Proverbs 9:17 kjv
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
Proverbs 9:17 nkjv
"Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant."
Proverbs 9:17 niv
"Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"
Proverbs 9:17 esv
"Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."
Proverbs 9:17 nlt
"Stolen water is refreshing;
food eaten in secret tastes the best!"
Proverbs 9 17 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Pro 5:3-5 | For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey... but in the end she is bitter... Her feet go down to death... | The bitter end of sin's deceptive sweetness. |
| Pro 5:15-18 | Drink water from your own cistern... Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth... | Contrast with lawful, pure enjoyment (fidelity). |
| Pro 7:10-27 | The woman met him... and with smooth talk she enticed him... He follows her straight to the slaughterhouse... | Illustrates Folly's seductive methods and fatal end. |
| Pro 20:17 | Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel. | Direct parallel showing the souring of illicit gain. |
| Pro 23:7 | For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you. | Highlights deceptive nature and underlying malice. |
| Pro 23:27-28 | For a prostitute is a deep ditch... She lies in wait like a robber and increases the number of unfaithful among men. | The destructive outcome of the forbidden path. |
| Pro 30:20 | This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wrong." | Illustrates the blindness and denial accompanying hidden sin. |
| Eccl 11:9-10 | Rejoice, O young man, in your youth... but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment... | Fleeting pleasure followed by accountability. |
| Jer 2:13 | For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and dug out broken cisterns... | Abandoning God's true sustenance for deceptive substitutes. |
| Hos 4:11 | Wine and new wine take away the understanding. | Sin's power to blind and lead astray. |
| John 8:34 | Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin." | The bondage behind sin's initial freedom. |
| Rom 6:21 | What fruit did you have then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. | Shame and death are the ultimate outcomes of sin. |
| Rom 6:23 | For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. | The contrast between sin's payoff and God's gift. |
| Eph 5:3-5 | But sexual immorality and all impurity... must not even be named among you... | Clear apostolic warning against such acts. |
| Heb 3:13 | But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. | Explicitly states sin's deceptive nature leading to hardness of heart. |
| Jas 1:14-15 | But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. | The process from deceptive desire to death. |
| 1 Pet 2:11 | Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. | Fleshly passions war against the true self, seeking deceptive sweetness. |
| 1 John 2:16 | For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. | The worldly source of forbidden desires. |
Proverbs 9 verses
Proverbs 9 17 Meaning
Proverbs 9:17 expresses the seductive and deceptive allure of sin and illicit pleasure, especially sexual infidelity, from the perspective of Lady Folly. She entices simple ones by claiming that forbidden acts are sweeter and more desirable precisely because they are clandestine and prohibited. This verse encapsulates the powerful but transient appeal of sin, which, though appearing pleasurable in the moment, leads to dire consequences.
Proverbs 9 17 Context
Proverbs 9 presents a powerful literary climax of the "ways of Wisdom" versus the "ways of Folly" that are central to the book of Proverbs. Immediately preceding verse 17, Lady Wisdom has extended an open invitation to all, particularly the "simple" and "lacking in sense," to "come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed" (Pro 9:4-5), promising life and understanding. Directly countering Wisdom’s life-giving feast, Lady Folly, personified as a loud, rebellious, and simple woman (Pro 9:13), issues her own deceptive invitation in verses 16-17. Her target audience is the same "simple ones" as Wisdom's, yet her enticement offers an illusory gratification. The verse’s primary context is a direct polemic against the seductions of adultery, as "stolen water" and "food eaten in secret" were common euphemisms for illicit sexual encounters in ancient Israelite culture (e.g., Pro 5:15-20). It highlights how the allure of secrecy and forbiddenness can make sin seem intensely desirable, overshadowing its ultimate bitter fruit.
Proverbs 9 17 Word analysis
- Stolen (גְּנוּבִים, genuvim): From the root ganav (to steal, hide). Signifies that which is illicit, taken by deception or stealth. The act of taking something forbidden adds a thrill, making it seem more desirable precisely because it is hidden and goes against boundaries.
- Water (מַיִם, mayim): While literally water, in the context of Proverbs (especially 5:15-18), it often serves as a metaphor for sexual intimacy. "Stolen water" therefore strongly implies illicit sexual relations, particularly adultery.
- Sweet (מָתוֹק, matok): Pleasant, agreeable, delicious. Refers to the immediate gratification and apparent delight experienced from partaking in the forbidden. It is a taste that initially pleases the palate, suggesting satisfaction and enjoyment.
- Bread (לֶחֶם, lechem): General term for food, sustenance. Here, it signifies nourishment, pleasure, or the provision of illicit experiences.
- Eaten in secret (סֵתֶר, seter): From satar (to hide, conceal). Emphasizes the clandestine nature of the act. The secrecy enhances the perceived desirability, suggesting evasion of consequence, social shame, or discovery, adding to the thrill of transgression.
- Pleasant (נָעֵם, na'em): Delightful, agreeable, charming. Similar to "sweet," it speaks to the perceived agreeableness and desirability of the forbidden act. This pleasure, however, is short-lived and illusory.
Words-group by words-group analysis
- "Stolen water is sweet": This phrase encapsulates the core idea of sin's deceptive attractiveness. The "stolen" aspect heightens the pleasure; the fact that it's forbidden contributes to its perceived desirability. The "water," often linked to vital life-giving resources or intimacy, here is corrupted by being "stolen," representing illicit relationships. The "sweetness" is only superficial and temporary, hiding underlying bitterness and danger.
- "Bread eaten in secret is pleasant": Reinforces the first part with another common metaphor. "Bread" represents sustenance and satisfaction, but when consumed "in secret," it speaks to clandestine actions that derive a false sense of thrill or security from being hidden. The "pleasantness" is an immediate sensory gratification, designed to mask the long-term destructive effects of sin and unrighteousness. This secrecy provides an illusion of safety from judgment, which is far from the truth.
Proverbs 9 17 Bonus section
The appeal of "stolen water" and "secret bread" highlights the psychological draw of taboo and risk. For some, the thrill is not merely in the pleasure itself, but in the perceived mastery over boundaries, the rebellion, or the idea of getting away with something unnoticed. Lady Folly understands this perverse inclination. This temptation often plays on human pride and a false sense of autonomy or cleverness in evading rules or detection. Furthermore, the metaphors hint at spiritual adultery. Just as marital infidelity breaks a sacred covenant, so does sin often entail a forsaking of one’s covenant with God for temporary, forbidden "delights" found in the world. These "delights" cannot truly satisfy but ultimately lead to spiritual drought and death, unlike the satisfying springs of life found in God's wisdom and commandments.
Proverbs 9 17 Commentary
Proverbs 9:17 serves as Lady Folly's deceptive counter-invitation to Lady Wisdom's call. She presents sin, especially illicit sexual pleasure, as uniquely desirable because it is forbidden and secretive. The "sweetness" and "pleasantness" are a perverse inversion of true wisdom’s lasting joy. Folly knows that human nature often craves what is off-limits, and she capitalizes on the thrill of transgression and the illusion of unpunished indulgence. However, the true reality, as the following verse (9:18) immediately clarifies, is that her guests "do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol." The temporary pleasure masks eternal destruction. This verse reveals the shrewd tactic of temptation: to offer immediate gratification while obscuring the ultimate bitter and deadly consequences, contrasting sharply with the nourishing, life-giving "bread and wine" offered by true Wisdom. It teaches that the apparent appeal of sin is fleeting and deceptive, leading to spiritual emptiness and ruin.