Bible Commentaries
Proverbs 6

Verses 1-35

Dissuasives from Hurtful things

Proverbs 6:1-19 are inserted here from some other collection, and contain warnings against suretyships (1-5), sloth (6-11), falseness (12-15), evils which the Lordhates (16-19). At Proverbs 6:20 the thread of Proverbs 5 is resumed.

1. The surety appears to have taken the creditor’s hand in the presence of witnesses: cp. 2 Kings 10:15.

3. Read, ’Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbour, go, bestir thyself, and beset thy neighbour. Make haste to get out of his power’ (Matthew 5:25).

7. Ants really have an elaborately organised society: in some species there is a king and queen; others keep slaves.

11. One that travelleth] RV ’a robber.’ The roads were insecure, as English ones were in the times when ’highwayman’ meant ’robber.’

13. Cp. the Arab’s prayer: ’O God, pardon us the culpable winking of the eyes.’ Here the winking, etc., are signals to confederates.

16. A proud look] lit. ’haughty eyes’ (RV): see our word ’supercilious,’ from supercilium= the eyebrow.

25. The beauty of an Eastern woman’s eyes is enhanced by being painted round with kohl in the shape of an almond.

26. A harlot brings him down to a loaf of bread, to extreme poverty; an adulteress will involve his in utter ruin.

30. The OT. never treats theft leniently. Read, ’Do not men despise,’ etc. Yes! and much more an adulterer.

31. In divers cases twofold, fourfold, fivefold restitution was prescribed (Exodus 22, etc.): sevenfold means very great (Genesis 4:15).