35971783 proverbs-6-commentary

TARY
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
Some of the people I quote are not named, and if they are identified, I will give them credit. Some
may not want their wisdom to be shared in this way, and if so, they can let me know and I will
delete their quotes. My e-mail is glenn_p86@yahoo.com Be aware that some of the old
commentators using the KJV are sometimes dealing with a different theme because the text has
been changed in modern translations.
Warnings Against Folly
1. Constable, “The advice in this section provides a good example of what prudence is. A prudent
person is one who is capable of exercising sound judgment in practical matters. He or she
is cautious and discreet in conduct, is circumspect, and is sensible. We often describe a
prudent person by saying that he or she has common sense. A prudent person can foresee
the consequences of possible actions. A godly person can and should be prudent because
God's revelation helps us see the consequences of our actions.”
2. Falwell: Chapter 6 of Proverbs has four divisions, all giving a clear recipe for a wrecked
and ruined life.

umber 1, violate scriptural principles in economics and make bad financial
decisions (vv. 1-5). . .
The second division of chapter 6 concerns bad work habits (vv. 6-11). . . God
says that by the sweat of your brow you will earn your bread. Part of our welfare and
unemployment problem is that a lot of people are not looking for jobs. They are
looking for positions!
But if you want to wreck your life, there is a third thing you can do: Have bad
character (vv. 12-19).
Finally, note division 4, verses 20-35: Bad moral behavior will wreck your life.
3. “Think about this chapter 5 of Proverbs is about purity and rightly placed passion within
marriage. Chapter 6 is about unfaithfulness. Chapter 7 is yet another passage about the
adulteress. Does it seem like God s trying to say something? Like he s trying to get our attention?
Looking at chapters 5-7 of Proverbs, it becomes clear that God is passionate about faithfulness,
about purity far more passionate than I think we realize.” author unknown

1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
if you have struck hands in pledge for another,
1. It is even high risk to do this for a family member, for if the person who owes a debt refuses to
pay it, and you are the one who has signed to secure it, you will be held responsible for that debt.
This has ruined many a family and many a friend. It is just not worth the risk. People do it
constantly and it works out fine because people pay their debts, but you never know when
circumstances make it impossible, and now you are in a bind. You might risk this for a child, and
even a close relative, but to do this for a neighbor is on the level of folly.
1B. Barnes, “Surety - The “pledge,” or security for payment, which, for example, David was to
bring back from his brothers 1Sa_17:18. So the word was used in the primitive trade transactions
of the early Israelites. In the warnings against this suretyship, in the Book of Proverbs, we may
trace the influence of contact with the Phoenicians. The merchants of Tyre and Zidon seem to
have discovered the value of credit as an element of wealth. A man might obtain goods, or escape
the pressure of a creditor at an inconvenient season, or obtain a loan on more favorable terms, by
finding security. To give such security might be one of the kindest offices which one friend could
render to another. Side by side, however, with a legitimate system of credit there sprang up, as in
later times, a fraudulent counterfeit. Phoenician or Jewish money-lenders (the “stranger”) were
ready to make their loans to the spendthrift. He was equally ready to find a companion (the
“friend”) who would become his surety. It was merely a form, just writing a few words, just “a
clasping of the hands” (see the marginal reference) in token that the obligation was accepted, and
that was all. It would be unfriendly to refuse. And yet, as the teacher warns his hearers, there
might be, in that moment of careless weakness, the first link of a long chain of ignominy, galling,
fretting, wearing, depriving life of all its peace. The Jewish law of debt, hard and stern like that
of most ancient nations, aright be enforced against him in all its rigour. Money and land might
go, the very bed under him might be seized, and his garment torn from his back Pro_20:16;
Pro_22:27, the older and more lenient law Exo_22:25-27 having apparently fallen into disuse. he
might be brought into a life-long bondage, subject only to the possible relief of the year of jubilee,
when the people were religious enough to remember and observe it. His wives, his sons, his
daughters might be sharers in that slavery

