Text and Translation

Proverbs 6:1 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, if you have struck your palms for a stranger,
Proverbs 6:2 you are snared by the words of your mouth; you are caught by the words of your mouth.
Proverbs 6:3 Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, for you have come into the palm of your neighbor: go, humble yourself, and press your neighbor.
Proverbs 6:4 Do not give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
Proverbs 6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from hand, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, sluggard; see its ways and be wise,
Proverbs 6:7 which, having no chief, officer, or ruler,
Proverbs 6:8 prepares in summer its bread; it gathers in harvest its food.
Proverbs 6:9 How long, sluggard, will you lie down? When will you arise from your sleep?
Proverbs 6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down,
Proverbs 6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber, and your want like an armed man.

Proverbs 6:12 A worthless man, a man of iniquity, goes about with a perverse mouth;
Proverbs 6:13 he winks with his eyes, he signals with his feet, he points with his fingers;
Proverbs 6:14 perverseness in his heart—he devises evil at all times; he sends out strife.
Proverbs 6:15 Therefore suddenly his calamity will come; in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no healing.

Proverbs 6:16 Six things Jehovah hates, and seven are an abomination to his soul:
Proverbs 6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands shedding innocent blood;
Proverbs 6:18 a heart devising wicked plans, feet hurrying to run to evil;
Proverbs 6:19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sends out strife among brothers.

Proverbs 6:20 My son, keep the commandment of your father, and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
Proverbs 6:21 Bind them upon your heart always; tie them upon your neck.
Proverbs 6:22 When you walk, it will lead you; when you lie down, it will watch over you; and when you awake, it will speak with you.
Proverbs 6:23 For commandment is a lamp and instruction a light, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

Proverbs 6:24 to keep you from the evil woman, from the smoothness of the tongue of a foreign woman.
Proverbs 6:25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and let her not take you with her eyelashes.
Proverbs 6:26 For because of a prostitute one comes down to a loaf of bread, but a man’s wife hunts for a precious life.
Proverbs 6:27 Can a man take fire into his bosom, and his garments not be burned?
Proverbs 6:28 Or can a man walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?
Proverbs 6:29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 6:30 They do not despise a thief if he steals to fill his appetite when he is hungry;
Proverbs 6:31 but if he is found, he will repay sevenfold; all the wealth of his house he will give.
Proverbs 6:32 He who commits adultery with a woman lacks heart; he who does it destroys his own soul.
Proverbs 6:33 Wound and dishonor he will find, and his reproach will not be wiped away.
Proverbs 6:34 For jealousy is the wrath of a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
Proverbs 6:35 He will not accept any ransom, and he will not be willing, though you multiply a bribe.

Literary and Historical Setting

Proverbs 6:1–35 stands within the fatherly admonitions that dominate the opening section of Proverbs. The address “my son” frames wisdom as covenant-shaped instruction handed down in a household that fears Jehovah. The unit is not a random assortment of morals; it moves by a wise logic: first, the dangers of foolish financial entanglement (Proverbs 6:1–5), then the destructive habits that often follow such folly (sloth in Proverbs 6:6–11), then the character profile of the troublemaker who thrives on deceit and strife (Proverbs 6:12–19), and finally the crowning peril that ruins families and souls—sexual sin, especially adultery (Proverbs 6:20–35). The sequence is realistic: rash pledges create pressure, pressure exposes character, character either submits to discipline or turns to schemes, and the undisciplined heart easily falls into the “smooth tongue” that promises relief while delivering ruin.

Historically, suretyship and pledges were common in the ancient world, especially where credit systems were interpersonal. A “strike of the palm” (Proverbs 6:1) evokes a public act of commitment. Wisdom does not forbid all financial agreements, but it warns against becoming a guarantor in a way that places one’s freedom and household at the mercy of another’s performance. Likewise, the warnings about adultery speak into an honor-shame society where household stability, inheritance, and covenant faithfulness were central. In Israel’s law, adultery was not a private preference but covenant violation against both neighbor and God (compare Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18). Proverbs addresses the same sin not through courtroom statutes but through moral clarity and memorable images.

Exegetical Commentary on Proverbs 6:1–5

Proverbs 6:1 opens with a conditional construction: “if” you have become surety. The Hebrew verb carries the idea of mixing oneself into another’s obligation, placing oneself as pledge for what another must pay. The parallel line intensifies it: “if you have struck your palms for a stranger.” The “stranger” here is not merely a foreigner ethnically; it is someone outside the circle of proven trust, a person whose reliability has not been established. Wisdom recognizes a moral hazard: compassion can be exploited when it is severed from discernment.

