So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
Parallel Translations
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So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
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So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
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So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not go unpunished.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Proverbs 6:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 7:1 Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
- Leviticus 20:10 “ ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
- 2 Samuel 12:9-10 Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’
- Ezekiel 22:11 One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. Another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.
- Malachi 3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Genesis 12:18-19 Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”
- Genesis 26:10-11 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
- 2 Samuel 11:3-4 David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?” David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.
- 2 Samuel 16:21 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.”
- Proverbs 16:5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh: they shall certainly not be unpunished.
- Jeremiah 5:8-9 They were as fed horses roaming at large. Everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife. Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
- Genesis 20:4-7 Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation? Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.” God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 6:29 So he that goeth in to his…
Pro 6:29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
Ver. 29. So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife.] That suspiciously converseth with her alone, though haply with no intent of corrupting her. Joseph shunned the company of his mistress; he would not be with her alone. {Gen 39:10} Chambering and secret familiarity with women is forbidden, as a deed of darkness and dishonesty. {Rom 13:13} How much more, then, wanton touches and dalliance! Sit not at all with another man’s wife; sit not down upon the bed with her, saith Siracides (chap. 9). Christ’s disciples marvelled that he talked with the woman of Samaria, solus cum sola, - saith Beza. {Joh 4:27} But he might do that which we must beware of lest concupiscence kindle. Abraham might see Sodom burning, but Lot might not look that way.
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Shall not be innocent.] Shall not be held so, howsoever he shall suffer in his name, be he never so honest - besides that hereby he tempts the devil to tempt him to uncleanness. Now the proverb is, Oculus et lama non patiuntur iocos, A man’s eye and his name will bear no jest. And he was no fool that said, Negligere quid de se quisque sentiat, non solum arrogantis est, sed et dissoluti. He is not only a proud but a lewd person, that takes no thought what others think and talk of him. "Provide," we must, "for things honest, not only before the Lord, but also before men." {2Co 8:20-21}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain That goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; that lieth…
That goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; that lieth with her, as the phrase signifies, Gen 19:31; 29:21,23, &c. Toucheth her, i.e. hath carnal knowledge of her, as this word is used, Gen 20:6; 1Co 7:1, and in Terence, and other writers.
Shall not be innocent; shall be punished as a malefactor, either by God or man.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Men do not despise a thief, if he steal,....…
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;
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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) "quia esurit", Cocceius, Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 29. So he that goeth in to his…
Verse 29. So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife] As sure as he who takes fire into his bosom, or who walks upon live coals, is burnt thereby; so sure he that seduces his neighbour's wife shall be guilty. That is, he shall be punished.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Clean. Or be left unpunished. No crime disturbs the…
Clean. Or be left unpunished. No crime disturbs the order of society so much, nor is pardoned with more difficulty.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 29. innocent] So R.V. marg.; but as the object…
29. innocent] So R.V. marg.; but as the object here is to deter from the sin by insisting on its consequences, it is better to render, with R.V. text, unpunished.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (29) Shall not be innocent.—That is to say, unpunished.
(29) Shall not be innocent.—That is to say, unpunished.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain So he that goeth in to his neighbour"s wife;…
So he that goeth in to his neighbour"s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. It is as great a folly to suppose that an adulterer will escape punishment as to imagine that no injury will follow where fire has been applied. Delitzsch illustrates this verse by a passage from Pythagoras"s maxim ("Eclog.," 100, 39), To eiv pur kai eiv gunaika empesein ison uparcei Goeth in; Hebrew, habba el; i.e. has intercourse with, as in Gen_6:4 Gen_19:31 Gen_38:9 Psa_51:2. The same in force as "toucheth." Shall not be innocent; Hebrew, lo-yinnakeh; i.e. poena vacuus, "exempt from punishment," or shall be unpunished (Delitzsch, Zockler, Gesenius); cf. Pro_11:21, "The wicked shall not be unpunished (lo yinnakeh)" ashore. The verb nakah signifies rimarily "to be pure;" Bothe Vulgate tenders non erit mundus," he will not be pure;" but the LXX observes the secondary meaning of the verb, ouk aywwyhsetai , non erit innoxius, "he shall not be let go unpunished," the Alexandrine verb aywow . Certain and the very heaviest punishment shall come upon him. (see also Pro_17:5 Jer_25:29 Jer_49:12) With this explanation agree Gejerus and Vatablus.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.