So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
Parallel translations
- WEB So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
- BSB So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
- NKJV So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
- NASB So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.
- NLT So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The man who sleeps with his neighbor's wife will surely be punished. Adultery never escapes consequence.
Overview
The father applies the fire imagery directly: whoever goes in to another man's wife will not go unpunished. The certainty of harm and judgment is the heart of the warning. It upholds the sanctity of marriage, which Scripture treats as a covenant reflecting God's faithfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Cor 7:1Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
- 2 Sam 12:9–10Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
- Mal 3:5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Ezek 22:11And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.
- Lev 20:10And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
- 2 Sam 11:3–4And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
- Prov 16:5Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
- Gen 26:10–11And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
- Jer 5:8–9They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
- Gen 12:18–19And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
- 2 Sam 16:21And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father’s concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong.
- Gen 20:4–7But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 6:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.