Proverbs 6:2 states the mechanism of bondage: “you are snared… you are caught” by your own words. The imagery is deliberate. The guarantor’s mouth becomes the trap that captures him. This is not fate; it is self-entanglement. Scripture regularly treats speech as morally binding because it reveals and commits the will (compare Ecclesiastes 5:4–6). In Proverbs 6:2, the repeated “words of your mouth” underscores that the problem began as voluntary speech and therefore must be addressed with urgent action.

Proverbs 6:3 calls for immediate remedy: “deliver yourself.” The imperative assumes that the obligation has already shifted power to the other party: “you have come into the palm of your neighbor.” The “palm” image presents control and possession; the debtor or guarantor is in another’s grasp. The next commands are striking: “go, humble yourself, and press your neighbor.” The verb rendered “humble yourself” implies lowering oneself, even allowing shame, because the situation is spiritually dangerous. The verb rendered “press” or “importune” urges persistent appeal. Wisdom here is not prideful. It permits urgent, even embarrassing pleading when the alternative is long-term ruin.

Proverbs 6:4–5 drive urgency by refusing delay. Sleep becomes a metaphor for complacency. The point is not that rest is sinful, but that postponing repentance and repair is foolish. The double simile in Proverbs 6:5 is vivid: escape like a gazelle from a hand and like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Both images emphasize speed and decisiveness. The gazelle does not negotiate with the hunter; the bird does not reason with the trap. So also, once a man sees that his pledge has placed him in moral and financial danger, wisdom demands prompt steps to be free.

Exegetical Commentary on Proverbs 6:6–11

Proverbs 6:6 turns to creation as a teacher: “Go to the ant.” The command assumes that God’s world contains observable order that confirms His wisdom. The sluggard is told not merely to look at the ant but to “see its ways.” The plural “ways” implies patterns: diligence is not a single burst of effort but a life-arrangement.

Proverbs 6:7–8 highlight that the ant works without external compulsion: “having no chief, officer, or ruler.” This does not deny that ants have order; rather, it points to the absence of a human supervisor threatening punishment. The ant’s diligence is internalized. Proverbs 6:8 then stresses foresight: it prepares “in summer” and gathers “in harvest.” Summer and harvest represent opportunity and abundance. Wisdom uses abundance to prepare for lack. Scripture repeatedly commends this kind of stewardship (compare Genesis 41:33–36 for a historical example of storing in years of plenty).

Proverbs 6:9–10 confront the sluggard’s delay with pointed questions and a mimicked voice. “How long… when…?” exposes procrastination as a moral pattern, not a calendar accident. Proverbs 6:10 repeats “a little” three times. The danger is incremental surrender. Few become impoverished by one dramatic decision; many become impoverished by a thousand small surrenders to comfort. The “folding of the hands” is a posture of intentional non-action.

Proverbs 6:11 gives the consequence in sudden imagery: poverty comes “like a robber,” want like “an armed man.” The sluggard imagines he is safe because he is home, resting. Wisdom says danger is already on the road, and it is faster than you think. The point is not that every poor person is lazy, but that laziness reliably tends toward poverty. Proverbs speaks in moral generalities rooted in God’s ordered world.

Exegetical Commentary on Proverbs 6:12–19

Proverbs 6:12 introduces “a worthless man.” The expression often carries a moral weight beyond “unhelpful”; it indicates someone who is corrupt, destabilizing, and resistant to discipline. He is also “a man of iniquity,” and he “goes about with a perverse mouth.” Speech is again central. The troublemaker’s mouth is twisted; he bends words away from truth toward manipulation.

Proverbs 6:13–14 depict covert communication: winking, foot signals, finger pointing. These bodily gestures portray a man who prefers insinuation over open honesty. In Proverbs 6:14, the deepest problem is stated: “perverseness in his heart.” The outward signals come from an inward distortion. He “devises evil at all times,” meaning his mind is not occasionally tempted but habitually inventing wrong. Then the social effect: “he sends out strife.” The verb suggests releasing something into a community, as if he scatters conflict the way a sower scatters seed. The community suffers not because he is merely flawed, but because he is active.

Proverbs 6:15 announces the end: sudden calamity, instant breaking, “no healing.” The language is severe because the harm is severe. A man who traffics in deceit and discord often hardens himself against correction. When judgment arrives—whether through divine providence, social exposure, or the collapse of his schemes—there may be no remedy because the heart has resisted the very discipline that could have healed it.

