PROV 30:20 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Thus is the way of a woman who commits adultery:
⇔ She eats and wipes her mouth
⇔ and says, ‘I have not done iniquity.’

UST Acting adulterously is as easy for adulterous women as
⇔ eating and wiping their mouths.
⇔ Afterward, they claim that they have not sinned at all.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE ⇔ “So is the way of an adulterous woman:
⇔ She eats and wipes her mouth,
⇔ and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’

WMBB (Same as above)

NET This is the way of an adulterous woman:
⇔ she eats and wipes her mouth
⇔ and says, “I have not done wrong.”

LSV So—the way of an adulterous woman,
She has eaten and has wiped her mouth,
And has said, “I have not done iniquity.”

FBV This is the way of a woman who commits adultery: she eats,[fn] she wipes her mouth, and then says, “I haven't done anything wrong!”

30:20 This is often assumed to refer to the act of adultery.

T4T ⇔ This is what a woman who ◄is not faithful to/does not have sex only with► her husband does:
⇔ She commits adultery [EUP], and then bathes
⇔ and says, “I have not done anything that is wrong!”

LEB • This is the way of a woman committing adultery: she eats and wipes her mouth,
• and says “I have not done wrong.”

BBE This is the way of a false wife; she takes food, and, cleaning her mouth, says, I have done no wrong.

Moff [[This is the way of an adulteress:
⇔ she gratifies her appetit
⇔ and calmly says, “No harm!”]]
¶ 

JPS So is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith: 'I have done no wickedness.'

ASV So is the way of an adulterous woman;
⇔ She eateth, and wipeth her mouth,
⇔ And saith, I have done no wickedness.

DRA Such is also the way of an adulterous woman, who eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith: I have done no evil.

YLT So — the way of an adulterous woman, She hath eaten and hath wiped her mouth, And hath said, 'I have not done iniquity.'

Drby Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

RV So is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
(So is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth/eats, and wipeth her mouth, and saith/says, I have done no wickedness. )

SLT So the way of a woman committing adultery; eating and wiping her mouth, and saying, I transgressed not.

Wbstr Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

KJB-1769 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
(Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth/eats, and wipeth her mouth, and saith/says, I have done no wickedness. )

KJB-1611 Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I haue done no wickednesse.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Such is the way also of a wyfe that breaketh wedlocke, which wypeth her mouth lyke as when she hath eaten, and sayth, as for me I haue done no wickednesse.
(Such is the way also of a wife that breaketh/breaks wedlock, which wipeth her mouth like as when she hath/has eaten, and saith/says, as for me I have done no wickedness.)

Gnva Such is ye way also of an adulterous woman: she eateth and wipeth her mouth, and sayth, I haue not committed iniquitie.
(Such is ye/you_all way also of an adulterous woman: she eateth/eats and wipeth her mouth, and saith/says, I have not committed iniquity. )

Cvdl Soch is the waye also of a wyfe yt breaketh wedlocke, which wypeth hir mouth like as wha she hath eate, & sayeth: As for me, I haue done no harme.
(Such is the way also of a wife it breaketh/breaks wedlock, which wipeth her mouth like as what she hath/has eat, and saith/says: As for me, I have done no harm.)

Wycl Siche is the weie of a womman auowtresse, which etith, and wipith hir mouth, and seith, Y wrouyte not yuel.
(Siche is the way of a woman auowtresse, which eateth/eats, and wipith her mouth, and saith/says, I wrought/done not evil.)

Luth Also ist auch der Weg der Ehebrecherin; die verschlinget und wischet ihr Maul und spricht: Ich habe kein Übels getan.
(So is also the/of_the way/path/road the/of_the adulteress; the devours and wischet you(pl)/their/her mouth and speaks/says: I have no/not evils did.)

ClVg Talis est et via mulieris adulteræ, quæ comedit, et tergens os suum dicit: Non sum operata malum.[fn]
(Such it_is and way/road woman's adultery, which he_ate, and tergens mouth his_own he_says: Not/No I_am works evil. )

30.20 Talis est et via mulieris adulteræ. Adultera quoque mens ut ea quæ commemoravit, semper vaga est, quæ ubi celare peccata poterit, negat se aliquid patrasse mali.

30.20 Such it_is and way/road woman's adultery. Adultera too mind as them which commemoravit, always vaga it_is, which where celare sins will_be_able, denies himself something patrasse evil.

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 30:1–33: Here are the sayings of Agur

This section is a collection of verses that were written or organized by Agur the son of Jakeh.Some scholars think that Agur wrote or collected only verses 1–4, 1–6, 1–9, or 1–14. UBS (page 617), Toy (page 518), and Longman (page 513) are among those who list some of these possibilities. The GNT indicates with quotation marks that Agur’s words end after v.6. No other versions indicate that Agur’s words end before the end of the chapter. Waltke (volume I, page 26) strongly defends the entire chapter as the “oracle” of Agur on the basis of its structural unity. Kidner (page 178) divides the chapter into two sections (1–9) and (10–33), but identifies both as coming from “the sage.” The title of this section (30:1a) is the only place in Scripture that Agur is mentioned. The section is divided into paragraphs that vary from one to five verses. The Notes will suggest a paragraph heading for all paragraphs after 30:1a. It is suggested that you use similar headings in your translation to help the readers follow the changes of topic and audience.

