Proverbs 6:15-25

15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; ¹in a moment he will be broken ²beyond healing.

16 There are ³six things that the LORD hates, ⁴seven that are an abomination to him:

17 ⁵haughty eyes, ⁶a lying tongue, and ⁷hands that shed innocent blood,

18 ⁸a heart that devises wicked plans, ⁹feet that make haste to run to evil,

19 ¹⁰a false witness who ¹¹breathes out lies, and one who ¹²sows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

20 ¹³My son, keep your father's commandment, ¹⁴and forsake not your mother's teaching.

21 ¹⁵Bind them on your heart always; ¹⁶tie them around your neck.

22 ¹⁷When you walk, they^[a] will lead you; ¹⁸when you lie down, they will ¹⁹watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23 For the commandment is ²⁰a lamp and the teaching a light, and the ²¹reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24 to preserve you from the evil woman,^[b] from the smooth tongue of ²²the adulteress.^[c]

25 ²³Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her ²⁴eyelashes;

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Proverbs 6:15-25 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 24

1. Isaiah 30:13, 14; Jeremiah 19:11
2. Proverbs 29:1; 2 Chronicles 36:16
3. See Job 5:19
4. See Job 5:19
5. [Proverbs 8:13; Proverbs 16:5; Proverbs 21:4]; See Psalms 101:5
6. Proverbs 12:22; Proverbs 17:7; Psalms 31:18; Psalms 120:2
7. Deuteronomy 19:10; Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 59:3, 7
8. Genesis 6:5
9. See Proverbs 1:16
10. See Psalms 27:12
11. Proverbs 12:17; Proverbs 14:5, 25; Proverbs 19:5, 9
12. [See ver. 14 above]
13. See Proverbs 1:8
14. See Proverbs 1:8
15. See Proverbs 3:3
16. [Job 31:36]
17. See Proverbs 3:23, 24
18. See Proverbs 3:23, 24
19. Proverbs 2:11
20. Psalms 119:105; [Psalms 13:3]
21. [Proverbs 10:17]
22. See Proverbs 2:16
23. [Matthew 5:28]
24. [2 Kings 9:30]

Footnotes 3

[a]. Hebrew it; three times in this verse
[b]. Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor
[c]. Hebrew the foreign woman

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.