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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Prov C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31
Prov 6 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35
OET (OET-LV) will_he_snatch_up a_man fire in_bosom_of_his and_garments_of_his not will_they_be_burnt.
This lesson may be summarized as follows: The son should heed his parents’ teaching, because it will keep him from the dangers of adultery (6:20–24). He should strictly avoid being tempted by another man’s wife. An affair with such a woman will have inevitable and disastrous consequences (6:25–33), resulting from the jealous fury of the husband (6:34–35).
Some other headings for this section are:
Warning Against Adultery (NIV)
Avoid adultery
More Advice About Avoiding Adultery (GW)
The terrible consequences of committing adultery
In these notes, this section forms a single paragraph (as in the NRSV). If a long paragraph like this is not natural in your language, you may want to make paragraph breaks as in the section summary above. Some other ways to divide the paragraphs are:
6:20–26, 27–35 (GNT)
6:20–22, 23–29, 30–35 (CEV)
6:20–29, 30–35 (NIV)
Divide the paragraphs in a way that fits the natural patterns of your language.
These two verses are parallel rhetorical questions.
27a Can a man embrace fire 27band his clothes not be burned?
28a Can a man walk on hot coals 28bwithout scorching his feet?
The purpose of both rhetorical questions is to give emphasis. The implied answer to both questions is, “Of course not!” Both rhetorical questions are also parallel metaphors. These metaphors compare a man who has sex with another man’s wife (6:29) to a man who comes in contact with fire/coals. The ways these men are similar are the disastrous and inevitable consequences that each man faces from his action.
Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?
Can a person carry burning coals against his chest and not have/get his clothes burned? Of course not!
It is impossible to put red-hot coals in your(sing) pocket without setting your clothes on fire.
Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?: This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes that a person cannot scoop burning coals into his lap without burning his clothes. Some ways to translate this emphasis are:
Use a question, but make explicit the implied answer: “Of course not!”
Use a statement. For example:
You cannot carry hot coals against your chest without burning your clothes (NCV)
If you carry burning coals, you burn your clothes (CEV)
embrace fire: The phrase the BSB translates as embrace fire generally means to take burning coals from a fire. The phrase can refer either to putting burning coals on a person’s lap or carrying those coals on the chest or in the clothes worn over the chest. The outer garment could also be pulled up to make a temporary pocket. So translations that speak of carrying fire/coals against the chest (GNT, NCV) or in the lap (NIV, NLT) are equally accurate. It would also be accurate to say: “carry hot coals in your pocket.” Use whatever is natural in your language for picking up and carrying hot coals in a way that would burn your clothes.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
הֲיַחְתֶּ֤ה אִ֓ישׁ אֵ֬שׁ בְּחֵיק֑וֹ וּ֝בְגָדָ֗יו לֹ֣א תִשָּׂרַֽפְנָה
will,he_snatch_up? (a)_man fire in,bosom_of,his and,garments_of,his not burnt
Solomon is using the question form to emphasize the truth of what he is saying. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: “Surely a man could not carry a fire on his chest and his clothes not be burned!”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / extrainfo
הֲיַחְתֶּ֤ה אִ֓ישׁ אֵ֬שׁ בְּחֵיק֑וֹ וּ֝בְגָדָ֗יו לֹ֣א תִשָּׂרַֽפְנָה
will,he_snatch_up? (a)_man fire in,bosom_of,his and,garments_of,his not burnt
Here Solomon is referring to the negative consequences of committing adultery as if a man were burning himself with fire. Since this comparison is explained in [6:29](../06/29.md), you do not need to explain its meaning further here.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
אִ֓ישׁ & בְּחֵיק֑וֹ וּ֝בְגָדָ֗יו
(a)_man & in,bosom_of,his and,garments_of,his
Here, a man and his do not refer to a specific man. They refer to any person who does this thing. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an expression that would be more natural in your language. Alternate translation: “any person … on that person’s chest and that person’s clothes”
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
וּ֝בְגָדָ֗יו לֹ֣א תִשָּׂרַֽפְנָה
and,garments_of,his not burnt
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “and the fire not burn his clothes”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
וּ֝בְגָדָ֗יו
and,garments_of,his
Here, clothes refers to the person who is wearing those clothes. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “and he” or “and that person”
6:20-35 This passage emphasizes the life-threatening risk of sleeping with another man’s wife (see also 1:8, 23; 2:16-22; 5:1-23; 7:1-27).
OET (OET-LV) will_he_snatch_up a_man fire in_bosom_of_his and_garments_of_his not will_they_be_burnt.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.