The first nine verses contain Agur’s personal thoughts and prayers. Some are addressed to God, others to his audience. The rest of the chapter contains proverbs on various topics. Some are individual warnings or statements (30:10, 17, 20, 32–33). Others contain several kinds of lists of four items each. The lists in verses 15b–16, 18–19, 21–23, and 29–31 have the same form as the numerical proverb in 6:16–19. (See the paragraph summary for 6:16–19 and the notes on 6:16a–b.) The lists in verses 11–14 and 24–28 have different forms. These will be described in the paragraph summaries where they first occur.

Some other headings for this section are:

The Words of Agur (ESV)

Wise Words from Agur (NCV)

Words that the LORD caused Agur to make known

Paragraph 30:20 A woman who commits adultery

This is a separate proverb. It is not part of the preceding numerical proverb. It is similar to 30:19d in two ways: It has the phrase “the way of,” and it deals with the topic of sexual intercourse. But the adulteress in this proverb behaves shamelessly, whereas the love of a man for a young woman is too amazing to understand.

30:20

In this proverb, the behavior of a woman who commits adultery (20a) is described by the metaphor of eating and wiping her mouth (20b). The last line (20c) describes her arrogant and shameless attitude toward her sin.

^20aThis is the way of an adulteress:

^20bShe eats and wipes her mouth

^20cand says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’

30:20a

This is the way of an adulteress:

¶ Here is an illustration/comparison of a woman/wife who commits adultery:
¶ A wife who sleeps with men who are not her husband behaves/acts like this:
¶ In contrast, this is the shameless behavior of a woman/wife who sleeps with other men.

This is the way of an adulteress: The adulteress here is a married woman who commits adultery. Some other ways to translate:

This is how an unfaithful wife acts: (GNT)

This is the way of a woman who commits adultery: (GW)

A wife who sleeps with other men behaves like this:

30:20b

She eats and wipes her mouth

She eats. Then she wipes her mouth
It is like she eats normal food and then wipes her lips. It is not important to her.
She has intercourse and washes herself.

She eats and wipes her mouth: These phrases are a euphemism. They indicate that the woman has sexual intercourse and cleans herself afterwards. The phrases are also a metaphor. The metaphor compares the woman’s sexual activity to the casual way that people eat and then wipe their mouths. The similarity is that the woman considers adultery to be an ordinary activity with no moral significance just like eating a meal.Ross (page 1124) and Cohen (page 205) identify the figures of speech as euphemisms. Whybray (page 416) and Waltke (page 492) identify them as metaphors. Fox (page 873), Longman (page 530), and Murphy (pages 235–236) all point out that the figurative language shows the woman’s casual attitude toward adultery. Whybray (page 416), Garrett (page 241) and McKane (page 658) mention her lack of guilt. Some other ways to translate these figures of speech are:

Keep the euphemism and change the metaphor to a simile. For example:
She acts as if she had eaten and washed her face (NCV)
Translate the meaning of the euphemism and change the metaphor to a simile. For example:
To her, sleeping with another man means nothing. It is just like eating and then wiping her lips.
Translate the meaning without a figure of speech. For example:
she commits adultery, takes a bath (GNT)

30:20c

and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’

and says, “That was not a sin.”
After she finishes, she says to herself, “I did nothing wrong/bad.
Then she tells herself that what she did was not wrong/evil.

and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’: The verse does not indicate the person to whom the woman says this. It is possible that she says it to herself. For example:

and says to herself…

and thinks…These examples are taken from UBS (page 637).

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

דֶּ֥רֶךְ

road/way_of

See how you translated the same use of way in the previous verse.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

אִשָּׁ֗ה & אָ֭כְלָה וּ⁠מָ֣חֲתָה פִ֑י⁠הָ

woman/wife & eating and,she_wipes_clean mouth_of,her

Here, a woman, she, and her refer to a type of women in general, not a specific woman. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use more natural expressions. Alternate translation: “any woman … that woman eats and wipes her mouth”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אָ֭כְלָה וּ⁠מָ֣חֲתָה פִ֑י⁠הָ

eating and,she_wipes_clean mouth_of,her

Agur is referring to an adulterous woman easily committing adultery as if she were eating. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this plainly or use a simile. Alternate translation: “she commits adultery easily” or “she is like a woman who eats and wipes her mouth”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations

וְ֝⁠אָמְרָ֗ה לֹֽא־פָעַ֥לְתִּי אָֽוֶן

and,she_says not done wrong

If it would be more natural in your language, you could express this as an indirect quotation. Alternate translation: “and says that she has not done iniquity”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

אָֽוֶן

wrong