Proverbs 6:20-35--Warnings Against Adultery

Proverbs 6:20-35
English Standard Version
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Warnings Against Adultery
20 My son, keep your father's commandment,
    and forsake not your mother's teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart always;
    tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you;
    when you lie down, they will watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,
    from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
    and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26 for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,
    but a married woman hunts down a precious life.
27 Can a man carry fire next to his chest
    and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals
    and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife;
    none who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
    he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
    he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
    and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
    he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

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Again, Solomon goes back to telling his son to obey his father's and mother's instructions instead of pointing towards God's Law (the seventh commandment) which is quite clear on this issue, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."  He tells his son to bind them to his heart and around his neck (like jewelry that is beautiful and makes you look even better when you wear it).  These commandments will guide and direct his steps in the way he should go.

The commandments are both light and life (see Psalm 119), and we are wise to honor and obey them.  We should love the Law of the LORD and delight in His commandments.  Now Solomon zeroes in on a specific commandment (the seventh) to say that the commandments will keep his son's feet from walking in the way of the harlot or adulterous woman.  Making the decision only based on her outward beauty is like building a fire in your lap and expecting to not be burned.

You can't play with fire (or even hot coals) and not suffer the consequences.  Likewise, no one can play around with sex and not suffer the consequences.  Solomon promises that anyone who touches his neighbor's wife in a lustful, sexual way will be found out and punished.

We have some pity on a poor man who steals bread to feed himself and his family because we know that he cannot afford what is needed for him and his family to live.  However, we severely punish anyone who has the means to provide for his family and chooses to steal other's hard-earned property instead.  Thus, it is with a man who has his own wife at home to satisfy him and turns to steal another man's wife to satisfy his lusts and desires.  There is no sympathy for such a man because he will destroy himself, his house, and his family because of his unbridled lusts.  Solomon says that anyone who would give us all these good things that he has in such a moment lacks sense and wisdom.  He will dishonor himself, and people will not "forgive and forget" such actions.  His reputation will be ruined pretty much forever.

The jealous husband will have his vengeance on the man who stole his wife, even if it was his wife who was adulterous and tried to entice the other man.  It is the man's responsibility to be wise and not to fall into such temptation.  There is no amount of money that the man will want to accept in court for the price of violating his wife, but instead he will be out for blood.  This is why the Law says that the adulterous man and woman must be put to death, for they have committed high-handed sins of rebellion against the LORD and have ruined something related to the gospel by allowing the flesh and the devil to ruin the image of marriage and family that God has given us to show people a taste of what it's like to be in union with God and to be a part of His family.  If a man is jealous like this about his wife, then we can understand how Jesus would be jealous for His Bride with a righteous jealousy whenever we commit adultery by sinning and whoring ourselves out to the evil things of this world for the temporary pleasures that it offers (more about that when we study the book of Hosea and how the people of God make God angry when they cheat on Him.)  We also have the idea that obedience is better than sacrifice here because there is no number of gifts that you can give to someone to make them trust you again.  Consistently and totally obey and then your gifts will not be questioned or refused.