Proverbs 6:20-35·~1 min

Warnings against Adultery

The son is told to keep his father's commandment and bind it to his heart because such instruction guides him in movement, watches over him in rest, and speaks to him continually. The commandment is a lamp and light that specifically keeps him from the evil woman and her flattering tongue.

M²⁰y son, keep your father’s commandment, ²¹Bind them always upon your heart; ²²When you walk, they will guide you; ²³For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, ²⁴to keep you from the evil woman,

The son must not lust after her beauty or be captured by her eyes, because illicit desire reduces a man to poverty and entangles him with deadly cost. Adultery is compared to taking fire into one's lap or walking on hot coals: contact guarantees burning.

²⁵Do not lust in your heart for her beauty ²⁶For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, ²⁷Can a man embrace fire ²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals ²⁹So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;

A starving thief may be understood, though he still must repay fully, but the adulterer destroys himself and receives wounds, disgrace, and lasting reproach. The betrayed husband's jealousy will not accept compensation, so adultery leaves a damage that wealth cannot erase.

³⁰Men do not despise the thief ³¹Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; ³²He who commits adultery lacks judgment; ³³Wounds and dishonor will befall him, ³⁴For jealousy enrages a husband, ³⁵He will not be appeased by any ransom,

Section summaryThe second movement tells the son to keep parental commands close because they guide, guard, and illuminate the path, especially against the seduction of the evil woman. It warns that adultery cannot be touched without burning consequences, and that unlike theft born of hunger, sexual betrayal provokes disgrace and a husband's relentless jealousy.

Role in the chapterThis section returns to one of Proverbs' central warnings and sharpens it with vivid comparisons. Its work is to show that God's instruction protects desire before it becomes action and that adultery carries social, bodily, and relational consequences that cannot be cheaply repaired.