Proverbs 6:14-24

14 with ¹perverted heart ²devises evil, continually ³sowing discord;

15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; ⁴in a moment he will be broken ⁵beyond healing.

16 There are ⁶six things that the LORD hates, ⁷seven that are an abomination to him:

17 ⁸haughty eyes, ⁹a lying tongue, and ¹⁰hands that shed innocent blood,

18 ¹¹a heart that devises wicked plans, ¹²feet that make haste to run to evil,

19 ¹³a false witness who ¹⁴breathes out lies, and one who ¹⁵sows discord among brothers.

Warnings Against Adultery

20 ¹⁶My son, keep your father's commandment, ¹⁷and forsake not your mother's teaching.

21 ¹⁸Bind them on your heart always; ¹⁹tie them around your neck.

22 ²⁰When you walk, they^[a] will lead you; ²¹when you lie down, they will ²²watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

23 For the commandment is ²³a lamp and the teaching a light, and the ²⁴reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24 to preserve you from the evil woman,^[b] from the smooth tongue of ²⁵the adulteress.^[c]

Proverbs 6:14-24 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.

Cross References

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

Footnotes

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