Proverbs 30:20

NETBible

This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I have not done wrong.”

NIV ©

"This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’

NASB ©

This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, "I have done no wrong."

NLT ©

Equally amazing is how an adulterous woman can satisfy her sexual appetite, shrug her shoulders, and then say, "What’s wrong with that?"

MSG ©

Here's how a prostitute operates: she has sex with her client, Takes a bath, then asks, "Who's next?"

BBE ©

This is the way of a false wife; she takes food, and, cleaning her mouth, says, I have done no wrong.

NRSV ©

This is the way of an adulteress: she eats, and wipes her mouth, and says, "I have done no wrong."

NKJV ©

This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, "I have done no wickedness."


KJV
Such [is] the way
<01870>
of an adulterous
<05003> (8764)
woman
<0802>_;
she eateth
<0398> (8804)_,
and wipeth
<04229> (8804)
her mouth
<06310>_,
and saith
<0559> (8804)_,
I have done
<06466> (8804)
no wickedness
<0205>_.
NASB ©

This
<3651>
is the way
<1870>
of an adulterous
<5003>
woman
<802>
: She eats
<398>
and wipes
<4229>
her mouth
<6310>
, And says
<559>
, "I have done
<6466>
no
<3808>
wrong
<205>
."
LXXM
toiauth
<5108> 
A-NSF
odov
<3598> 
N-NSF
gunaikov
<1135> 
N-GSF
moicalidov
<3428> 
N-GSF
h
<3739> 
R-NSF
otan
<3752> 
ADV
praxh
<4238> 
V-FMI-2S
aponiqamenh
<633> 
V-AMPNS
ouden
<3762> 
A-ASN
fhsin
<5346> 
V-PAI-3S
pepracenai
<4238> 
V-RAN
atopon
<824> 
A-ASM
NET [draft] ITL
This
<03651>
is the way
<01870>
of an adulterous
<05003>
woman
<0802>
: she eats
<0398>
and wipes
<04229>
her mouth
<06310>
and says
<0559>
, “I have not
<03808>
done
<06466>
wrong
<0205>
.”
HEBREW
P
Nwa
<0205>
ytlep
<06466>
al
<03808>
hrmaw
<0559>
hyp
<06310>
htxmw
<04229>
hlka
<0398>
tpanm
<05003>
hsa
<0802>
Krd
<01870>
Nk (30:20)
<03651>

NETBible

This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I have not done wrong.”

NET Notes

sn Equally amazing is the insensitivity of the adulterous woman to the sin. The use of the word “way” clearly connects this and the preceding material. Its presence here also supports the interpretation of the final clause in v. 19 as referring to sexual intimacy. While that is a wonder of God’s creation, so is the way that human nature has distorted it and ruined it.

sn The word clearly indicates that the woman is married and unchaste; but the text describes her as amoral as much as immoral – she sees nothing wrong with what she does.

sn The acts of “eating” and “wiping her mouth” are euphemistic; they employ an implied comparison between the physical act of eating and wiping one’s mouth afterward on the one hand with sexual activity on the other hand (e.g., Prov 9:17).

sn This is the amazing part of the observation. It is one thing to sin, for everyone sins, but to dismiss the act of adultery so easily, as if it were no more significant than a meal, is incredibly brazen.