Proverbs 6:4-14

4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, And slumber to thine eyelids,

5 Be delivered as a roe from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of a fowler.

6 Go unto the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;

7 Which hath not captain, overseer, and ruler,

8 She doth prepare in summer her bread, She hath gathered in harvest her food.

9 Till when, O slothful one, dost thou lie? When dost thou arise from thy sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little clasping of the hands to rest,

11 And thy poverty hath come as a traveller, And thy want as an armed man.

12 A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking [with] perverseness of mouth,

13 Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers,

14 Frowardness [is] in his heart, devising evil at all times, Contentions he sendeth forth.

Proverbs 6:4-14 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.