Proverbs 9 · Verse 17

Proverbs 9:17

Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
Proverbs 9:17, King James Version

Proverbs 9:17 in other translations

BSB“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
WEB“Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.”
ASVStolen waters are sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
YLT‘Stolen waters are sweet, And hidden bread is pleasant.'
DARBYStolen waters are sweet, and the bread of secrecy is pleasant.
BBEDrink taken without right is sweet, and food in secret is pleasing.
WebsterStolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

What does Proverbs 9:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
17. The language of a proverb, meaning that forbidden delights are sweet and pleasant, as fruits of risk and danger.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 9:13-18

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 she gets dominion in a soul, all knowledge of holy things is lost and forgotten. She is very violent and pressing. We need to seek and pray for true wisdom, for Satan has many ways to withdraw our souls from Christ…

Read the full comment on Proverbs 9:13-18 →

Proverbs 9:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

מַֽיִם\־ma.yim-watersH4325
גְּנוּבִ֥יםge.nu.VimstolenH1589
יִמְתָּ֑קוּyim.Ta.kuthey are sweetH4985
וְלֶ֖חֶםve.Le.chemand bread ofH3899
סְתָרִ֣יםse.ta.Rimsecret placesH5643
יִנְעָֽם\׃yin.'Amit is delightfulH5276

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 9:17

  • 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. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

  • Proverbs 30:20

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

  • James 1:14-15

    But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

  • 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.

  • Ephesians 5:12

    For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

  • Proverbs 7:18-20

    Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

  • 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. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

  • Romans 7:8

    But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Stolen.
20:17; 23:31,32; Ge 3:6; Ro 7:8; Jas 1:14,15
eaten in secret. Heb. of secrecies.
7:18-20; 30:20; 2Ki 5:24-27; Eph 5:12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 9:16

    Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

  • Proverbs 9:17

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

  • Proverbs 9:18

    But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Read all of Proverbs 9

Proverbs 9:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Las aguas hurtadas son dulces, y el pan comido en oculto es suave.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Les eaux dérobées sont douces, et le pain mangé en secret est agréable!
German
Elberfelder 1871		"Gestohlene Wasser sind süß, und heimliches Brot ist lieblich".
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Aquæ furtivæ dulciores sunt, et panis absconditus suavior.