Pro 6:29 | NETfull | STEP | So it is with the one who has sex with his neighbor’s wife; no one who touches her will escape punishment.

Proverbs 6:29

29 So it is with ^{▼▼ Heb “thus is the one.”} the one who has sex with ^{▼▼ Heb “who goes in to” (so NAB, NASB). The Hebrew verb בּוֹא (bo’, “to go in; to enter”) is used throughout scripture as a euphemism for the act of sexual intercourse. Cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “who sleeps with”; NCV “have sexual relations with.”} his neighbor’s wife;
no one ^{▼▼ Heb “anyone who touches her will not.”} who touches ^{▼▼ The verb “touches” is intended here to be a euphemism for illegal sexual contact (e.g., Gen 20:6).} her will escape ^{▼▼ Heb “will be exempt from”; NASB, NLT “will not go unpunished.”} punishment. ^{▼▼ The verb is יִנָּקֶה (yinnaqeh), the Niphal imperfect from נָקָה (naqah, “to be empty; to be clean”). From it we get the adjectives “clean,” “free from guilt,” “innocent.” The Niphal has the meanings (1) “to be cleaned out” (of a plundered city; e.g., Isa 3:26), (2) “to be clean; to be free from guilt; to be innocent” (Ps 19:14), (3) “to be free; to be exempt from punishment” [here], and (4) “to be free; to be exempt from obligation” (Gen 24:8).}