Proverbs 6:26

for on account ¹  of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man ²  preys on your precious life. ³ 

for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for the precious life.

For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, and sleeping with another man’s wife may cost you your very life.

You can buy an hour with a whore for a loaf of bread, but a wanton woman may well eat you alive.

For a loose woman is looking for a cake of bread, but another man’s wife goes after one’s very life.

for a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread, but the wife of another stalks a man’s very life.

For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.

for on account ¹  of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man ²  preys on your precious life. ³ 

¹ tn The word בְעַד (bÿ’ad) may be taken either as “on account of” (= by means of a) prostitute (cf. ASV, NASB), or “for the price of” a prostitute (cf. NAB). Most expositors take the first reading, though that use of the preposition is unattested, and then must supply “one is brought to.” The verse would then say that going to a prostitute can bring a man to poverty, but going to another man’s wife can lead to death. If the second view were taken, it would mean that one had a smaller price than the other. It is not indicating that one is preferable to the other; both are to be avoided.

² tn Heb “the wife of a man.”

³ tn These two lines might be an example of synthetic parallelism, that is, “A, what’s more B.” The A-line describes the detrimental moral effect of a man going to a professional prostitute; the B-line heightens this and describes the far worse effect – moral and mortal! – of a man committing adultery with another man’s wife. When a man goes to a prostitute, he lowers himself to become nothing more than a “meal ticket” to sustain the life of that woman; however, when a man commits adultery, he places his very life in jeopardy – the rage of the husband could very well kill him.