SEV Biblia, Chapter 9:17
Las aguas hurtadas son dulces, y el pan comido en oculto es suave.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Proverbs 9:17
Verse 17. Stolen waters are sweet ] I suppose this to be a proverbial mode of expression, importing that illicit pleasures are sweeter than those which are legal The meaning is easy to be discerned; and the conduct of multitudes shows that they are ruled by this adage. On it are built all the adulterous intercourses in the land.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 17. Stolen waters are sweet , etc.] Wells and fountains of waters in those hot countries were very valuable, and were the property of particular persons; about which there were sometimes great strife and contention; and they were sometimes sealed and kept from the use of others; (see Genesis 26:18-22 Song of Solomon 4:12); now waters got by stealth from such wells and fountains were sweeter than their own, or what might be had in common and without difficulty, to which the proverb alludes. By which in general is meant, that all prohibited unlawful lusts and pleasures are desirable to men, and sweet in the enjoyment of them; and the pleasure promised by them is what makes them so desirable, and the more so because forbidden: and particularly as adultery, which is a sort of theft f258 , and a drinking water out of another’s cistern, ( Proverbs 5:15); being forbidden and unlawful, and secretly committed, is sweeter to an unclean person than a lawful enjoyment of his own wife; so false worship, superstition, and idolatry, the inventions of men, and obedience to their commands, which are no other than spiritual adultery, are more grateful and pleasing to a corrupt mind than the true and pure worship of God; and bread [eaten] in secret is pleasant ; or, “bread of secret places” f259 ; hidden bread, as the Targum, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions; that which is stolen and is another’s f260 , and is taken and hid in secret places, fetched out from thence, or eaten there: the sweet morsel of sin, rolled in the mouth, and kept under the tongue; secret lusts, private sins, particularly idolatry, to which men are secretly enticed, and which they privately commit, ( Deuteronomy 13:6); the same thing is designed by this clause as the forager.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 13-18 - How diligent the tempter is, to seduce unwary souls into sin! Carnal sensual pleasure, stupifies conscience, and puts out the sparks of conviction. This tempter has no solid reason to offer; and where sh gets dominion in a soul, all knowledge of holy things is lost an forgotten. She is very violent and pressing. We need to seek and pra for true wisdom, for Satan has many ways to withdraw our souls from Christ. Not only worldly lusts and abandoned seducers prove fatal to the souls of men; but false teachers, with doctrines that flatter prid and give liberty to lusts, destroy thousands. They especially draw of such as have received only partial serious impressions. The depths of Satan are depths of hell; and sin, without remorse, is ruin, rui without remedy. Solomon shows the hook; those that believe him, wil not meddle with the bait. Behold the wretched, empty, unsatisfying deceitful, and stolen pleasure sin proposes; and may our souls be s desirous of the everlasting enjoyment of Christ, that on earth we ma live to him, daily, by faith, and ere long be with him in glory __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
מים 4325 גנובים 1589 ימתקו 4985 ולחם 3899 סתרים 5643 ינעם׃ 5276