eh_5:3-5. It was doubtful whether he could claim the
privilege which under Exo_21:2 belonged to an Israelite slave that had been bought. Against such
an evil, no warnings could be too frequent or to urgent.
Stricken thy hand - The natural symbol of the promise to keep a contract; in this case, to pay
another man’s debts. Compare Pro_17:18; Pro_22:26; Job_17:3; Eze_17:18.”
2. Clarke, “If thou be surety for thy friend - לרעך lereacha, for thy neighbor; i.e., any person. If
thou pledge thyself in behalf of another, thou takest the burden off him, and placest it on thine
own shoulders; and when he knows he has got one to stand between him and the demands of law
and justice, he will feel little responsibility; his spirit of exertion will become crippled, and
listlessness as to the event will be the consequence. His own character will suffer little; his
property nothing, for his friend bears all the burden: and perhaps the very person for whom he

bore this burden treats him with neglect; and, lest the restoration of the pledge should be
required, will avoid both the sight and presence of his friend. Give what thou canst; but, except in
extreme cases, be surety for no man. Striking or shaking hands when the mouth had once made
the promise, was considered as the ratification of the engagement; and thus the man became
ensnared with the words of his mouth.
3. Gill, “My son, if thou be surety for thy friend,.... To another; hast engaged thyself by promise
or bond, or both, to pay a debt for him, if he is not able, or if required; or hast laid thyself under
obligation to any, to see the debt of another paid; if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger;
or "to" him (b); whom thou knowest not, and to whom thou owest nothing; and hast given him
thine hand upon it, as well as thy word and bond, that what such an one owes him shall be paid; a
gesture used in suretyship for the confirmation of it, Pro_17:18; or, "for a stranger" (c) And the
sense is, either if thou art become bound for a friend of thine, and especially if for a stranger thou
knowest little or nothing of, this is a piece of rashness and weakness; or, as Gersom, if thou art a
surety to thy friend for a stranger, this also is a great inadvertency and oversight. It is a rash and
inconsiderate entering into suretyship that is here cautioned against; doing it without inquiring
into, and having sufficient knowledge of the person engaged for; and without considering
whether able to answer the obligation, if required, without hurting a man's self and family;
otherwise suretyship may lawfully be entered into, and good be done by it, and no hurt to the
surety himself and family. Jarchi interprets it of the Israelites engaging themselves to the Lord at
Sinai, to keep his commandments.
4. Henry, “It is the excellency of the word of God that it teaches us not only divine wisdom for
another world, but human prudence for this world, that we may order our affairs with
discretion; and this is one good rule, To avoid suretiship, because by it poverty and ruin are often
brought into families, which take away that comfort in relations which he had recommended in
the foregoing chapter. 1. We must look upon suretiship as a snare and decline it accordingly,
Pro_6:1, Pro_6:2. “It is dangerous enough for a man to be bound for his friend, though it be one
whose circumstances he is well acquainted with, and well assured of his sufficiency, but much
more to strike the hands with a stranger, to become surety for one whom thou dost not know to be
either able or honest.” Or the stranger here with whom the hand is stricken is the creditor, “the
usurer to whom thou art become bound, and yet as to thee he is a stranger, that is, thou owest
him nothing, nor hast had any dealings with him.”
5. Keil, “in case thou art fallen into the hand of thy neighbor; for this is represented (Pro_6:1,
Pro_6:2) as having already in fact happened. On two sides the surety is no longer sui juris: the
creditor has him in his hand; for if the debtor does not pay, he holds the surety, and in this way
many an honourable man has lost house and goods, Sirach 29:18, cf. 8:13; - and the debtor has
him, the surety, in his hand; for the performance which is due, for which the suretyship avails,
depends on his conscientiousness. The latter is here meant: thou hast made thy freedom and thy
possessions dependent on the will of thy neighbor for whom thou art the surety.”
6. Lane: In fact, in our modern society we might be even less advised to take on the role of surety.
In view of the exorbitant and ever-changing interest rates now attached to loans, to underwrite
another s debt is to take on something open-ended. Repaying the principal is the smallest part of
the matter. While we are to be generous to the needy we are not expected to commit ourselves
beyond our capacity to an unknown future. We live in a society run on credit and debt, and most
of us for a large part of our lives have commitments such as mortgages and hire-purchase

