Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Proverbs 6:10

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Proverbs 6:10. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber — This, if not the language, is the feeling of the sluggard. The ant gathers its food in summer and in harvest, and sleeps in winter when it has no work to do. If the sluggard would work in the day, and sleep at night, it would be all proper. The ant yields him a lesson of reproach.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Rashness, laziness and troublemaking (6:1-19)

A person can easily get into serious difficulties by agreeing to be a financial guarantor for a friend (or a stranger), as the friend may get so far into debt that the guarantor is ruined. If the guarantor realizes that he made a rash promise, he should act quickly. He should not rest till he has gone back to his friend, told him of his true position, and withdrawn his guarantee. Only in this way will he save himself from possible disaster (6:1-5).
Though believers should not be anxious about the future, neither should they be thoughtless or lazy. They should learn a lesson from the ant. It works diligently to provide for its future security (6-8). People have only themselves to blame if they are too lazy to get up and work and as a result fall into poverty (9-11).
Another kind of person heading for disaster is the troublemaker. People of this kind are skilled at making subtle suggestions by their movements and words, and soon create conflict (12-15). All forms of deceit and plotting are as hateful to God as the more obvious sins of haughtiness and violence. Eyes, tongue, mind, hands and feet can all lead a person into sin (16-19).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE WARNING AGAINST LAZINESS (THE TENTH DISCOURSE)

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no chief, Overseer, or ruler, Provideth her bread in the summer, And gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as a robber, And thy want as an armed man."

"The ant is mentioned only here and in Prov. 30:35 in the Old Testament."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, Old Testament, Proverbs, p. 562. "The ant figures in most of the ancient and proverbial literature as the type of provident thrift and industry."Arthur S. Peake, A Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 400. Aesop's fable regarding the ant and the grasshopper is an example of this. We reject the conceited inference in the comment that, "Modern investigations shows that ants do have an intricate organization,"The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 4, p. 819. the inference being that "Modern man is so smart that he is above such an erroneous notion as that which we have here."

There are many varieties of ants; and, "Some of these lay up provisions… The agricultural ant of Texas, which resembles the ant of Palestine, not only stores up food, but even prepares the soil, kills the weeds, and finally reaps the harvest."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9, Proverbs, p. 126. And, as for the proposition that ants indeed do have overseers, governors, etc., "All objections on this subject are based upon insufficient data, and have been completely answered by recent observations."Ibid. Any careful observation of ants certainly reveals that countless numbers of them carry on their activities without any "bosses" or supervisors of any kind!

"No chief, overseer or ruler" "Although three words are used here, they are used as synonyms."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 123. The meaning is that the ants work without any boss to oversee and command their labors.

"So shall come thy poverty… and… thy want… as an armed man" Laziness is destructive, and the failure by men to engage diligently in work is a violation of the Word of God. The same Bible which says, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy, also says, "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work." God's plan has no promises and no benefits in store for the idler. The New Testament admonition still stands that, "If a man will not work, don't let him eat." It appears to this writer that our current society may believe that they have graduated from this injunction; but God's Word has a habit of always winning at last.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Now let us turn to Proverbs, chapter 6. The first part of the Proverbs is exhortation to my son. It's just good fatherly advice to sons. And chapter 6 continues in these exhortations that are opened by the phrase:

My son, if you be surety for thy friend, or if you have stricken hands with a stranger, you've become snared with the words of your mouth, you've been taken with the words of your mouth. Now do this, and deliver yourself, my son, when you've come to the hand of your friend; go, and humble yourself, and make sure thy friend. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver yourself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, or as a bird from the hand of the fowler ( Proverbs 6:1-5 ).

Someone said the best way to lose a friend is to loan him money. And unfortunately, many friendships have been lost over this very thing. If you have guaranteed for a friend, if you've been a surety for him. You say, "Well, that's all right, just put it on my account, or I'll guarantee it," my son, you're in trouble. Go to your friend quickly. You've snared yourself with your mouth. Deliver yourself from him if at all possible. Humble yourself and get out of the situation. Or worse yet, if you've made an agreement with a stranger. That is, you say, "Okay, we'll do it," and you shake hands with the stranger. You've stricken hands. And of course, it is interesting over there to watch them in their negotiations even to the present day.

One of our favorite little side trips when we are in Israel is to go down to the sheep gate on Friday morning and watch as the Bedouins and all bring in their sheep to market. And the buyers and the sellers gather together and it is a sight that you just will never forget as you stand there and watch these Mercedes cabs come up, filled with these men with their caffias and all, they open up the door and out pours these men and the sheep and everything else. They open up the trunk and out come the sheep, you know. And the pickup trucks and all, and they herd all of these sheep into this area near the corner of the wall across from the Rockefeller Museum every Friday morning. And then these guys will begin to haggle and bargain over the sheep.

