Proverbs 6:28
New International Version
Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?

New Living Translation
Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?

English Standard Version
Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

Berean Standard Bible
Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?

King James Bible
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

New King James Version
Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?

New American Standard Bible
Or can a person walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched?

NASB 1995
Or can a man walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched?

NASB 1977
Or can a man walk on hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?

Legacy Standard Bible
Or can a man walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched?

Amplified Bible
Or can a man walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched?

Christian Standard Bible
Can a man walk on burning coals without scorching his feet?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Can a man walk on burning coals without scorching his feet?

American Standard Version
Or can one walk upon hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?

Contemporary English Version
if you step on hot coals, you burn your feet.

English Revised Version
Or can one walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Can anyone walk on red-hot coals without burning his feet?

Good News Translation
Can you walk on hot coals without burning your feet?

International Standard Version
Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?

Majority Standard Bible
Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?

NET Bible
Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?

New Heart English Bible
Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?

Webster's Bible Translation
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

World English Bible
Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Does a man walk on the hot coals, "" And are his feet not scorched?

Young's Literal Translation
Doth a man walk on the hot coals, And are his feet not scorched?

Smith's Literal Translation
If a man shall go upon burning coals shall his feet not be burnt?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Or could he walk over burning coals, so that his feet would not be burned?

New American Bible
Or can a man walk on live coals, and his feet not be scorched?

New Revised Standard Version
Or can one walk on hot coals without scorching the feet?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Can one walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Or does a man walk upon coals of fire and his feet are unharmed?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Or can one walk upon hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
or will any one walk on coals of fire, and not burn his feet?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Warnings Against Adultery
27Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? 28Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet? 29So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.…

Cross References
1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

James 1:14-15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. / Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Galatians 5:19
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; / each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, / not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;

Romans 13:13-14
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. / Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.

Ephesians 5:3
But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.

Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

Job 31:9-12
If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door, / then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her. / For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged. ...

Leviticus 18:20
You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife and thus defile yourself with her.

Exodus 20:14
You shall not commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 5:18
You shall not commit adultery.

Genesis 39:7-12
and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” / But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. / No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” ...


Treasury of Scripture

Can one go on hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

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Burned Coals Feet Hot Lighted Scorched Walk
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Burned Coals Feet Hot Lighted Scorched Walk
Proverbs 6
1. against indebtedness
6. idleness
12. and mischievousness
16. seven things detestable to God
20. the blessings of obedience
25. the mischief of unfaithfulness














Can a man
This phrase invites the reader to consider the universal nature of the question. The Hebrew word for "man" here is "אִישׁ" (ish), which often denotes a person of strength or capability. The rhetorical nature of the question suggests that no one, regardless of their strength or wisdom, is exempt from the consequences of their actions. This aligns with the broader biblical theme that all humans are subject to God's moral order.

walk on hot coals
The imagery of "hot coals" is vivid and powerful, evoking a sense of danger and inevitable harm. In the ancient Near Eastern context, fire was often associated with purification and judgment. The Hebrew word for "coals" is "גַּחֶלֶת" (gachelet), which can also refer to burning embers. This metaphor suggests that engaging in sinful or foolish behavior is akin to walking on something that is inherently harmful and destructive.

without scorching his feet
The phrase "scorching his feet" underscores the certainty of consequences. The Hebrew root for "scorching" is "כָּוָה" (kavah), which means to burn or sear. This implies not just a superficial injury but a deep, painful wound. The feet, often symbolizing one's path or way of life in biblical literature, suggest that one's journey will be marred by the consequences of their actions. This serves as a warning that sin and folly inevitably lead to suffering and damage, reinforcing the biblical principle of sowing and reaping.

Verse 28. - Can one go upon hot coals, etc.? The repeated question is introduced by gin, "if," here equivalent to the Latin an, used in double questions, as in Genesis 24:21; Exodus 17:7; Judges 9:2, etc. Go; i.e. walk upon hot coals (Hebrew, al-haggekalim); literally, upon the hot coals. The Hebrew gakheleth is coals thoroughly ignited, as in Leviticus 16:12 and Proverbs 25:22; different from pekham of Proverbs 26:21, which is "a black coal," or, as Gesenius explains, charcoal unkindled. Be burned; Hebrew, tikkaveynah; i.e. be burned or scorched so as to leave a mark by burning, as in Isaiah 43:2; this being the force of the verb kavah. The flames of lust will certainly be visited with punishment, and with the stings of conscience. Job, speaking on this very subject, says a deviation from the paths of virtue "is a fire that consumeth to destruction." And to him who gives way to adultery it may be said, in the words of Horace, though with a different application from that in which they were used by that poet, "incedis per ignes suppositos cineri doloso." "You are walking over fire that lies hidden under deceitful ashes" (Gejerus).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Can
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

a man
אִ֭ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

walk
יְהַלֵּ֣ךְ (yə·hal·lêḵ)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

hot coals
הַגֶּחָלִ֑ים (hag·ge·ḥā·lîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1513: An ember

without
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

scorching
תִכָּוֶֽינָה׃ (ṯik·kā·we·nāh)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person feminine plural
Strong's 3554: To burn, scorch, brand

his feet?
וְ֝רַגְלָ֗יו (wə·raḡ·lāw)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - fdc | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7272: A foot, a step, the pudenda


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 6:28 Or can one walk on hot coals (Prov. Pro Pr)
Proverbs 6:27
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