Proverbs 6:32-33

Context

6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom,¹

whoever does it destroys his own life.²

6:33 He will be beaten and despised,³

and his reproach will not be wiped away;⁴

[6:32] ¹tn 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] ²tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

[6:33] ³tn Heb “He will receive a wound and contempt.”

[6:33] ⁴sn 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).