Proverbs 6:27

27 Can you build a fire in your lap and not burn your pants?

Proverbs 6:27 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 6:27

Can a man take fire in his bosom
A whore is compared to fire, and is so called by the poets ^F15; and it is a saying of Pythagoras,

``it is a like thing to fall into fire and into a woman ^F16;''

the Hebrew words (va) , "esh", "fire", and (hvya) , "ishah", "a woman", have some affinity in sound; and the phrase of taking it "into the bosom" fitly expresses the impure embraces of a harlot; and his clothes not be burned?
he cannot, it is impossible; and equally vain is it to think that a man can commit whoredom and it not be known, or he not hurt by it in his name and substance, or in his body, soul, and life.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Plauti Bacehides, Act. 4. Sc. 9. v. 15. "Accede ad ignem hunc", Terent. Eunuehus, Act. 1. Sc. 2. v. 5.
F16 (to eiv pur kai eiv gunaika) , apud Maximum, Eclog. c. 39.

Proverbs 6:27 In-Context

25 Don't lustfully fantasize on her beauty, nor be taken in by her bedroom eyes.

26 You can buy an hour with a whore for a loaf of bread, but a wanton woman may well eat you alive.

27 Can you build a fire in your lap and not burn your pants?

28 Can you walk barefoot on hot coals and not get blisters?

29 It's the same when you have sex with your neighbor's wife: Touch her and you'll pay for it. No excuses.