agreements. We find it hard enough to meet these without taking on someone else s debt. We
should only do so if we are quite sure of our ability to meet it should the need arise. Let us
conduct our financial transactions with great care. Debt is a terrible thing.”
7. “This is very practical advice (truth) then and now when so many unwittingly cosign for
someone else’s installment loan due to a borrower’s insufficient credit. It is wise instruction
because:
 If the borrow is a friend and defaults, the friendship is harmed.
 The cosigner may be encouraging an inappropriate expenditure.
 The cosigner’s good name and credit record is at risk.
 The cosigner’s financial support to his family may suffer.
 It is similar to lending money, which almost always leads to difficulties.
 The cosigner may not have the means to pay off the debt if it befalls him.
 The cosigner is involving his family’s reputation, not just his own estate.
This wisdom applies to both friend and stranger, it makes no difference. For a person to secure
another’s loan by means of his own estate and reputation is both an encumbrance and trap that
often stems from a position of self-effort, which is usually the product of pride—employing very
poor insight and foresight.” author unknown
8. Let God Be True, “As a loving father teaching his son, Solomon warns against being a surety
for friends, which he condemns often in Proverbs (6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26-27; 27:13).
What is suretiship? What is wrong with it? What wisdom should we learn from this frequent
warning?
You are a surety when you guarantee the financial payments or personal performance of
someone else. In this case, you promise a third party - a stranger - that your friend will make his
payments or do what is expected; and you promise to pay the debt yourself or be held personally
liable, if your friend cannot or does not do what is required of him.
Such financial deals, before mass personal bankruptcies and computerized credit analysis, when
a man's word was good enough, were formalized by shaking hands (17:18; 22:26). To strike, or
join, hands was an ancient form of entering into contracts in all countries and in all ages (Job
17:3; Ps 144:8,11). The Oxford English Dictionary helps us here:
Strike. 69. To strike hands (said of two parties to a bargain): To take one another by the hand in
confirmation of a bargain; hence, to ratify a bargain with (another).
Today we call this cosigning a loan. The wisdom of God is against rashly guaranteeing debts of
others without careful review of their character (11:15; 20:16), the extent of the obligation (22:3;
14:15), and your ability to pay it off (22:27). Off balance sheet accounting and excessive
contingent liabilities are condemned by the wisdom of God.
Sober suretiship may not only be allowable, but prudent, charitable, and necessary (Philemon
1:18-19; Gen 43:8-10; Isaiah 1:17). If a godly friend or poor person is in need for an amount you
can afford, then there is no sin in the act of charity and friendship to help them. The folly of
suretiship is hasty promises and excessive commitments.

