Proverbs 6:26
in Proverbs 6For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a piece of bread; And the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.
KJV
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
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This verse in Proverbs 6
Commentary
14 notes on this verseI will hope in Him, for He Himself shall deliver me from the snare of the hunters. In this world there are many hunters who long to capture our souls, just as is said by the prophet: "Our soul has been snatched away like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters." Now that hunters are taken in a sinister sense in the holy Scriptures, we have already said often. For that Nimrod, the giant, always a rebel against God, was a hunter. Esau too was a hunter. For He Himself shall deliver me from the snare of the hunters.
This site's exposition
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress
on Proverbs 6:24-26
“Do not lust in your heart for her beauty” places the danger in desire, and her eyes are named as a weapon before any deed. The two costs stand side by side: the prostitute brings a man to poverty, while the adulteress “preys upon your very life”.
This site's exposition
the levy of the prostitute is poverty
The prostitute costs a man his bread, and Clarke reports the Greek reading, the price of a harlot is about one loaf. The adulteress preys on his very life. Under the law of Moses, adultery with another man's wife was punished by death.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 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 price of a loose woman is scarcely a loaf of bread; but if she is married, she is a trap for your life." Notice how great sin is, that on account of the space of one hour, in which an unhappy soul is joined …
The Medieval Church2 voices
For the price of a harlot is hardly a loaf of bread. Remember that the pleasure of fornication is brief and the punishment for the fornicator is perpetual. Just as one loaf of bread only dispels hunger for a day, and nevertheless he who has …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Just as by following the glorious Virgin we become precious and holy, so by following Eve we become wicked and worthless. Whence in Proverbs: "The price of a harlot is scarcely one loaf of bread; but a woman captures the precious soul of a man." …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And that poverty must needs lie heavily which men bring themselves into by their own folly, Job xxxi. (2.) It threatens death; it kills men: The adulteress will hunt for the precious life, perhaps designedly, as Delilah for Samson's, at least, eventually, the sin strikes at the life. Adultery was punished by the law of Moses as a capital crime.
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread,....
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 Nineteenth Century3 voices
By means of a whorish woman - In following lewd women, a man is soon reduced to poverty and disease. The Septuagint gives this a strange turn: timh gar pornhv, osh kai enov artou. “For the price or hire of a whore is about one loaf.” So many were they in the land, that they hired themselves out for a bare subsistence. The Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic, give the same sense. The old MS. Bible has it thus: The price forsothe of a strumpet is unneth oon lof: the woman forsothe taketh the precious liif of a mam.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The supplied words give a better sense than the old version: "The price of a whore is a piece of bread." adulteress--(Compare Margin), which the parallel and context (Pr 6:29-35) sustain. Of similar results of this sin, compare Pr 5:9-12. will hunt--alluding to the snares spread by harlots (compare Pr 7:6-8). precious life--more valuable than all else.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The two forms of evil bring, each of them, their own penalty. By the one a man is brought to such poverty as to beg for “a piece of bread” (compare 1Sa 2:36): by the other and more deadly sin he incurs a peril which may affect his life. The second clause is very abrupt and emphatic in the original; “but as for a man’s wife; she hunts for the precious life.”
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בְעַד־ | vead- | [the] price | H1157 → | 105 times |
| אִשָּׁ֥ה | ʾishah | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| זוֹנָ֗ה | zonah | a prostitute | H2181 → | 94 times |
| עַֽד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| כִּכַּ֫ר | kikar | a round loaf of | H3603 → | |
| לָ֥חֶם | lachem | bread | H3899 → | 298 times |
| וְאֵ֥שֶׁת | veeshet | and [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| אִ֑ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| נֶ֖פֶשׁ | nefesh | a life | H5315 → | 754 times |
| יְקָרָ֣ה | yekarah | precious | H3368 → | 36 times |
| תָצֽוּד׃ פ | tatzud | she hunts | H6679 → |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בְעַד־[the] price
vead-H1157 →105 times
אִשָּׁ֥הa woman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
זוֹנָ֗הa prostitute
zonahH2181 →94 times
עַֽד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
כִּכַּ֫רa round loaf of
kikarH3603 →
לָ֥חֶםbread
lachemH3899 →298 times
וְאֵ֥שֶׁתand [the] wife of
veeshetH802 →781 times
אִ֑ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
נֶ֖פֶשׁa life
nefeshH5315 →754 times
יְקָרָ֣הprecious
yekarahH3368 →36 times
תָצֽוּד׃ פshe hunts
tatzudH6679 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 13:18and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in…
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:14
Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.
- Ezekiel 13:20
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. So I will free…
- 2 Peter 2:14
Through
Proverbs 29:3A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
it leads to
- Proverbs 27:11
Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, so that I can answer him who taunts me.
- Proverbs 10:1
The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.
- Luke 15:30
But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
- Proverbs 15:20
A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
- Proverbs 28:7
A discerning son keeps the law, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.
- Proverbs 27:11
Through
1 Samuel 2:36And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:27
So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.
- 1 Kings 2:27
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 41:3; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 189:4; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 68, on Psalm 90 (Alternate Series); Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.