Proverbs 6:16–19 then grounds the moral analysis in Jehovah’s own evaluation. The text does not say these things are merely impractical. It says Jehovah hates them, and they are an abomination to His soul. This language is intentionally personal. It reveals that sin is not only lawbreaking; it is offense against the holy Character of God.

The list begins in Proverbs 6:17 with “haughty eyes.” Pride is placed first because it is a governing disposition that distorts all relationships. Haughty eyes look down on neighbor and therefore will not love neighbor. Next is “a lying tongue.” Proverbs consistently treats lies not as small social lubricants but as acts that corrode trust and contradict Jehovah, who is true. Still in Proverbs 6:17 are “hands shedding innocent blood.” This reaches beyond speech to violent injustice, the ultimate denial of the image of God in man.

Proverbs 6:18 moves inward and outward again: “a heart devising wicked plans” shows that sin often begins as cherished imagination. Then “feet hurrying to run to evil” describes eagerness. The sinner is not merely stumbling; he is running. Proverbs 6:19 returns to courtroom imagery: “a false witness who breathes out lies.” The verb “breathes out” portrays lying as effortless exhalation for this man; deception is as natural to him as breathing. The final abomination in Proverbs 6:19 is “one who sends out strife among brothers.” This closes where Proverbs 6:14 pointed: discord is not a minor irritation but a hated work because it destroys covenant life. Jehovah is not indifferent to community peace; He hates the deliberate tearing of brotherhood.

Exegetical Commentary on Proverbs 6:20–23

Proverbs 6:20 returns to the fatherly voice: “keep… do not forsake.” The commandment of father and instruction of mother are not presented as optional counsel for youth; they are wisdom’s appointed means for shaping a life under God. The pairing honors both parents as genuine instructors within the covenant household. The son who rejects his mother’s instruction is not maturing; he is severing himself from a God-given guardrail.

Proverbs 6:21 uses binding imagery: “Bind them upon your heart always; tie them upon your neck.” The heart is the inner self—thought, will, desire. The neck is visible life—what one carries openly. Wisdom is both internal and public. The language also echoes covenant instruction elsewhere that calls God’s words to be placed on heart and in daily life (compare Deuteronomy 6:6–9). The goal is not superstition but constant moral remembrance.

Proverbs 6:22 personifies instruction as a companion through the rhythms of life: walking, lying down, waking. “It will lead… it will watch… it will speak.” True instruction is not merely information one once heard; it becomes counsel that rises in the mind at the moment of decision. This is the practical shape of fearing Jehovah: His truth accompanies a man into private spaces where temptations whisper.

Proverbs 6:23 explains why: “commandment is a lamp and instruction a light.” Light imagery signifies guidance and safety. Where there is darkness, a man stumbles into hidden pits; where there is light, a man sees what is ahead. Then Proverbs 6:23 adds that “reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” This is a decisive theological statement: correction is not the enemy of life but its pathway. A man who cannot endure reproof is a man walking toward death with his ears closed.

Exegetical Commentary on Proverbs 6:24–35

Proverbs 6:24 states the immediate target of this parental instruction: protection “from the evil woman” and from “the smoothness of the tongue of a foreign woman.” The adjective “foreign” here functions morally and covenantally: she is outside the boundaries of faithful marriage and often outside the fear of Jehovah. Her “smooth tongue” emphasizes persuasive flattery and seductive speech. Sexual temptation frequently begins as verbal reshaping of reality, making evil seem harmless and secrecy seem safe.

Proverbs 6:25 attacks lust at its root: “Do not desire her beauty in your heart.” Wisdom does not merely warn against the final act; it warns against the inward cultivation of desire. The heart is the battleground. Then it adds, “let her not take you with her eyelashes.” The imagery highlights deliberate enticement. The temptation is not only the man’s weakness; it is also the immoral strategy of the seductress.

Proverbs 6:26 gives two consequences with sharp contrast. “Because of a prostitute one comes down to a loaf of bread” portrays financial ruin and the reduction of life to bare survival. Then “a man’s wife hunts for a precious life” escalates the danger: adultery threatens life itself. The phrase can indicate that the adulteress, or the situation surrounding adultery, seeks what is valuable—your very life—because adultery provokes violent retaliation, legal consequences, and the collapse of a man’s standing. The point is not that hunger-driven theft is good, but that adultery is so destructive that it is compared as worse than theft in its social and personal effects.

Proverbs 6:27–28 argue by rhetorical questions using fire imagery. Fire in the bosom will burn garments; hot coals will scorch feet. The analogy insists that adultery has an inescapable moral physics. One cannot hold it close without being burned. This is wisdom’s refusal of the fantasy of controlled sin.

