Whoever touches her will not go unpunished (Proverbs 6:27-29)


WTT Proverbs 6:27-29 הֲיַחְתֶּ֤ה אִ֓ישׁ אֵ֬שׁ בְּחֵיק֑וֹ וּ֜בְגָדָ֗יו לֹ֣א תִשָּׂרַֽפְנָה׃ 28 אִם־יְהַלֵּ֣ךְ אִ֭ישׁ עַל־הַגֶּחָלִ֑ים וְ֜רַגְלָ֗יו לֹ֣א תִכָּוֶֽינָה׃ 29 כֵּ֗ן הַ֭בָּא אֶל־אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֵ֑הוּ לֹ֥א יִ֜נָּקֶ֗ה כָּֽל־הַנֹּגֵ֥עַ בָּֽהּ׃

Proverbs 6:27-29 Can a man take fire in his bosom And his clothes not be burned? 28 Or can a man walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched? 29 So is the one who goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.

v. 27 Father, the agony and damage of physical burns is a sign of the agony and damage of soul that the folly of adultery brings. As v. 32 says, “he who would destroy himself does it.”

Yahweh, your perspective is that adultery is like dumping fire in the lap or walking barefoot across burning coals. I will get burned. I cannot dodge the bullet. Any appearance of “getting away with it” is illusory. You state, “he will not go unpunished” = he will not be remain blameless (HALOT), be free, exempt from punishment (BDB). 

This teaches me that You will uphold the moral order your character creates. You are just. You will not allow injustice to pass. Thank you for the assurance this provides. Thank you for the fear this produces. Both guard me from folly!

v. 28 This language, “everyone touching her,” seems to reflect a euphemism for sexual intercourse that was pervasive in the ANE (cf. Gen. 20:6). 1 Cor. 7:1 uses the same idiom and it is widely understood in that sense.
LXX Prov. 6:29c ... οὐδὲ πᾶς ὁ ἁπτόμενος αὐτῆς
NT 1 Cor. 7:1 ... καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γυναικὸς μὴ ἅπτεσθαι·

v. 29 The phrase “will not go unpunished” occurs four times prior to Proverbs 6:29 (Exod. 20:7; 34:7; Num. 14:18; Deut. 5:11). Twice in the Decalogue. Twice in Yahweh’s self-description. Those who take your name in vain (Exod. 20:7: Deut. 5:11) and those who pursue uniquity (Exod. 34:7; Num. 14:18) will not be unpunished. Here, Yahweh, you add the adulterer as a specific instance of those who will be declared guilty.

Interestingly, this phrase occurs more in Proverbs than in the rest of the OT (Prov. 6:29; 11:21; 16:5; 17:5; 19:5, 9; 28:20). The adulterer (6:29), the evil man (11:21), the proud in heart (16:5), the one who rejoices at calamity (17:5), the false witness (19:5, 9), and the one who makes haste to be rich (28:20)—all these will not escape your punishment. The elaboration on this theme suggests you inspired Solomon to give thought to this aspect of your self-description, Yahweh.

In Exod. 34:7 and Num. 14:18, this phrase is followed by “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons to the third and fourth generations.” This suggests that playing with adulterous fire burns not only the first-generation adulterer but may initiate a pattern repeated in subsequent generations which will bring God’s accumulating wrath upon them. Father, continue to guard me and my sons from bringing your multi-generational wrath upon us.


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