I found the line above in “The Smell of Apples” by Mark Behr when a character talks about his father saying this phrase was from the bible in reference to self gratification.

However, most biblical researchers will tell you that although premarital sex and adultery are sins, there is no direct reference to masturbation. According to “Every Reason to Be a Christian” by Byron Bledsoe, “The only two scriptures that come remotely close to suggesting masturbation is sinful are Gen 38:4-10, and John 3:9.”

Bledsoe, by the way, refers to the phrase as “it is better to plant one’s seed in a whore than to spill them on the ground.”

No matter how you say it, the phrase is not in the bible.