Meaning of Pr 6:27

When speaking wisdom to the young man, Solomon admonished him not to be captivated by the promiscuous woman, saying:

Pr 6: 27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

The Hebrew word pronounced ‘ish-shaw’ means ‘woman’. When pronounced ‘esh-shaw’ means fire. The word for ‘bosom’ also means ‘treachery or deceit. Garments are a symbol of works.

For the sensus plenior, re-read the proverb as a pun/riddle:

Pr 6:27 Can a man take a woman in his treachery, and his works not be burned?

In old movies the dad would ask the young man who was giving his daughter attention, “What are your intentions”. “Taking a woman in his deceit” would be pretending to be a suitor, but simply trifling.

Why didn’t we change the last ‘burned’ to ‘woman’? Because it is a different word in Hebrew. The word for fire is the one related to the woman. The second one simply means burnt up completely.

We see that Solomon also suggests that if one pursues the lusts of the flesh, and deceives another to do so, then all the good works which we were created for and have performed are burned up.

One would think that many of the emotional games played in dating also fall into the category of treachery.