Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 30:20
Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
20. The “four things” of the two preceding verses find their moral in this verse. So lightly does the abandoned woman think of the consequences of her sin; so does it pass away when committed and leave no mark behind. It is but to eat and wipe the lips, and all trace of the food is gone.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Such, so secret and undiscernible,
is the way of an adulterous woman; of her who, though she be called and accounted a maid yet in truth is an adulteress: not a common strumpet, for of such the following words are not true, but one that secretly lives in the sin of adultery or fornication.
She eateth, to wit, the bread of deceit in secret, by which is understood the act of filthiness, Pro 9:17; 20:17, which such persons do as greedily desire, and as delightfully feed upon, as hungry persons do upon bread. Thus chastely doth the Holy Ghost express the most filthy actions, to teach us to avoid all immodest and obscene speeches as well as actions.
Wipeth her mouth, as a child doth when it hath eaten some forbidden food, and would not be discovered.
Saith, I have done no wickedness; denies the fact, and avoweth her innoceney.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. she eateth . . . mouththatis, she hides the evidences of her shame and professes innocence.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman,…. It is equally unknown as the way of a man with a maid; it is difficult to detect her, she takes so much care and caution, and uses so many artful methods to conceal her wickedness from her husband; though she lives in adultery, it is in a most private manner, and carried on so secretly and artfully that she is not easily discovered;
she eateth, and wipeth her mouth; like one that eats what he should not, wipes his mouth that it might not be known or suspected he had ate anything; so such an adulteress commits the sin of adultery; and when she has done looks as grave and demure, and carries it so to her husband and all her friends, as if she was the chastest person upon earth. The allusion may be to harlots, who after an impure congress used to wash themselves a, and had servants to wait upon them and serve them with water, called from hence “aquarioli” b;
and saith, I have done no wickedness; she says by her behaviour, by her demure looks; and if suspected and challenged with it utterly denies it. This is an emblem of the antichristian whore of Rome, who, though the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth; though guilty of the foulest adultery, that is, the grossest idolatry, yet pretends to be the pure and chaste spouse of Christ; and, under the guise of purity and holiness, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, seduces the minds of many; see Re 17:1.
a “Dedecus hoc sumpta dissimulavit aqua”, Ovid. Amor. l. 3. Eleg. 6. in fine. b Tertull. Apolog. c. 43. Vid. Turnebi Adversar. l. 14. c. 12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Adulterous Woman
Verse 20 warns of the adulterous woman who indulges in this sin and thinks it is unknown because it was done in secret. She is unaware that God takes note and will punish both she and her partner, Pro 5:3-5; Pro 6:32-33; Pro 7:21-27; Pro 9:16-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(20) Such is the way of an adulterous woman.As there is no proof of her guilt, she flatly denies it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Such , ( ken,) so, a particle of comparison establishing a connexion with the preceding, and expressing the similitude between the way of an adulteress and the things just mentioned. “Just as incomprehensible in a moral view is the violation of the sacredness of marital rights by the adulteress, and her hardened indifference to the guilt of the crime.” Conant.
She eateth, and wipeth Indulges her appetite, and removes all indication of guilt.
And saith By her manner, “I am innocent.” One moral of the passage may be a caution against implicit confidence in external or first appearances.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 30:20. Such is the way of an adulterous woman The wise man adds, that this also is another of the things which he cannot understand. As idolatry is frequently expressed in Scripture by adultery, some commentators think that the adulterous woman here means an idolatress, who, having eaten of the sacrifice offered to an idol, wipeth her mouth, in order to conceal her crime, and afterwards audaciously persists in asserting that she is innocent. The plain meaning, however, seems to be, that it is difficult to conceive how a woman who is an adultress can so openly and impudently deny herself to be so, when there are the most manifest and indubitable proofs of it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 30:20 Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
Ver. 20. So is the way of an adulterous woman. ] The strumpet, when she hath eaten stolen bread, hath such dexterity in wiping her lips, that not the least crumb shall stick to them for discovery. So that Agur here shows it to be as hard to find it out as the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, &c. Unless taken in the manner, she stoutly denies the action. And if so taken, yet
“ Nihil est audacius illis,
Deprensis, iram atque animos a crimine sumunt. ”
– Juvenal,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
way = manner, or conduct. Compare Psa 119:9.
no wickedness = nothing: or, as we say, “no harm”. Hebrew. ‘aven.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 7:13-23, Num 5:11-30
Reciprocal: Gen 16:4 – her mistress Gen 37:25 – they sat Num 5:13 – General 2Sa 11:4 – she was 2Ki 5:25 – stood before Psa 32:5 – have Pro 9:17 – eaten in secret Pro 14:9 – Fools Jer 2:23 – How canst Hos 12:8 – they Mal 2:14 – Wherefore Mat 26:25 – Judas
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 30:20. Such So secret and undiscernible; is the way of an adulterous woman Of one that secretly lives in the sin of adultery. As artful men insinuate themselves into the affections of young women, and seduce them to their ruin, by an almost infinity of stratagems, which can never be all unravelled, so also the adulterous wife uses much ingenuity to impose on her husband, to shun detection, and to escape shame and punishment, by schemes and devices which cannot all be enumerated. Every new crime intended, or committed, gives rise to some new artifice; as the ship, in some degree, deviates every time from the course which it steered before. The object of the seducer is to prevail over his prey, and that of the adulteress to conceal her guilt; and the whole extent of their subtlety and ingenuity is employed to effect those purposes. Scott.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
30:20 Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and {k} wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
(k) She has her desires, and later counterfeits as though she were an honest woman.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The mention of the woman in Pro 30:19 seems to have triggered this pigtail comment about another unexplainable phenomenon. That is, how some women can commit adultery as easily as, and without any more remorse than, they can eat a meal. The sage could have said the same of some men.