Now when they bargain, they yell at each other. I mean, they just stand there. They shake their fists. You expect them to pull a knife out from under their robe at any time and go at it 'cause they're just yelling like they're really angry. And it's quite a scene with all of the yelling and shouting, and the guy will turn and walk away, and turn around and yell at the guy. And then walk a bit and turn and yell some more, you know. And after they've gone through this for a while, pretty soon you see them slap their hands. You know, they'll... and the guy will reach in, get his wallet, pull out his money, and take the sheep and go off. And it's really quite a quite a scene. The striking of the hands is an indication, "All right, that's a deal, you made a deal."

Now, my son, if you strike hands with a stranger, you're in trouble. Be careful about that. Deliver yourself as quickly as possible as a deer from the hand of the hunter or as a bird from the snare of the fowler.

So the first little exhortation is against guaranteeing for somebody else. The second little exhortation is against slovenness.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when are you going to awake? Yet a little sleep, and a little slumber, and a little folding of your hands to sleep: and so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man ( Proverbs 6:6-11 ).

So a little exhortation against laziness. Go to the ant. Now, we are told that Solomon was a very prolific writer. That he wrote 3,000 proverbs, several songs, and he wrote books on biology and botany. And so he was a man who was very familiar with nature. And we will pick this up as we get to some other proverbs as he talks about the characteristics of other animals and insects.

But here he is saying, "Now go to the ant, learn of her ways and be wise." And watching ants is a very interesting experience. They are perhaps one of the most industrious of all little insects. The worker ants and how they go out and how they gather. How you see them. And I love to watch ants. I sometimes used to sit out in the backyard with bread and I'd just break off pieces of bread and throw it down and watch them as the little ant would get hold of it and try and pull it and pull it, and pretty soon another would get on and they'd hold the thing and just to watch them in their labor as they are laying up their food. So industrious. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; learn of her ways, and be wise. Which having no guide, or overseer, or ruler." And you wonder how they communicate. Yet, they evidently do communicate because you get a couple of them in your house and they discover something sweet, man, they communicate it to all their cousins and relatives and everybody else. And soon the whole tribe is in there.

I've often thought about miniaturization, you know. Everything is, the whole concept is that of miniaturizing everything. Have you ever wondered how big an ant's brain must be? Talk about something that's miniature. And yet, there is no doubt the capacity to communicate and surely the capacity of working together. And I think that this is the lesson to learn. Without a foreman out there yelling instructions and everything else, somehow they get this bread, chunk of bread together and pretty soon, they're carting the thing off. You can see this chunk of bread just moving across the ground. It may take them a little while, a little struggling and all. But ultimately, they get things coordinated without a guide, an overseer, or a ruler. Yet, learning to just work together. "Providing her meat in the summer, gathering her food in the harvest."

So be careful of laziness for a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of your hands to sleep and comes poverty. It's inevitable.

Now the next one that he talks about is the person who is:

A naughty person, a wicked man, who walks with a perverse mouth ( Proverbs 6:12 ).

The loud mouth braggart.

Who winks with his eyes, speaks with his feet, and teaches with his fingers; Perversity is in his heart, he devises mischief continually; he sows discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy ( Proverbs 6:13-15 ).

That's perverse person, the wicked man who has a perverse mouth, winketh with his eyes. Of all the crazy things, this evening when I knew I was going to be talking on this verse, before service I got an eye twitch underneath my left eye, and it's twitching. I looked in the mirror and crazy twitching. I thought, "Man, I hope nobody thinks I'm winking at them tonight when I have to teach on this verse." So I popped a bunch of vitamin B pills. I figured maybe I've got a shortage of B-stress or something and didn't have any yeast to put down, but hopefully get this twitching eye stopped. But it's not winking; don't put me in the category of this man. The thing that interests me is as God always says concerning the wicked, "Their calamity is coming." And in this case, it's coming suddenly and that without remedy. How tragic when God says of a man there's no cure. He's beyond, no hope, no remedy.

Now in the next little section we have:

Six things the LORD hates; in fact, there are seven that are an abomination unto him ( Proverbs 6:16 ):

Now I should seek to hate the things that God hates. And I should surely seek to avoid the things that God hates. So it is important that we look at these seven things, and it is more important that we not be guilty of any of these seven things.

