6:20–35 Another warning against adultery (chs. 5; 7; 30:20). The form of this section is essentially that of the instruction, but with considerable variation. Some quite elaborate word-pictures are used to heighten the urgency of the warnings (vv. 23, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31). Verses 21 and 23 depend on Deut. 6:8 and Ps. 119:105, which refer to the Law. The Law provides a clear framework for revelation, showing Israel the proper response to God’s covenant relationship with her. Wisdom works within that framework to describe the bounds of human responsibility. The Law condemns adultery and prescribes a penalty for it (Ex. 20:14; Lev. 20:10). Wisdom shares this opposition to adultery—the sages were all men of the covenant—and it adds its warnings about the inevitable disaster that such folly brings.