Proverbs 6:27

27 You cannot carry hot coals against your chest without burning your clothes,

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 desire her because she is beautiful. Don't let her capture you by the way she looks at you.

26 A prostitute will treat you like a loaf of bread, and a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.

27 You cannot carry hot coals against your chest without burning your clothes,

28 and you cannot walk on hot coals without burning your feet.

29 The same is true if you have sexual relations with another man's wife. Anyone who does so will be punished.