What is the relationship between the prostitute and the loaf of bread in Proverbs 6:26a?

What is the relationship between the prostitute and the loaf of bread in Proverbs 6:26a?

Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars

| PentecostalTheology.com

The first phrase of Proverbs 6:26 is translated in several different ways by major translations:

for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread [ESV]

For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread [NASB]

for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread [ESV note; cf. NLT]

It thus appears that the passage could be talking about three different things:

  1. The cost of a prostitute is merely a loaf of bread (NIV, ESV, RSV, NABRE)
  2. The value of the man who hires a prostitute is that of a loaf of bread (KJV, NKJV, NASB, NET)
  3. Hiring prostitutes will leave a man destitute (ESV note, NLT, TLB)

What is the cause of this discrepancy? I can think of a few reasons:

  • The meaning of the Hebrew text is uncertain, and these are three attempts to express it
  • The meaning of the Hebrew text encompasses more than one of these meanings, but translators must pick one
  • Textual variations lead to disagreement over which rendering is best
    • The ESV’s footnote suggests that the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate may lend themselves to interpretation #3

Are all three of my interpretations valid understandings of this text? What is the basis for viewing one or two of them as preferable over the other(s)?

Be first to comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.