Proverbs 6:30-35

To Steal A Man's Wife By Adultery Is Far Worse And Far More Costly Than To Steal His Possessions, For Compensation Can Be Made For Stolen Possessions, But No Compensation Will Be Considered As Satisfactory For Adultery (Proverbs 6:30).

A comparison is now made between a man who is hungry and steals in order to satisfy his hunger, who in consequence has to pay a heavy price, and a man who is sexually hungry and steals his neighbour's wife in order to satisfy his hunger. But in his case no price will be sufficient. The husband will not be satisfied by anything that he can offer. He will require the ultimate penalty.

This subsection may be analysed as follows:

A Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry (Proverbs 6:30).

B But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold, he shall give all the substance of his house (Proverbs 6:31).

C He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding, he does it who would destroy his own soul (Proverbs 6:32).

C Wounds and dishonour will he get, and his reproach will not be wiped away (Proverbs 6:33).

B For jealousy is the rage of a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance (Proverbs 6:34).

A He will not regard any ransom, nor will he rest content, though you give many gifts (Proverbs 6:35).

Note that in A men do not despise a thief who steals for good cause, but in the parallel a husband totally despises a man who steals his wife. In B a thief may have to give all that he has in reparation, but in the parallel no reparation will be satisfactory. He will not be spared. Finally in C an adulterer destroys his own life, for in the parallel he will receive wounds and dishonour, and everlasting reproach.

Proverbs 6:30

‘Men do not despise a thief, if he steals

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.'

All decent men will sympathise with a thief who is driven to stealing by pure hunger (we might translate ‘when he is famished'). Nevertheless if he is caught he will be called on to make reparation. He will restore ‘sevenfold' is a way of saying that he will be called on to make reparation to the full extent required (compare how Cain would be avenged sevenfold - Genesis 4:15). If necessary he will have to give everything that he possesses (all the substance of his house), and become a slave, in order to make reparation.

Proverbs 6:32

‘He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding,

He does it who would destroy his own soul.'

Wounds and dishonour will he get,

And his reproach will not be wiped away.

But there can be no sympathy for a man who steals his neighbour's wife. He is void of understanding. He has no justification. And the one who does it is not satisfying hunger, he is destroying his own life. All he can expect to received are wounds and dishonour. He may expect to be attacked physically by the husband, who may also have assisted with the death sentence, and psychologically by the whole of society. It was a crime that society looked on as heinous and unforgivable. It hit at the very root of family life. Thus his reproach would never be wiped away. If he did live (it may be that by Solomon's time the death sentence had been replaced by a lashing), he would always be seen as the man who stole another man's wife (compare Deuteronomy 25:10 of the one who refused to raise up seed to his brother). And if he died he would carry his reproach beyond the grave.

Proverbs 6:34

‘For jealousy is the rage of a man,

And he will not spare in the day of vengeance,

He will not regard any ransom,

Nor will he rest content, though you give many gifts.'

Nor would there be any relenting by the husband who had been cheated. For jealousy more than anything else inflames men's burning rage, indeed it is regularly the source of that rage. Thus the husband will be filled with constant rage against him and will not spare him or relent in the day when he is able to obtain his vengeance. Nor will he be bought off. He will not accept any offer of ransom. Nor will he rest content and allow his rage to subside, even though he is given more and more compensation. Nothing will stop him. He will not rest until he feels that he has been fully requited through maximum judgment coming on the adulterer.

It will be noted that Proverbs 6:24 began with ‘you, your' (Proverbs 6:24), referring to the young man, and now ends with ‘you' (Proverbs 6:35) with the verses in between referring to an impersonal ‘he' which refers to the ‘man' in Proverbs 6:37. His aim is to make the young man feel involved, and take the warning personally.