Bible Study Proverbs 6
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Proverbs 6 · WEB

Six Things the Lord Hates

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger,
2you are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, since you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.
4Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise.
7She has no commander, overseer, or ruler,
8yet she prepares her food in the summer, and gathers her provision in the harvest.
9How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?
10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—
11so your poverty will come like a robber, and your want like an armed man.
12A worthless person, a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who motions with his fingers,
14in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.
15Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
16There are six things which Yahweh hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.
20My son, keep your father's commandment, and don't forsake the law of your mother.
21Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.
22When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.
23For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife's tongue.
25Don't lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
26For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
27Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned?
28Or can a man walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?
29So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
30Men don't despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry;
31but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.
32He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.
33He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.
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Summary

Proverbs 6 is a collection of practical wisdom on four topics: the danger of financial pledging for others (vv. 1-5), the lesson of the ant against sloth (vv. 6-11), the profile of the worthless troublemaker (vv. 12-19), and a second extended warning against adultery (vv. 20-35). The famous "seven things God hates" list (vv. 16-19) is embedded in the middle. The adultery warning uses the vivid image of fire in the lap — some consequences cannot be avoided once a course is set.

Themes

  • The ant as teacher of diligent, self-directed preparation
  • The seven abominations as a catalog of social and moral vices
  • Discord-sowing as the culminating abomination — the destroyer of community
  • Adultery as fire: once carried, it burns
  • The surpassing damage of adultery compared even to theft

Key verses

  • Prov 6:16-19 — “There are six things which Yahweh hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to him.”
  • Prov 6:27-28 — “Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned?”
  • Prov 6:6 — “Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise.”

Context & background

Proverbs 6 is a miscellany that interrupts the longer discourses of chapters 5 and 7 on the adulteress. The ant passage (vv. 6-11) is one of the most quoted passages in Proverbs — it commends not just diligence but *self-governed* diligence ("no commander, overseer, or ruler"). The seven abominations list (vv. 16-19) is a numerical proverb (six...seven) common in wisdom literature — a literary device for emphasis. The list moves from eye to tongue to hands to heart to feet to mouth to the overarching sin: sowing discord among brothers. The adultery comparison to theft (vv. 30-35) makes the point through contrast: a thief restores and is not permanently shamed; the adulterer destroys his own soul and cannot wipe away the reproach. Fire in the lap (v. 27) is an image of consequence that is built in, not imposed from outside.

Cross-references

  • Galatians 5:19-21 — "discord, jealousy, fits of rage" — vv. 16-19's abominations list
  • James 4:1-2 — "where do quarrels and fights among you come from?" — v. 14's strife-maker
  • Matthew 5:22 — "whoever is angry with his brother" — v. 19's discord-sowing in NT
  • Proverbs 30:24-28 — the ant as one of four small but wise creatures
  • Romans 1:29-30 — Paul's catalog of sins includes several from vv. 16-19

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What makes the ant wise, and what is the sluggard's failure?

  2. Observe

    List the seven things God hates. Which is climactic?

  3. Interpret

    What does self-governance in preparation look like for humans?

  4. Interpret

    Why is sowing discord listed with murder?

  5. Apply

    What "little" habits of avoidance are accumulating?

  6. Apply

    Are there fire-in-lap choices being made or considered?

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