What is the meaning of Proverbs 9:17?

Stolen water is sweet

Proverbs 9:17 begins, “Stolen water is sweet…”.

• The words are placed on the lips of Folly (Proverbs 9:13-18), describing the seductive pull of sin.

• Sin often advertises itself as more pleasurable precisely because it is forbidden, echoing Eve’s temptation in Genesis 3:6 and David’s coveting in 2 Samuel 11:2-4.

• Yet the sweetness is a fleeting illusion. Proverbs 20:17 warns, “Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth is full of gravel”.

• God’s open provision—“Drink water from your own cistern” (Proverbs 5:15)—is set against the stolen, underscoring that true satisfaction comes within His boundaries.

• James 1:14-15 reminds us that when desire conceives, “it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death”. The “sweet” turns bitter.

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and bread eaten in secret is tasty!

The verse continues, “…and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”.

• The secrecy adds to the lure: what cannot be seen feels safer, echoing Job 24:15 where the adulterer waits “till twilight.”

• Darkness, however, never hides from God. Jesus declares, “Everyone practicing evil hates the Light… lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20), and Luke 12:2-3 promises every hidden thing will be revealed.

• Sin isolates; it is “bread” eaten alone, contrasting with the shared fellowship God intends (Acts 2:46).

• Proverbs 23:31-32 pictures another enticement—wine “sparkling in the cup” that later “bites like a serpent”—reinforcing that secret indulgence carries painful aftermath.

• Moses chose to suffer with God’s people rather than “enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin” (Hebrews 11:25). Lasting delight is found in obedience, not concealment.

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summary

• Forbidden pleasure advertises itself as sweeter, but its taste turns to gravel.

• Sin thrives on secrecy, yet nothing is truly hidden from the Lord.

• God offers open, lawful satisfaction that brings life; stolen, secret intake ends in death.

• Proverbs 9:17 exposes the lie of illicit delight so we will choose wisdom’s feast (Proverbs 9:1-6) over folly’s deadly banquet (Proverbs 9:18).