The teacher of wisdom continues to highlight the importance of seeking wisdom.
Proverbs 6:1-5, On financial pledges
My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
if you have struck hands in pledge for another,
if you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth,
then do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands:
Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!
Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
The person who has put their wealth into the hands of others (say as a pledge for a large loan) must quickly recognize their danger and correct it. The pledge is likened to a snare. As in all of Proverbs, advice is given in black and white -- at the least, one warned by these passages would be very careful in how he/she invests money, especially when it involves someone unknown. Investment should not be gambling!
Notice the various forms of parallelism: the first four lines are "synthetic", building on the same idea, followed by a three line advice. Then are pairs of parallel lines, emphasizing the humility and groveling that will be required to free oneself from the consequences of their foolish actions.
Proverbs 6:6-8, The sluggard
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
See Proverbs 30:25 for a parallel passage. Kidner notes that the sluggard is a subject study of Proverbs. Kidner, in his commentary, separates several character studies, all slightly different, people that Proverbs teaches one to avoid. There is the simpleton, the fool, the scoffer and the sluggard. Although the sluggard is not consciously evil, his laziness leads to ruin.
Proverbs 6:9-11, Folding of the hands...
How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest--
and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
Poverty, says the Teacher, creeps up slowly on the one who is lazy and refuses to work. (This passage teaches that laziness leads to poverty; it does not teach that all poverty is due to laziness!)
Proverbs 6:12-15, The scoundrel who builds dissension
A scoundrel and villain,
who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
who winks with his eye,
signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers,
who plots evil with deceit in his heart--
he always stirs up dissension.
Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
he will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy.
The scoundrel is physically described as having mouth, eye, feet, fingers, heart that all contribute to his deceit and dissension. Even as he takes time to work his dissension, the penalty will be quick and a surprise.
Proverbs 6:16-19, Six, no seven!
There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
"Six things, no seven!" is a poetic technique to emphasize the seventh object, creating dissension. (Kidner says that this technique implies that the list is not ended, that there may be more things in the list.) The list of body parts: eyes, tongue, hands, heart and feet, echoes the body parts in the previous paragraph.
Proverbs 6:20-24, Bind these words around your heart
My son, keep your father's commands
and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
Bind them upon your heart forever;
fasten them around your neck.
When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
For these commands are a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,
keeping you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.
A reminder of the importance of learning wisdom from one's elders. This harkens back to the first verses of chapter 3.
Proverbs 6:25-26, Eyelids and a loaf of bread
Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes,
for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
The word translated "lust" by the NIV is tachmod, literally "to covet". It is used in Exodus 20:17, in the tenth commandment (where the KJV writes "Thou shalt not covet....") In this context, to "covet" a woman is to "lust" after her. The word translated "her eyes" is a variant on the Hebrew aphaph, "eyelids". The implication is that the woman is attracting the man by fluttering her eyelids (says Alter), signaling him in some way. (Even in Old Testament times there was a fashion emphasis on a woman's eyes and eyelashes!)
In this passage we return to the threat of the prostitute -- here the threat is financial, for the prostitute views the man as nothing more than a food source and the adulteress (who expects more than a financial transaction) could prey on the adulterer all his life (or possibly threaten his life.)
Proverbs 6:27-29, Burning coals and adultery
Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
So is he who sleeps with another man's wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
The one who sleeps with another man's wife is scooping fire into his lap.
Proverbs 6:30-35, Thievery < Adultery
Men do not despise a thief
if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment;
whoever does so destroys himself.
Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never be wiped away;
for jealousy arouses a husband's fury,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.
Although thievery is condemned, the anger against a man who commits adultery is different (says our Teacher.) As Kidner points out, Proverbs 27:4, teaches that anger is nothing like jealousy. Jealousy can be overwhelming, an insanity that leads to violence. (See the violence of domestic disputes in our modern culture.) In the passion of Song of Songs 8:6 is the statement "jealousy is as strong as the grave."
We will continue with the concerns about adultery in the next chapter. Obsession with sex is apparently not a modern phenomenon!
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