First of all, God hates:

A proud look ( Proverbs 6:17 ),

The Bible says, "Pride cometh before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" ( Proverbs 16:18 ). That proud look. How many times we are told in the scriptures to humble ourselves and we shall be exalted. The second thing God hates is:

a lying tongue, then hands that shed innocent blood, [next] a heart that devises wicked imaginations, [next] feet that are swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaks lies ( Proverbs 6:17-19 ),

One who bears false witness against someone else with a lie. And finally,

he who sows discord among brethren ( Proverbs 6:19 ).

God hates the dividing and the divisions that oftentimes come within the body of the church. Paul said, "Mark those which cause division among you. Avoid them" ( Romans 16:17 ). God hates those who sow discord among brethren. "How beautiful and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" ( Psalms 133:1 ). How that is honoring to God. And how God hates anyone who is guilty of just sowing discord among the brethren.

In the next section here, and all of these fall in little groups actually. It is dealing with listening to your parents' counsel and advice.

My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother: Bind them continually upon your heart, and tie them about your neck. When you go, it shall lead you; when you sleep, it will keep you; when you awake, it will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is a light; and the reproof of instruction are the way to life ( Proverbs 6:20-23 ):

Important: the advice, the counsel of the parents. That is, that of course, assumes the godly parents. Their counsel is like a lamp. It is like a light to show you the way.

Now the next one, he picks on the evil woman again. The warning against women who are evil.

To keep thee from the evil woman, and from the flattery of the tongue of strange women. Lust not after her beauty in your heart; neither let her take you with her eyelids ( Proverbs 6:24-25 ).

They may be false.

For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a crust of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon a hot bed of coals, and his feet not be burned? So is he that goes in to his neighbor's wife; whosoever touches her shall not be innocent. Now men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; But if he is found, he shall restore sevenfold; and he shall give all the substance of his house. But whoso commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding: and he does it to the destruction of his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though you give him many gifts ( Proverbs 6:26-35 ).

So keep yourself from the flattery of the strange woman. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart. In the New Testament, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, as He is talking concerning the law as it was being taught to them in that day and the law as it was intended when given by God was showing by many examples that when God gave the law, God was interested in the attitude of a man's heart more than the actions of a man's life. Because it is possible to have the right actions with the wrong attitude. And it is also possible to have the wrong actions with the right attitude. But God is looking at the heart.

Now the law said, and the Pharisees were teaching them that the law said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" ( Exodus 20:14 ). And yes, the law did declare, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." But Jesus said, "I say unto you, if any man looks upon a woman and lusts after her in his heart, he's already committed adultery" ( Matthew 5:28 ). In other words, it's the inner attitude of a man that is so important. That is why last week he said, "Keep your heart with all diligence, because out of the heart come the issues of life" ( Proverbs 4:23 ). So James tells us, "Let no man say when he is tempted that God tempted me the other day. For God doesn't tempt man to do evil. But a man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. And lust when it is finished brings sin" ( James 1:13-15 ). If you follow it through it will lead you right into sin. It begins in the heart. "Oh wow, you know. Look at that." Lookout! Don't. Cut it off at that point. As Paul said to Timothy, "Flee youthful lusts" ( 2 Timothy 2:22 ). For it will drown a man's soul in hell. Run if you must. Do as Joseph. Get out of there as quickly as possible if you feel that you know it's getting too hard to handle. Man, just turn and run as fast as you can go. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

10. Other dangerous temptations 6:1-19

Solomon singled out a few more serious errors to avoid in addition to marital unfaithfulness. These include assuming liability for the debts of others (Proverbs 6:1-5), being lazy (Proverbs 6:6-11), being untruthful (Proverbs 6:12-15), and seven other practices that need no clarification (Proverbs 6:16-19).

The advice in this section provides a good example of what prudence is. A prudent person is one who is capable of exercising sound judgment in practical matters. He or she is cautious and discreet in conduct, is circumspect, and is sensible. We often describe a prudent person by saying that he or she has common sense. A prudent person can foresee the consequences of possible actions and behaves accordingly. A godly (wise) person can be prudent because God’s revelation helps us see the usual consequences of our actions before we commit them. This is largely what the Book of Proverbs helps us do.

"Surety" (Proverbs 6:1) means "security" in the sense of taking on another person’s obligations as one’s own, as when a person co-signs a note to pay another person’s loan, for example. Paul offered to pay Onesimus’ past debts, but not his future ones (Philemon 1:18-19). "Neighbor" and "stranger" (Proverbs 6:1) together mean anyone; these two kinds of people are not the only ones in view. This is a figure of speech called a merism in which two extremes represent the whole. Solomon strongly counseled avoidance of this obligation. If one finds himself in it already he should do everything he can to get himself out of it before he discovers that he is in even worse trouble (Proverbs 6:3). The writer did not command his son never to become surety for his neighbor; he told him what to do if he had already done this so he could escape the consequences that typically follow such an act. The reader is not disobeying God if he or she becomes surety for a stranger, but this proverb warns of the possible consequences and gives advice about how to avoid them.

