Proverbs 6:1-10

Financial Entanglements

1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor[a] or entered into an agreement with[b] a stranger,[c] [d]
2 you have been trapped by the words of your lips[e]- ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbor's power: Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.
4 Don't give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Escape like a gazelle from a hunter,[f] like a bird from a fowler's trap.[g] [h]

Laziness

6 Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.
7 Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
8 it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest.[i]
9 How long will you stay in bed, you slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,[j]

Proverbs 6:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 6

In this chapter the wise man dissuades from rash suretyship; exposes the sin of idleness; describes a wicked man; makes mention of seven things hateful to God; exhorts to attend to parental instructions and precepts, and cautions against adultery. Suretyship is described, Pr 6:1; and represented as a snare and a net, in which men are taken, Pr 6:2; and advice is given what to do in such a case, for safety in it, and deliverance from it, Pr 6:3-5; The sin of slothfulness is exposed, by observing the industry of the ant, Pr 6:6-8; by expostulating with the sluggard for his continuance in sloth, and by mimicking him, Pr 6:9,10; and by the poverty it brings upon him, Pr 6:11. Then a naughty wicked man is described, by his mouth, eyes, feet, fingers, and heart, whose ruin is sudden and inevitable, Pr 6:11-15. The seven things hateful to God are particularly named, Pr 6:16-19. And next the exhortation in some preceding chapters is reassumed, to attend to the instructions of parents; which will be found ornamental, pleasant, and useful, Pr 6:20-23. Especially to preserve from the lewd woman cautioned against, Pr 6:24,25; whose company is dissuaded from; on account of the extreme poverty and distress she brings persons to, and even danger of life, Pr 6:26; from the unavoidable ruin such come into, Pr 6:27-29; from the sin of uncleanness being greater than that of theft, Pr 6:30,31; from the folly the adulterer betrays; from the destruction of his soul, and the disgrace he brings on himself, Pr 6:32,33; and from the rage and irreconcilable offence of the husband of the adulteress, Pr 6:34,35.

Footnotes 10

  • [a]. Or friend
  • [b]. Lit or shaken hands for or with
  • [c]. The Hb word for stranger can refer to a foreigner, an Israelite outside one's family, or simply to another person.
  • [d]. Pr 11:15; 17:18; 22:26
  • [e]. Lit mouth
  • [f]. Lit hand
  • [g]. Lit hand
  • [h]. Pr 11:15; 17:18; 22:26
  • [i]. Pr 10:5; 30:25
  • [j]. Pr 26:14; Ec 4:5
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