Proverbs 9:17
New International Version
“Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”

New Living Translation
“Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!”

English Standard Version
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

Berean Standard Bible
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”

King James Bible
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

New King James Version
“Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

New American Standard Bible
“Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

NASB 1995
“Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

NASB 1977
“Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

Legacy Standard Bible
“Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

Amplified Bible
“Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden]; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

Christian Standard Bible
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten secretly is tasty! ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten secretly is tasty!”

American Standard Version
Stolen waters are sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Stolen waters are sweet, and secret bread is pleasant,

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Take and enjoy secret bread, and the sweet water of theft.

Contemporary English Version
"Stolen water tastes best, and the food you eat in secret tastes best of all."

Douay-Rheims Bible
Stolen waters are sweeter, and hid den bread is more pleasant.

English Revised Version
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Stolen waters are sweet, and food eaten in secret is tasty."

Good News Translation
"Stolen water is sweeter. Stolen bread tastes better."

International Standard Version
"Stolen waters are sweet, and food eaten in secret is delicious."

JPS Tanakh 1917
Stolen waters are sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.'

Literal Standard Version
“Stolen waters are sweet, | And hidden bread is pleasant.”

Majority Standard Bible
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”

New American Bible
Stolen water is sweet, and bread taken secretly is pleasing!”

NET Bible
"Stolen waters are sweet, and food obtained in secret is pleasant!"

New Revised Standard Version
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

New Heart English Bible
"Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant."

Webster's Bible Translation
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

World English Bible
“Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.”

Young's Literal Translation
'Stolen waters are sweet, And hidden bread is pleasant.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Way of Folly
16“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment. 17“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!” 18But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.…

Cross References
Proverbs 5:16
Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

Proverbs 5:18
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

Proverbs 20:17
Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.


Treasury of Scripture

Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

stolen

Proverbs 20:17
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

Proverbs 23:31,32
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright…

Genesis 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

eaten in secret

Proverbs 7:18-20
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves…

Proverbs 30:20
Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

2 Kings 5:24-27
And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed…

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Proverbs 9
1. The discipline
4. and the doctrine of wisdom
13. The custom
16. and error of folly














(17) Stolen waters are sweet.--See above, on Proverbs 5:15.

Bread eaten in secret.--The same figure is used in Proverbs 30:20.

Verse 17. - This is what she says: Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. The metaphor of "stolen waters" refers primarily to adulterous intercourse, as to "drink waters out of one's own cistern" (Proverbs 5:15, where see note) signifies the chaste connection of lawful wedlock. Wisdom offered flesh and wine to her guests; Folly offers bread and water. Wisdom invites openly to a well furnished table; Folly calls to a secret meal of barest victuals. What the former offers is rich and satisfying and comforting; what Vice gives is poor and mean and insipid. Yet this latter has the charm of being forbidden; it is attractive because it is unlawful. This is a trait of corrupt human nature, which is recognized universally. Thus Ovid, 'Amor.,' 3:4, 17 -

"Nitimur in vetitum semper, cupimusque negata;
Sic interdictis imminet aeger aquis.'
Things easily attained, the possession of which is gotten without effort or danger or breach of restraint, soon pall and cease to charm. To some minds the astuteness and secrecy required for success have an irresistible attraction. Thus St. Augustine relates ('Conf.,' 2:4) how he and some companions committed a theft, not from want and poverty, nor even from the wish to enjoy what was stolen, but simply for the pleasure of thieving and the sin. They robbed a pear tree by night, carried off great loads, which they flung to the pigs, and their only satisfaction was that they were doing what they ought not ("dum tamen fieret a nobis, quod eo liberet quo non liceret"). Septuagint, "Taste ye to your pleasure secret bread, and sweet water of theft." Where water is a precious commodity, as in many pets of Palestine, doubtless thefts were often committed, and persons made free with their neighbor's tank when they could do so undetected, thus sparing their own resources and felicitating themselves on their cleverness. On the metaphorical use of "waters" in Holy Scripture, St. Gregory says, "Waters are sometimes wont to denote the Holy Spirit, sometimes sacred knowledge, sometimes calamity, sometimes drifting peoples, sometimes the minds of those following the faith." He refers to these texts respectively: John 7:38, etc.; Ecclus. 15:3; Psalm 69:1; Revelation 17:15 ("the waters are peoples"); Isaiah 22:20; and he adds, "By water likewise bad knowledge is wont to be designated, as when the woman in Solomon, who bears the type of heresy, charms with crafty persuasion, saying, 'Stolen waters are sweet'" ('Moral.,' 19:9).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Stolen
גְּנוּבִ֥ים (gə·nū·ḇîm)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine plural
Strong's 1589: To thieve, to deceive

water
מַֽיִם־ (ma·yim-)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

is sweet,
יִמְתָּ֑קוּ (yim·tā·qū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 4985: To become or be sweet or pleasant

and bread
וְלֶ֖חֶם (wə·le·ḥem)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grain

[eaten] in secret
סְתָרִ֣ים (sə·ṯā·rîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5643: A covering, hiding place, secrecy

is tasty!”
יִנְעָֽם׃ (yin·‘ām)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5276: To be pleasant, delightful, or lovely


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 9:17 Stolen water is sweet (Prov. Pro Pr)
Proverbs 9:16
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