Proverbs 6:13

13 They wink at each other, they shuffle their feet, they cross their fingers behind their backs.

Proverbs 6:13 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 6:13

He winketh with his eyes
Not through natural infirmity, but purposely and with design; with one of his eyes, as Aben Ezra, as is usual with such persons: it is the air and gesture of a sneering and deceitful man, who gives the wink to some of his friends, sneering at the weakness of another in company; or as signifying to them some secret design of his against another, which he chooses not to declare in any other way; he speaketh with his feet;
the motions of the feet have a language; the stamping of the feet expresses rage; here it seems to intend the giving of a him to another, by privately pressing his foot with his, when he should be silent or should speak, or do this or the other thing he would have him do; he teacheth with his fingers;
by stretching them out or compressing them; and so showing either scorn and contempt F24, or rage and fury. The whole of it seems to design the secret, cunning, artful ways, which wicked men have to convey their meanings to one another, without being understood by other persons; they have a language to themselves, which they express by the motions of their eyes, feet, and fingers: and this character of art and cunning, dissimulation and deceit, fitly agrees with the man of sin, ( 2 Thessalonians 2:10 ) ( Revelation 13:11 ) . So mimics are said to speak with their hands; some have been famous in this way F25.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 "In hunc intende digitum", Plauti Pseudolus, Act. 4. Sc. 7. v. 45. "----aliis dat digito literas", Ennius.
F25 Vid. Barthii Animadv. ad Claudian. de Consul. Mallii Paneg. v. 311.

Proverbs 6:13 In-Context

11 Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest! Always Cooking Up Something Nasty
12 Riffraff and rascals talk out of both sides of their mouths.
13 They wink at each other, they shuffle their feet, they cross their fingers behind their backs.
14 Their perverse minds are always cooking up something nasty, always stirring up trouble.
15 Catastrophe is just around the corner for them, a total smash-up, their lives ruined beyond repair. Seven Things God Hates
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.