Haste and pride cause foolish promises. Haste utters words and shakes hands before knowing the
extent of an obligation; and pride wants to be seen as a man of means, which is done publicly by
guaranteeing debts, even though it may have few assets for payment.
Jesus is our Surety. He gave His word and bound His soul to death for the infinite debt of His
people, which guarantee no man on earth, angel in heaven, or devil in hell can cancel.”
2 if you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth,
1. Henry, “If thou hast rashly entered into such engagements, either wheedled into them or in
hopes to have the same kindness done for thee another time, know that thou art snared with the
words of thy mouth; it was easily done, with a word's speaking; it was but setting thy hand to a
paper, a bond is soon sealed and delivered, and a recognizance entered into. But it will not be so
easily got clear of; thou art in a snare more than thou art aware of.” See how little reason we have
to make light of tongue-sins; if by a word of our mouth we may become indebted to men, and lie
open to their actions, by the words of our mouth we may become obnoxious to God's justice, and
even so may be snared. It is false that words are but wind: they are often snares.”
2. Gill, “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,.... Got into a snare out of which an escape
is not easy; art no longer free, and thine own man, but under obligation to pay the debt if
required; by the verbal agreement made and confirmed by striking hands, and this before
witnesses; thou art taken with the words of thy mouth; as in a net, and held fast therein and
thereby, and cannot get loose without paying the debt, if the debtor does not, or without the leave
of the creditor.
3. If we live as directed by the word of God, we shall find it profitable even in this present world.
We are stewards of our worldly substance, and have to answer to the Lord for our disposal of it;
to waste it in rash schemes, or such plans as may entangle us in difficulties and temptations, is
wrong. A man ought never to be surety for more than he is able and willing to pay, and can afford
to pay, without wronging his family
4. Dr. Joe Temple, “That verse suggests that the individual in question may agree to assume
liability or responsibility without giving serious thought to what he is doing, and then as he thinks
about it, he wonders if he has done the wise thing. It refers to the individual who lives more by his
heart than by his head, and when the plea is made, he immediately responds to that plea without
giving serious consideration as to whether or not he is able to fulfill the obligation which he
assumes. Sometimes it refers to the individual who, when he is approached about such a matter
as this, is too proud to admit that he can't handle a given situation, so immediately he responds
with his mouth: `Òh, I will be glad to sign that note," or `Ì'll be glad to lend you that money," or
`Ì'll be glad to assume that obligation," because he is not wont to admit that he is not up to the
situation. In these senses, I think the individual in this paragraph has committed the sin of

overestimating his ability by letting his mouth, as Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes, cause
him to sin.”
5. An unknown author give us some very wise advice: “Your words can get you in trouble. You
must think seriously before opening your mouth or signing your name. The context is foolishly
cosigning for a friend with a stranger (6:1-5). There are two lessons – (1) financial prudence and
(2) guarding your speech and signature. Both issues can be very costly. Both issues give the
proverb great value. Solomon warned his son several times about suretiship, which is
guaranteeing the performance of a friend to a third party, often a creditor (6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18;
20:16; 22:26-27; 27:13). Our closest activity is cosigning a loan at a bank for a friend. Since
Solomon was a king, there would be many parasites seeking favors from the royal prince.
Cosigning, or suretiship, is an easy way to show kindness and wealth. Just a word, a handshake,
or signature will do it! Your friend is indebted to you, and the pride of life revels in your financial
power. But paying off such debts, if your friend does not perform, could put you in poverty.
Solomon warned that a creditor may take your bed (22:26-27)!
The financial wisdom of this proverb is great. Prudent men commit to contracts and obligations
only with great sobriety and only after skeptical analysis. Financial liquidity and personal
freedom are very important to wise men. They hate debts! But there is more wisdom in the
proverb. You need to guard your speech in all matters, and you need to be a man of your word.
One way to accomplish both is to be very slow in commitments. To be a man of integrity, only
make commitments you can easily keep. If you promise to be somewhere at a certain time, be
there early. Don’t promise hastily, because once you have spoken, you are bound to keep your
word. Performance may be based on diligence; punctuality may be based on time management;
but both can be helped by only making commitments and promises with great care and building
some fluff into your estimates.”
3 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!
1. Henry, “If we have been drawn into this snare, it will be our wisdom by all means, with all
speed, to get out of it, Pro_6:3-5. It sleeps for the present; we hear nothing of it. The debt is not
demanded; the principal says, “

ever fear, we will take care of it.” But still the bond is in force,
interest is running on, the creditor may come upon thee when he will and perhaps may be hasty
and severe, the principal may prove either knavish or insolvent, and then thou must rob thy wife
and children, and ruin thy family, to pay that which thou didst neither nor drink for. And
therefore deliver thyself; rest not till either the creditor give up the bond or the principal give thee
counter-security; when thou art come into the hand of thy friend, and he has advantage against
thee, it is no time to threaten or give ill language (that will provoke and make ill worse), but

