance from this sin, and to look upon it with the utmost dread and detestation (Psalms 6:25; Psalms 6:25): "Lust not after her beauty, no, not in thy heart, for, if thou dost, thou hast there already committed adultery with her. Talk not of the charms in her face, neither be thou smitten with her amorous glances; they are all snares and nets; let her not take thee with her eye-lids. Her looks are arrows and fiery darts; they wound, they kill, in another sense than what lovers mean; they call it a pleasing captivity, but it is a destroying one, it is worse than Egyptian slavery."

      2. Divers arguments Solomon here urges to enforce this caution against the sin of whoredom.

      (1.) It is a sin that impoverishes men, wastes their estates, and reduces them to beggary (Psalms 6:26; Psalms 6:26): By means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread; many a man has been so, who has purchased the ruin of his body and soul at the expense of his wealth. The prodigal son spent his living on harlots, so that he brought himself to be fellow-commoner with the swine. And that poverty must needs lie heavily which men bring themselves into by their own folly, Job 31:12.

      (2.) It threatens death; it kills men: The adulteress will hunt for the precious life, perhaps designedly, as Delilah for Samson's, at least, eventually, the sin strikes at the life. Adultery was punished by the law of Moses as a capital crime. The adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Every one knew this. Those therefore who, for the gratifying of a base lust, would lay themselves open to the law, could be reckoned no better than self-murderers.

      (3.) It brings guilt upon the conscience and debauches that. He that touches his neighbour's wife, with an immodest touch, cannot be innocent,Psalms 6:29; Psalms 6:29. [1.] He is in imminent danger of adultery, as he that takes fire in his bosom, or goes upon hot coals, is in danger of being burnt. The way of this sin is down-hill, and those that venture upon the temptations to it hardly escape the sin itself. The fly fools away her life by playing the wanton with the flames. It is a deep pit, which it is madness to venture upon the brink of. He that keeps company with those of ill fame, that goes in with them, and touches them, cannot long preserve his innocency; he thrusts himself into temptation and so throws himself out of God's protection. [2.] He that commits adultery is in the high road to destruction. The bold presumptuous sinner says, "I may venture upon the sin and yet escape the punishment; I shall have peace though I go on." He might as well say, I will take fire into my bosom and not burn my clothes, or I will go upon hot coals and not burn my feet. He that goes into his neighbour's wife, however he holds himself, God will not hold him guiltless. The fire of lust kindles the fire of hell.

      (4.) It ruins the reputation and entails perpetual infamy upon that. It is a much more scandalous sin than stealing is, Psalms 6:30-33; Psalms 6:30-33. Perhaps it is not so in the account of men, at least not in our day. A thief is sent to the stocks, to the gaol, to Bridewell, to the gallows, while the vile adulterer goes unpunished, nay, with many, unblemished; he dares boast of his villanies, and they are made but a jest of. But, in the account of God and his law, adultery was much the more enormous crime; and, if God is the fountain of honour, his word must be the standard of it. [1.] As for the sin of stealing, if a man were brought to it by extreme necessity, if he stole meat for the satisfying of his soul when he was hungry, though that will not excuse him from guilt, yet it is such an extenuation of his crime that men do not despise him, do not expose him to ignominy, but pity him. Hunger will break through stone-walls, and blame will be laid upon those that brought him to poverty, or that did not relieve him. Nay, though he have not that to say in his excuse, if he be found stealing, and the evidence be ever so plain upon him, yet he shall only make restitution seven-fold. The law of Moses appointed that he who stole a sheep should restore four-fold, and an ox five-fold (Exodus 22:1); accordingly David adjudged, 2 Samuel 12:6. But we may suppose in those cases concerning which the law had not made provision the judges afterwards settled the penalties in proportion to the crimes, according to the equity of the law. Now, if he that stole an ox out of a man's field must restore five-fold, it was reasonable that he that stole a man's goods out of his house should restore seven-fold; for there was no law to put him to death, as with us, for burglary and robbery on the highway, and of this worst kind of theft Solomon here speaks; the greatest punishment was that a man might be forced to give all the substance of his house to satisfy the law and his blood was not attainted. But, [2.] Committing adultery is a more heinous crime; Job calls it so, and an iniquity to be punished by the judge,Job 31:11. When Nathan would convict David of the evil of his adultery he did it by a parable concerning the most aggravated theft, which, in David's judgment, deserved to be punished with death (2 Samuel 12:5), and then showed him that his sin was more exceedingly sinful than that. First, It is a greater reproach to a man's reason, for he cannot excuse it, as a thief may, by saying that it was to satisfy his hunger, but must own that it was to gratify a brutish lust which would break the hedge of God's law, not for want, but for wantonness. Therefore whoso commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding, and deserves to be stigmatized as an arrant fool. Secondly, It is more severely punished by the law of God. A thief suffered only a pecuniary mulct, but the adulterer suffered death. The thief steals to satisfy his soul, but the adulterer destroys his own soul, and falls an unpitied sacrifice to the justice both of God and man. "Sinner, thou hast destroyed thyself." This may be applied to the spiritual and eternal death which is the consequence of sin; he that does it wounds his conscience, corrupts his rational power, extinguishes all the sparks of the spiritual life, and exposes himself to the wrath of God for ever, and thus destroys his own soul. Thirdly, The infamy of it is indelible, Psalms 6:33; Psalms 6:33. It will be a wound to his good name, a dishonour to his family, and, though the guilt of it may be done away by repentance, the reproach of it never will, but will stick to his memory when he is gone. David's sin in the matter of Uriah was not only a perpetual blemish upon his own character, but gave occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme his name too.

      (5.) It exposes the adulterer to the rage of the jealous husband, whose honour he puts such an affront upon, Psalms 6:34; Psalms 6:35. He that touches his neighbour's wife, and is familiar with her, gives him occasion for jealousy, much more he that debauches her, which, if kept ever so secret, might then be discovered by the waters of jealousy,Numbers 5:12. "When discovered, thou hadst better meet a bear robbed of her whelps than the injured husband, who, in the case of adultery, will be as severe an avenger of his own honour as, in the case of manslaughter, of his brother's blood. If thou art not afraid of the wrath of God, yet be afraid of the rage of a man. Such jealousy is; it is strong as death and cruel as the grave. In the day of vengeance, when the adulterer comes to be tried for his life, the prosecutor will not spare any pains or cost in the prosecution, will not relent towards thee, as he would perhaps towards one that had robbed him. He will not accept of any commutation, any composition; he will not regard any ransom. Though thou offer to bribe him, and give him many gifts to pacify him, he will not rest content with any thing less than the execution of the law. Thou must be stoned to death. If a man would give all the substance of his house, it would atone for a theft (Psalms 6:31; Psalms 6:31), but not for adultery; in that case it would utterly be contemned. Stand in awe therefore, and sin not; expose not thyself to all this misery for a moment's sordid pleasure, which will be bitterness in the end."