He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.
- KJV But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
- NKJV Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.
- NASB One who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself commits it.
- NLT But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.
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 adulterer lacks all sense and destroys his own life. Sexual sin is self-ruinous folly.
Overview
Unlike the thief who can repay, the adulterer commits an irreparable act that destroys himself. He is called void of understanding, for he trades lasting ruin for fleeting pleasure. The verse exposes sexual sin as profound folly that wounds the sinner's own soul.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Prov 7:7I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment,
- Heb 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Prov 7:22–23He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap,
- Rom 1:22–24Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- Prov 2:18–19For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
- Eccl 7:25–26I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
- Gen 39:9–10No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”
- Exod 20:14You shall not commit adultery.
- Gen 41:39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.
- Prov 8:36But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
- Hos 4:11–12Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- Prov 9:4“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.
- Ezek 18:31Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- Prov 9:16–18“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.
- Prov 5:22–23The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Jer 5:21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
- Jer 5:8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
- Hos 13:9You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 6:32 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.