Proverbs 6:6-11 warn against laziness. [Note: See Kidner’s subject study on the sluggard, pp. 42-43.] A "vagabond" (Proverbs 6:11) is a "highwayman," namely, a robber. [Note: Toy, p. 125.]

"In that society there were no technological controls or government social programs to serve as a safety net against poverty." [Note: R. Whybray, Wealth and Poverty in the Book of Proverbs, p. 31.]

The person in view in Proverbs 6:12-15 is one who, for the amusement it gives him or her, causes other people to experience inconvenience or suffering. A simple joke is different from joking at someone else’s expense, joking that hurts someone else. The latter practice is what Solomon urged his son to avoid. He called such a mischievous prankster "worthless" and "wicked" (Proverbs 6:12). "Worthless" is literally "of Beliel," a word that became a name for Satan (2 Corinthians 6:15).

The list in Proverbs 6:16-19 repeats some of what Solomon mentioned earlier. It may have been one whole proverb he added because it carried on the idea of other temptations to avoid. The phrase "six . . . yes, seven" (Proverbs 6:16) implies that this list is not exhaustive of what God hates, though it is explicit. [Note: Toy, p. 127.] These seven practices deal with attitude (Proverbs 6:17 a), thought (Proverbs 6:18 a), speech (Proverbs 6:17 b, Proverbs 6:19 a), action (Proverbs 6:17 c, Proverbs 6:18 b), and influence (Proverbs 6:19 b).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

[Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber,.... Or, "little sleeps, little slumbers" s. These are the words of the sluggard, in answer to the call of him to awake and arise, desiring he might not be disturbed, but be suffered to sleep on longer: there is a very beautiful climax or gradation in the words, aptly expressing the disposition and actions of a sluggard; he first desires a "few sleeps" more, some sound sleeps one after another; which is quite agreeable to his character: and if he cannot be allowed them, then he requests a "few slumbers" at least, some dozings, till he can get himself thoroughly awake; and if these cannot be granted, yet he prays however that this might be admitted,

a little folding of the hands to sleep; or, "to lie down" t; a few tossings and tumblings upon the bed more, with his hands folded about his breast; a sleeping gesture, and the posture of sluggards. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "a little thou wilt embrace the breast with the hands"; and the Syriac version, "and a little thou wilt put thine hand upon thy breast". The Jewish commentators understand this as a direction and command to sleep and slumber but little, since a little sleep is sufficient for nature; or otherwise poverty will come, c. but the former sense is best.

s מעט שנות מעט תנומות "parvis somnis, parvis dormitationibus", Pagninus "pauculis somnis, pauculis dormitationibus", Junius Tremellius, Piscator. t לשכב "cubando", Junius Tremellius "cubare", Piscator "ad cubandum", Cocceius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:   7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,   8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.   9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?   10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:   11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

      Solomon, in these verses, addresses himself to the sluggard who loves his ease, lives in idleness, minds no business, sticks to nothing, brings nothing to pass, and in a particular manner is careless in the business of religion. Slothfulness is as sure a way to poverty, though not so short a way, as rash suretiship. He speaks here to the sluggard,

      I. By way of instruction, Psalms 6:6-8; Psalms 6:6-8. He sends him to school, for sluggards must be schooled. He is to take him to school himself, for, if the scholar will take no pains, the master must take the more; the sluggard is not willing to come to school to him (dreaming scholars will never love wakeful teachers) and therefore he has found him out another school, as low as he can desire. Observe,

      1. The master he is sent to school to: Go to the ant, to the bee, so the LXX. Man is taught more than the beasts of the earth, and made wiser that the fowls of heaven, and yet is so degenerated that he may learn wisdom from the meanest in sects and be shamed by them. When we observe the wonderful sagacities of the inferior creatures we must not only give glory to the God of nature, who has made them thus strangely, but receive instruction to ourselves; by spiritualizing common things, we may make the things of God both easy and ready to us, and converse with them daily.

      2. The application of mind that is required in order to learn of this master: Consider her ways. The sluggard is so because he does not consider; nor shall we ever learn to any purpose, either by the word or the works of God, unless we set ourselves to consider. Particularly, if we would imitate others in that which is good, we must consider their ways, diligently observe what they do, that we may do likewise, Philippians 3:17.

