Proverbs 6:29-35

6:29 So it is with ¹  the one who has sex with ²  his neighbor’s wife;

no one ³  who touches ⁴  her will escape ⁵  punishment. ⁶ 

6:30 People ⁷  do not despise a thief when he steals

to fulfill his need ⁸  when he is hungry.

6:31 Yet ⁹  if he is caught ¹⁰  he must repay ¹¹  seven times over,

he might even have to give ¹²  all the wealth of his house.

6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, ¹³ 

whoever does it destroys his own life. ¹⁴ 

6:33 He will be beaten and despised, ¹⁵ 

and his reproach will not be wiped away; ¹⁶ 

6:34 for jealousy kindles ¹⁷  a husband’s ¹⁸  rage,

and he will not show mercy ¹⁹  when he takes revenge.

6:35 He will not consider ²⁰  any compensation; ²¹ 

he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation. ²² 

Genesis 38:23-26

38:23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things ²³  for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. ²⁴  I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

38:24 After three months Judah was told, ²⁵  “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, ²⁶  and as a result she has become pregnant.” ²⁷  Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” 38:25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word ²⁸  to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” ²⁹  Then she said, “Identify ³⁰  the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.” 38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright ³¹  than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her ³²  again.

Jude 1:19-21

1:19 These people are divisive, ³³  worldly, ³⁴  devoid of the Spirit. ³⁵  1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ³⁶  1:21 maintain ³⁷  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ³⁸  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ³⁹ 

Nehemiah 13:26

13:26 Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made ⁴⁰  him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin!

Hosea 4:13-14

4:13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops,

and burn offerings on the hills;

they sacrifice ⁴¹  under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is so pleasant.

As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes,

and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution,

nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery.

For the men consort with harlots,

they sacrifice with temple prostitutes.

It is true: ⁴²  “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin!”

[6:29]  ¹ tn Heb “thus is the one.”

[6:29]  ² tn Heb “who goes in to” (so NAB, NASB). The Hebrew verb בּוֹא (bo’, “to go in; to enter”) is used throughout scripture as a euphemism for the act of sexual intercourse. Cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “who sleeps with”; NCV “have sexual relations with.”

[6:29]  ³ tn Heb “anyone who touches her will not.”

[6:29]  ⁴ sn The verb “touches” is intended here to be a euphemism for illegal sexual contact (e.g., Gen 20:6).

[6:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “will be exempt from”; NASB, NLT “will not go unpunished.”

[6:29]  ⁶ tn The verb is יִנָּקֶה (yinnaqeh), the Niphal imperfect from נָקָה (naqah, “to be empty; to be clean”). From it we get the adjectives “clean,” “free from guilt,” “innocent.” The Niphal has the meanings (1) “to be cleaned out” (of a plundered city; e.g., Isa 3:26), (2) “to be clean; to be free from guilt; to be innocent” (Ps 19:14), (3) “to be free; to be exempt from punishment” [here], and (4) “to be free; to be exempt from obligation” (Gen 24:8).

[6:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “they do not despise.”

[6:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “himself” or “his life.” Since the word נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally “soul”) refers to the whole person, body and soul, and since it has a basic idea of the bundle of appetites that make up a person, the use here for satisfying his hunger is appropriate.

[6:31]  ⁹ tn The term “yet” is supplied in the translation.

[6:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “is found out.” The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to the imperfect nuances. Here it introduces either a conditional or a temporal clause before the imperfect.

[6:31]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect tense has an obligatory nuance. The verb in the Piel means “to repay; to make restitution; to recompense”; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “must pay back.”

[6:31]  ¹² tn This final clause in the section is somewhat cryptic. The guilty thief must pay back sevenfold what he stole, even if it means he must use the substance of his whole house. The verb functions as an imperfect of possibility: “he might even give.”

[6:32]  ¹³ tn Heb “heart.” The term “heart” is used as a metonymy of association for discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. NAB “is a fool”; NIV “lacks judgment”; NCV, NRSV “has no sense.”

[6:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

[6:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “He will receive a wound and contempt.”

[6:33]  ¹⁶ sn Even though the text has said that the man caught in adultery ruins his life, it does not mean that he was put to death, although that could have happened. He seems to live on in ignominy, destroyed socially and spiritually. He might receive blows and wounds from the husband and shame and disgrace from the spiritual community. D. Kidner observes that in a morally healthy society the adulterer would be a social outcast (Proverbs [TOTC], 75).

[6:34]  ¹⁷ tn The word “kindles” was supplied in the translation; both “rage” and “jealousy” have meanings connected to heat.

[6:34]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a man’s.”

[6:34]  ¹⁹ tn The verb חָמַל (khamal) means “to show mercy; to show compassion; to show pity,” usually with the outcome of sparing or delivering someone. The idea here is that the husband will not spare the guilty man any of the punishment (cf. NRSV “he shows no restraint”).

[6:35]  ²⁰ tn Heb “lift up the face of,” meaning “regard.”

[6:35]  ²¹ tn The word rendered “compensation” is כֹּפֶר (cofer); it is essentially a ransom price, a sum to be paid to deliver another from debt, bondage, or crime. The husband cannot accept payment as a ransom for a life, since what has happened cannot be undone so easily.

[6:35]  ²² tn BDB 1005 s.v. שֹׁחַד suggests that this term means “hush money” or “bribe” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). C. H. Toy takes it as legal compensation (Proverbs [ICC], 142).

[38:23]  ²³ tn The words “the things” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[38:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “we will become contemptible.” The Hebrew word בּוּז (buz) describes the contempt that a respectable person would have for someone who is worthless, foolish, or disreputable.

[38:24]  ²⁵ tn Heb “it was told to Judah, saying.”

[38:24]  ²⁶ tn Or “has been sexually promiscuous.” The verb may refer here to loose or promiscuous activity, not necessarily prostitution.

[38:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and also look, she is with child by prostitution.”

[38:25]  ²⁸ tn Heb “she was being brought out and she sent.” The juxtaposition of two clauses, both of which place the subject before the predicate, indicates synchronic action.

[38:25]  ²⁹ tn Heb “who these to him.”

[38:25]  ³⁰ tn Or “ recognize; note.” This same Hebrew verb (נָכַר, nakhar) is used at the beginning of v. 26, where it is translated “recognized.”

[38:26]  ³¹ tn Traditionally “more righteous”; cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT “more in the right.”

[38:26]  ³² tn Heb “and he did not add again to know her.” Here “know” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[1:19]  ³³ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ³⁴ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ³⁵ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:20]  ³⁶ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:21]  ³⁷ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ³⁸ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ³⁹ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[13:26]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “gave.”

[4:13]  ⁴¹ tn The phrase “they sacrifice” is not repeated in the Hebrew text here but is implied by parallelism; it is provided in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[4:14]  ⁴² tn The words “it is true” are supplied in the translation to indicate that this is a conclusion drawn on the preceding behavior. Cf. NAB “So must a people”; NRSV “thus a people”; TEV “As the proverb says, ‘A people.’”