Proverbs 6:29

So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The text delivers a proverbial warning without naming a specific speaker or historical moment, addressing a general audience with practical instruction. It directly follows the hot coals analogy in Proverbs 6:28 to illustrate the inevitable outcome of illicit sexual contact.

The words — The Hebrew particle כֵּ֗ן (ken) means "thus" or "so," anchoring the verse to the preceding analogy. The verb יִ֝נָּקֶ֗ה (yi.naKeh) literally translates to "he will go unpunished" or "he will be acquitted," establishing the certainty of reckoning.

The thread — The adultery prohibition runs in Leviticus 20:10, which mandates punishment for both the adulterer and the adulteress. The boundary is reinforced in 1 Corinthians 7:1, which advises abstaining from sexual relations to maintain purity.

Why it lands — The verse demands immediate recognition that illicit sexual contact carries unavoidable consequences. It requires the reader to treat the boundary around another man’s wife as a definitive line that cannot be crossed without penalty.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כֵּ֗ןKen[is] thus הַ֭בָּאHa./ba'the/ [one who] goes אֶל־'el-into אֵ֣שֶׁת'E.shet[the] wife of רֵעֵ֑הוּre.'E./huneighbor/ his לֹ֥אlo'not יִ֝נָּקֶ֗הyi.na.Kehhe will go unpunished כָּֽל־kal-every הַנֹּגֵ֥עַha./no.Ge.a'<the>/ [one who] touchesבָּֽהּ׃Ba/h<in>/ her

King James Version

So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

Cross-references

1 Corinthians 7:1 Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations.
Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
2 Samuel 12:9 Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Ezekiel 22:11 One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
Genesis 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?
Genesis 26:10 “What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
2 Samuel 11:3 So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
2 Samuel 16:21 Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”
Proverbs 16:5 Everyone who is proud in heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured that he will not go unpunished.