Proverbs 30:20 New English Translation
20 This is the way[a] of an adulterous[b] woman:
she has eaten and wiped her mouth[c]
and has said, “I have not done wrong.”[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 30:20 sn Equally amazing is the insensitivity of the adulterous woman to the sin. The use of the word “way” clearly connects this and the preceding material. Its presence here also supports the interpretation of the final clause in v. 19 as referring to sexual intimacy. While that is a wonder of God’s creation, so is the way that human nature has distorted it and ruined it.
- Proverbs 30:20 sn The word clearly indicates that the woman is married and unchaste, but the text describes her as amoral as much as immoral—she sees nothing wrong with what she does.
- Proverbs 30:20 sn The acts of “eating” and “wiping her mouth” are euphemistic; these acts of having a meal stand in as a metaphor for sexual activity (e.g., Prov 9:17).
- Proverbs 30:20 sn This is the amazing part of the observation. It is one thing to sin, for everyone sins, but to dismiss the act of adultery so easily, as if it were no more significant than a meal, is incredibly brazen.
New English Translation (NET)
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