      3. The lesson that is to be learned. In general, learn wisdom, consider, and be wise; that is the thing we are to aim at in all our learning, not only to be knowing, but to be wise. In particular, learn to provide meat in summer; that is, (1.) We must prepare for hereafter, and not mind the present time only, not eat up all, and lay up nothing, but in gathering time treasure up for a spending time. Thus provident we must be in our worldly affairs, not with an anxious care, but with a prudent foresight; lay in for winter, for straits and wants that may happen, and for old age; much more in the affairs of our souls. We must provide meat and food, that which is substantial and will stand us in stead, and which we shall most need. In the enjoyment of the means of grace provide for the want of them, in life for death, in time for eternity; in the state of probation and preparation we must provide for the state of retribution. (2.) We must take pains, and labour in our business, yea, though we labour under inconveniences. Even in summer, when the weather is hot, the ant is busy in gathering food and laying it up, and does not indulge her ease, nor take her pleasure, as the grasshopper, that sings and sports in the summer and then perishes in the winter. The ants help one another; if one have a grain of corn too big for her to carry home, her neighbours will come in to her assistance. (3.) We must improve opportunities, we must gather when it is to be had, as the ant does in summer and harvest, in the proper time. It is our wisdom to improve the season while that favours us, because that may be done then which cannot be done at all, or not so well done, at another time. Walk while you have the light.

      4. The advantages which we have of learning this lesson above what the ant has, which will aggravate our slothfulness and neglect if we idle away our time. She has no guides, overseers, and rulers, but does it of herself, following the instinct of nature; the more shame for us who do not in like manner follow the dictates of our own reason and conscience, though besides them we have parents, masters, ministers, magistrates, to put us in mind of our duty, to check us for the neglect of it, to quicken us to it, to direct us in it, and to call us to an account about it. The greater helps we have for working out our salvation the more inexcusable shall we be if we neglect it.

      II. By way of reproof, Psalms 6:9-11; Psalms 6:9-11. In these verses,

      1. He expostulates with the sluggard, rebuking him and reasoning with him, calling him to his work, as a master does his servant that has over-slept himself: "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? How long wouldst thou sleep if one would let thee alone? When wilt thou think it time to arise?" Sluggards should be roused with a How long? This is applicable, (1.) To those that are slothful in the way of work and duty, in the duties of their particular calling as men or their general calling as Christians. "How long wilt thou waste thy time, and when wilt thou be a better husband of it? How long wilt thou love thy ease, and when wilt thou learn to deny thyself, and to take pains? How long wilt thou bury thy talents, and when wilt thou begin to trade with them? How long wilt thou delay, and put off, and trifle away thy opportunities, as one regardless of hereafter; and when wilt thou stir up thyself to do what thou hast to do, which, if it be not done, will leave thee for ever undone?" (2.) To those that are secure in the way of sin and danger: "Hast thou not slept enough? Is it not far in the day? Does not thy Master call? Are not the Philistines upon thee? When then wilt thou arise?"

      2. He exposes the frivolous excuses he makes for himself, and shows how ridiculous he makes himself. When he is roused he stretched himself, and begs, as for alms, for more sleep, more slumber; he is well in his warm bed, and cannot endure to think of rising, especially of rising to work. But, observe, he promises himself and his master that he will desire but a little more sleep, a little more slumber, and then he will get up and go to his business. But herein he deceives himself; the more a slothful temper is indulged the more it prevails; let him sleep awhile, and slumber awhile, and still he is in the same tune; still he asks for a little more sleep, yet a little more; he never thinks he has enough, and yet, when he is called, pretends he will come presently. Thus men's great work is left undone by being put off yet a little longer, de die in diem--from day to day; and they are cheated of all their time by being cheated of the present moments. A little more sleep proves an everlasting sleep. Sleep on now, and take your rest.

      3. He gives him fair warning of the fatal consequences of his slothfulness, Psalms 6:11; Psalms 6:11. (1.) Poverty and want will certainly come upon those that are slothful in their business. If men neglect their affairs, they not only will not go forward, but they will go backward. He that leaves his concerns at sixes and sevens will soon see them go to wreck and ruin, and bring his noble to nine-pence. Spiritual poverty comes upon those that are slothful in the service of God; those will want oil, when they should use it, that provide it not in their vessels. (2.) "It will come silently and insensibly, will grow upon thee, and come step by step, as one that travels, but will without fail come at last." It will leave thee as naked as if thou wert stripped by a highwayman; so bishop Patrick. (3.) "It will come irresistibly, like an armed man, whom thou canst not oppose nor make thy part good against."