Proverbs6

Proverbs 6 warns against the dangers of suretyship, slothfulness, and wickedness. It encourages diligence by observing the ant and lists seven things the Lord hates, including pride and sowing discord. The chapter concludes with a strong admonition against adultery, emphasizing its destructive and irredeemable consequences compared to other transgressions.

Warning Against Suretyship

My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;

You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth.

Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, since you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.

Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.

Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

The Danger of Laziness

Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;

which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,

provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.

How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.

The Deceitful and Wicked Man

A worthless person, a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth;

who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who motions with his fingers;

in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.

Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.

Seven Things God Hates

There are six things which the LORD hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood;

a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,

a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.

Adherence to Instruction and the Adultery Trap

My son, keep your father’s commandment, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching.

Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.

When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.

For the commandment is a lamp, and the Torah is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.

Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.

For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.

Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned?

Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?

So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.

Men don’t despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry:

but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.

He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.

He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.

For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won’t spare in the day of vengeance.

He won’t regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.

Study Notes for Proverbs 6

Verse 1

To be 'surety' means co-signing or guaranteeing a loan for a friend. Striking hands (v. 1) was the customary legal gesture for sealing such a binding financial agreement, placing the guarantor at high risk.

Verse 3

The counsel is practical and urgent: if trapped by a guarantee, one must act immediately to dissolve the agreement, even if it means humbling oneself before the creditor or friend to be released from the obligation.

Verse 5

Deliverance should be swift and desperate, like an animal escaping a trap. This metaphor emphasizes the severe financial danger associated with unchecked suretyship.

Verse 6

The ant is presented as a model of wisdom and diligence. It demonstrates industry, foresight, and self-organization, providing for its future without needing external compulsion or supervision.

Verse 11

Poverty is personified as a violent, unavoidable force. It comes stealthily like a traveler (or robber) and forcefully like an armed man, highlighting that laziness guarantees destitution.

Verse 12

The 'naughty person' (Hebrew *Beliyya'al*) describes a worthless and destructive individual whose entire manner of life is characterized by malicious speech and deceit.

Verse 13

This verse describes non-verbal communication used for malice. Winking, signaling with the feet, and teaching with the fingers indicate secretive, conspiratorial, and deceitful behavior.

Verse 15

Because the wicked man’s actions are continuous and deliberate, his judgment will be sudden and without remedy, emphasizing the finality of God's response to persistent malice.

Verse 16

This numerical proverb (six, yea, seven) is a literary device used to structure a list, indicating completeness and emphasizing the seriousness of these particular sins that destroy community and violate divine order.

Verse 19

Sowing discord among brethren is often placed last in such lists, suggesting it is the summation of anti-social behavior, as it actively undermines the harmony and community God desires.

Verse 20

The instruction transitions back to the primary theme of Proverbs: obedience to parental teaching, which is equated with adherence to divine wisdom and moral law.

Verse 24

The primary practical benefit of following wisdom is protection from the 'strange woman' (the adulteress), whose flattery and seduction lead to moral and physical ruin.

Verse 26

This verse contrasts the financial ruin caused by a prostitute ('a piece of bread') with the greater danger of the adulteress, who hunts for the husband's 'precious life,' meaning his honor, reputation, and very existence.

Verse 32

Adultery demonstrates a profound lack of moral sense and understanding (*lev*). The adulterer destroys his own soul (life/self) by inviting physical harm, public shame, and divine judgment.

Verse 34

The consequences of adultery are uniquely severe because they invoke the husband's uncontrollable rage (jealousy). This passion is not appeasable by financial compensation, demanding justice rather than a settlement.

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Proverbs6

Warning Against Suretyship

The Danger of Laziness

The Deceitful and Wicked Man

Seven Things God Hates

Adherence to Instruction and the Adultery Trap

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