But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.
- BSB He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
- 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 7:7And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
- Heb 13:4Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
- Prov 7:22–23He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
- Rom 1:22–24Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
- Prov 2:18–19For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
- Eccl 7:25–26I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
- Gen 39:9–10There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
- Exod 20:14Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- Gen 41:39And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
- Prov 8:36But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
- Hos 4:11–12Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
- Prov 9:4Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
- Ezek 18:31Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
- Prov 9:16–18Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
- Prov 5:22–23His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
- Jer 5:21Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
- Jer 5:8They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
- Hos 13:9O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.