Proverbs 6:28
in Proverbs 6Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Or can one walk upon hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?
KJV
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
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This verse in Proverbs 6
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Can a man take fire in his bosom
on Proverbs 6:27-29
Two questions expecting the same obvious answer, fire kept in the clothing and feet walked over coals, both certain to burn, are set up only to be applied directly to the man who goes in to his neighbour's wife. The logic is not moral persuasion so much as a claim about cause and effect, that this particular sin carries its consequence built into the act itself the way heat carries burning. Whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent closes the comparison without qualification, naming a certainty rather than merely a likelihood of harm.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Solomon warns us against familiarity with such people when he says, "Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn? Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?" And again: "The price of a harlot is …
We must notice the apostle's prudence. He did not say, it is good not to have a wife, but it is good not to touch a woman: as though there were danger even in the touch, as though he who touched her would not escape from her who "hunts for the precious life" and causes the young man's understanding to fly away. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be scorched? As then he who touches fire is instantly burned, so by the mere touch the peculiar nature of man and woman is perceived, and the difference of sex is understood.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
We are here dissuaded from sin very much by arguments borrowed from our secular interests, for it is not only represented as damning in the other world, but as impoverishing in this.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יְהַלֵּ֣ךְ | yehalekh | will he walk? | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אִ֭ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַגֶּחָלִ֑ים | hagechalim | <the> burning coals | H1513 → | 18 times |
| וְ֝רַגְלָ֗יו | veraglav | and feet his | H7272 → | 247 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִכָּוֶֽינָה׃ | tikaveinah | will they be scorched | H3554 → |
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יְהַלֵּ֣ךְwill he walk?
yehalekhH1980 →1546 times
אִ֭ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַגֶּחָלִ֑ים<the> burning coals
hagechalimH1513 →18 times
וְ֝רַגְלָ֗יוand feet his
veraglavH7272 →247 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִכָּוֶֽינָה׃will they be scorched
tikaveinahH3554 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 41:3; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.