Proverbs 6

Proverbs 6 is the sixth chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections, with the heading in 1:1 may be intended to regard Solomon as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post-exilic period. This chapter is a part of the first collection of the book.

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of Proverbs 6 with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation.

Verse	Hebrew	English translation
1		My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbour, If thou hast struck thy hands for a stranger—
2		Thou art snared by the words of thy mouth, Thou art caught by the words of thy mouth—
3		Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbour; Go, humble thyself, and urge thy neighbour.
4		Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
5		Deliver thyself as a gazelle from the hand, And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6		Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise;
7		Which having no chief, Overseer, or ruler,
8		Provideth her bread in the summer, And gatherest her food in the harvest.
9		How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10		’Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep’—
11		So shall thy poverty come as a runner, And thy want as an armed man.
12		A base person, a man of iniquity, Is he that walketh with a froward mouth;.
13		That winketh with his eyes, that scrapeth with his feet, That pointeth with his fingers;
14		Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth evil continually; He soweth discord.
15		Therefore, shall his calamity come suddenly; On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.
16		There are six things which the LORD hateth, Yea, seven which are an abomination unto Him:
17		Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood;
18		A heart that deviseth wicked thoughts, Feet that are swift in running to evil;
19		A false witness that breatheth out lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren.
20		My son, keep the commandment of thy father, And forsake not the teaching of thy mother;
21		Bind them continually upon thy heart, Tie them about thy neck.
22		When thou walkest, it shall lead thee, When thou liest down, it shall watch over thee; And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
23		For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light, And reproofs of instruction are the way of life;
24		To keep thee from the evil woman, From the smoothness of the alien tongue.
25		Lust not after her beauty in thy heart; Neither let her captivate thee with her eyelids.
26		For on account of a harlot a man is brought to a loaf of bread, But the adulteress hunteth for the precious life.
27		Can a man take fire in his bosom, And his clothes not be burned?
28		Or can one walk upon hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?
29		So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; Whosoever toucheth her shall not go unpunished.
30		Men do not despise a thief, if he steal To satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
31		But if he be found, he must restore sevenfold, He must give all the substance of his house.
32		He that committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding; He doeth it that would destroy his own soul.
33		Wounds and dishonour shall he get, And his reproach shall not be wiped away..
34		For jealousy is the rage of a man, And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35		He will not regard any ransom; Neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Analysis

This chapter belongs to a section regarded as the first collection in the book of Proverbs, known as "Didactic discourses". The Jerusalem Bible describes chapters 1–9 as a prologue of the chapters 10–22:16, the so-called " proverbs of Solomon", as "the body of the book".
The structure of chapter involves some advices:

Advises release from foolish indebtedness
Admonishes avoiding laziness
Warns of the danger of poverty and deviousness,
Lists conduct that the Lord hates
Warns about immorality.

The New King James Version entitles the chapters and sections as follows:

Dangerous Promises
The Folly of Indolence
The Wicked Man
Beware of Adultery

Four warnings (6:1–19)

This section contains four miscellaneous sayings which are more reminiscent of the proverbial sayings in chapters 10–31 than the instructions in chapters 1–9:

Warning against acting as guarantor for debts
Warning against laziness and encourage diligence
Warning of the danger of scoundrel
Warnings of things that the Lord hates

Verses 16–19 contain a graded numerical saying that is particularly useful both as a means of classification and as an aid to memorization. The saying lists 'different kinds of malicious and disruptive activity through a review of the unhealthy body': 'eyes... tongue... hands... heart... feet', with the addition of 'false witness' and 'one who stirs up strife' to make up the seven vices.

Verse 1

"Surety": or "guaranty", "collateral" There are several references to suretyship in Proverbs, the first coming here. According to Perowne, Accordingly, the writer of Proverbs "has no quarter for it, but condemns it unsparingly on every mention of it". Subsequent references to surety are at Proverbs 11:15, 17:18, 20:16, 22:26 and 27:13.
"Shaken": in Hebrew literally "struck" as in "struck hands in pledge", that is, a handshake signaling the guarantee of a pledge. An unwise guarantor would be threatened with not only 'penury' but also slavery.

The price of adultery (6:20–35)

This passage focuses on the instruction to protect against the enticements of the seductress, in particular here of "a married woman". An affair with the adulteress would exact a heavy price, 'a man's very life', as a jealous and enraged husband would seek revenge and demand a higher price than money.

Verse 21

"Bind them": an allusion to Deuteronomy 6:6–8 where the people of Israel were told to bind a copy of the law on their foreheads and arms.