The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.

Note – All words or phrases found in quotation marks are actual parts of the Hebrew definition(s).

32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. 33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

Man of Shame

It seems this adultery theme is staying with us. It has been covered in many ways in our review and examination of this chapter of Proverbs. God has it covered so much because it is such a destructive force in a marriage, but to be honest I would really like to be done with the topic.

Okay, just when I make my last statement things get interesting. Verse thirty-two states that a man who commits adultery “lacketh understanding” and that by doing so, committing adulty, he “destroyeth his own soul.” When I examined this “understanding” that the man lacks I find something incredible but so powerfully true.

In the Hebrew language this means that the man lacks, “a heart and feelings” the man lacks according to the Hebrew language both proper “will and even intellect” he lacks a proper center to his life, Christ. What is in quotation marks here is right out of the Hebrew language, who would have known that lacking understanding actually encompassed so much.

The soul is where the mind, will, and emotions reside and verse thirty-two say that as a man partakes in any form of adultery, he destroys his own soul. It is something he does to himself. Wow see the connections between the lack of understand and the destruction of the soul; soul equals the mind (the lack of intellect), the will (the lack of willpower), and emotions (the lack of heart and feelings), the connection is incredible.

Let us look closely in the Hebrew language at what this destruction of the soul actually entails.

“destroyeth” in the Hebrew language means:

“to decay, (causatively) to ruin (literally or figuratively) to batter, cast off, corrupt, destroy, lose, mar, perish, utterly waste”

Wow, that is some severe damage.

I have known men who got caught up with women who were not their wives, I have seen what it did to them, their marriages, and their wives; needless to say the destruction done to the marriages and the damage done to the wives is heartbreaking but in some ways it is equally sad when you see it take a man who was once decent at heart and turns him into something barely worth giving a second glance, he becomes so utterly rotten and diminished as a man. I guess what I am describing that I see in this type of man is what is talked about in verse thirty-three.

He becomes a man of no honour any longer. The verse says that he has a wound, which in the Hebrew means he is scared, he has a “figurative infliction” notice it is “infliction” not affliction, infliction means he will suffer due to what he has done. The Hebrew say he becomes “a leprous person” someone treated like they have the “plague” and I am sure there are many wounded wives who can attest to that truth, they did not want the adulterous man touching them for some period of time, if not permanently. Those women who did allow it are incredibly strong women, rare women, though should the man continue or repeat his adultery even very strong women may begin to find it almost impossible to be touched by such a man.

This “reproach” that the man suffers due to his own actions is something verse thirty-three states never goes away. I think many men and women who have gone through this horrible blow to marriage would both agree that even in cases where the marriage survived, which is rarer than one might think, and God brought proper healing to the marriage, the marriage is never quite the same; the man is never view without the stain nor with the honor he was once viewed.

In the Hebrew language this “reproach” is describes as “contumely, disgrace, +the pudenda:— rebuke, reproach (-fully), shame.” “Contumely” being “harsh language or treatment arising from haughtiness and contempt” – the contempt felt for a man who would do such is great on his wife’s part, his children’s part and in many cases even his friends or co-workers. I almost hate to go here but the Hebrew refers to the disgrace, shame, and contempt that is felt both toward the man and his “pudenda” which is his sexual organ. For a wounded wife the idea of having his sexual organ touch her sexual organ must be a painful concept; something once beautiful is now marred with ugliness.

Oh men, I urge you it is far easier to avoid this trap and save your dignity than it is repair your dignity and recover the look of love and sparkle in your wife’s eyes.

Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.