Proverbs 6:29 applies the analogy directly: the man who goes in to his neighbor’s wife will not be unpunished. The phrase “touches her” likely functions as a restrained expression for sexual contact, but it can also include the broader category of intimate involvement that leads to the act. Wisdom treats the first touch as already in the orbit of judgment.

Proverbs 6:30–31 introduce a comparative case: theft driven by hunger. “They do not despise a thief” does not mean they applaud him; it means they understand motive. Yet even then, justice requires repayment. “Sevenfold” communicates full restitution, whether as literal multiple repayment or as an idiom for complete satisfaction. The thief may lose “all the wealth of his house.” Even sympathetic sins have consequences. But the comparison sets up the next point: adultery is not merely a property crime; it is self-destruction and covenant treachery.

Proverbs 6:32 declares the inner deficiency: “lacks heart.” In Hebrew thought, “heart” includes judgment and moral sense. The adulterer is not merely impulsive; he is senseless. He “destroys his own soul.” This is not a mystical abstraction. It is the ruin of the person—the collapse of integrity, the shattering of trust, the training of the conscience to accept betrayal. Even where earthly consequences do not immediately appear, inner destruction is already underway.

Proverbs 6:33–35 then describe the social fallout. He finds “wound and dishonor,” and his reproach will not be wiped away. Adultery brands a man because it reveals what he is willing to do in secrecy. Proverbs 6:34 grounds the danger in the betrayed husband’s jealousy, described as “wrath.” This is not petty insecurity; it is the fierce response to covenant violation. Therefore he will not spare “in the day of vengeance.” Proverbs 6:35 adds that no ransom will satisfy him; even multiplied bribes will not secure willingness. Wisdom is blunt: adultery unleashes consequences that money cannot manage. A man may be able to pay off debts or settle a dispute, but he cannot purchase back a violated covenant or erase disgrace by cash.

Theological and Canonical Synthesis

Proverbs 6:1–35 teaches that Jehovah’s wisdom governs ordinary life: finances, work habits, speech, community peace, and sexuality. The thread that ties these together is the heart’s posture toward discipline. The man who rashly pledges (Proverbs 6:1) is often a man who wants to appear generous without counting cost. The sluggard (Proverbs 6:6) wants ease without labor. The worthless man (Proverbs 6:12) wants advantage without truth. The adulterer (Proverbs 6:24) wants pleasure without covenant. All four reject the same reality: Jehovah built moral order into His world, and a man cannot violate that order without being wounded by it.

Jehovah’s hatred in Proverbs 6:16–19 is especially important for theology. It reveals that moral categories are not socially constructed. Pride, lies, violence, and discord are not merely “unhealthy”; they are abominable to God. This anchors ethics in God’s immutable Character. Therefore, the fear of Jehovah is not only reverence in worship; it is reverence in speech, labor, and sexual conduct.

Canonically, Proverbs 6:20–23 resonates with the broader biblical theme that God’s word is light (compare Psalm 119:105). The “way of life” language anticipates the two-path framework found throughout Scripture: one path leads to life, the other to death (compare Deuteronomy 30:15–20). Proverbs does not present a different religion from the law; it presents the law’s moral order in fatherly, practical instruction.

Practical Implications Within Wisdom and Discipleship

Proverbs 6:1–5 teaches that love for neighbor must operate with discernment. A man may intend kindness by guaranteeing another’s debt, but if he endangers his own household and stewardship obligations, his kindness is not wise. Wisdom calls for prompt repentance where rash commitments have been made. Delayed action is not neutrality; it is complicity with one’s own folly.

Proverbs 6:6–11 insists that diligence is moral, not merely economic. Work is one of the ordinary arenas where a man proves whether he will rule his appetites or be ruled by them. The ant rebukes the excuse-maker because it shows that preparation and steady effort are possible without constant external pressure.

Proverbs 6:12–19 warns that communities are harmed as much by deceitful mouths as by violent hands. A man should fear becoming the kind of person who “sends out strife,” whether through gossip, insinuation, or subtle manipulation. Jehovah hates discord among brothers because it attacks what He values: truth, peace, and covenant fidelity among His people.

Proverbs 6:24–35 calls for decisive purity. Sexual sin is not mastered by flirting with the edge; it is mastered by refusing the inward desire that feeds the outward act. Instruction must be bound to the heart so that it speaks at the moment of temptation. Adultery is portrayed as fire because it burns everything it touches: conscience, marriage, reputation, and often bodily safety. A man who fears Jehovah will not ask how close he can get without consequence; he will ask how far he must flee to remain clean.

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