humble thyself, beg and pray to be discharged, go down on thy knees to him, and give him all the
fair words thou canst; engage thy friends to speak for thee; leave no stone unturned till thou hast
agreed with thy adversary and compromised the matter, so that thy bond may not come against
thee or thine. This is a care which may well break thy sleep, and let it do so till thou hast got
through. “Give not sleep to thy eyes till thou hast delivered thyself. Strive and struggle to the
utmost, and hasten with all speed, as a roe or a bird delivers herself out of this snare of the fowler
or hunter. Delays are dangerous, and feeble efforts will not serve.” See what care God, in his
word, has taken to make men good husbands of their estates, and to teach them prudence in the
management of them. Godliness has precepts, as well as promises, relating to the life that now is.
But how are we to understand this? We are not to think it is unlawful in any case to become
surety, or bail, for another; it may be a piece of justice or charity; he that has friends may see
cause in this instance to show himself friendly, and it may be no piece of imprudence. Paul
became bound for Onesimus, Phm_1:19. We may help a young man into business that we know
to be honest and diligent, and gain him credit by passing our word for him, and so do him a great
kindness without any detriment to ourselves. But, 1. It is every man's wisdom to keep out of debt
as much as may be, for it is an incumbrance upon him, entangles him in the world, puts him in
danger of doing wrong or suffering wrong. The borrower is servant to the lender, and makes
himself very much a slave to this world. Christians therefore, who are bought with a price, should
not thus, without need, make themselves the servants of men, 1Co_7:23. 2. It is great folly to
entangle ourselves with necessitous people, and to become bound for their debts, that are ever
and anon taking up money, and lading, as we say, out of one hole into another, for it is ten to one
but, some time or other, it will come upon us. A man ought never to be bound as surety for more
than he is both able and willing to pay, and can afford to pay without wronging his family, in case
the principal fail, for he ought to look upon it as his own debt. Ecclesiasticus 8:13, Be not surety
above thy power, for, if thou be surety, thou must take care to pay it. 3. It is a necessary piece of
after-wit, if we have foolishly entangled ourselves, to get out of the snare as fast as we can, to lose
no time, spare no pains, and stick at no submission to make ourselves safe and easy, and get our
affairs into a good posture. It is better to humble ourselves for an accommodation than to ruin
ourselves by our stiffness and haughtiness. Make sure thy friend by getting clear from thy
engagements from him; for rash suretiship is as much the bane of friendship as that which is
prudent is sometimes the bond of it. Let us take heed lest we any way make ourselves guilty of
other men's sins against God (1Ti_5:22), for that is worse, and much more dangerous, than being
bound for other men's debts; and, if we must be in all this care to get our debts to men forgiven,
much more to get our peace made with God. “Humble thyself to him; make sure of Christ thy
friend, to intercede for thee; pray earnestly that thy sins may be pardoned, and thou mayest be
delivered from going down to the pit, and it shall not be in vain. Give not sleep to thy eyes nor
slumber to thy eye lids, till this be done.”
2. Chuck Smith, “Someone said the best way to lose a friend is to loan him money. And
unfortunately, many friendships have been lost over this very thing. If you have guaranteed for a
friend, if you've been a surety for him. You say, "Well, that's all right, just put it on my account,
or I'll guarantee it," my son, you're in trouble. Go to your friend quickly. You've snared yourself
with your mouth. Deliver yourself from him if at all possible. Humble yourself and get out of the
situation.”
3. Barnes, “Better, “Do this now, O my son, and free thyself when thou hast come into thy
friend’s house; go, bow thyself down (perhaps “stamp with thy foot,” or “hasten”), press hotly
upon thy friend. By persuasion, and if need be, by threats, get back the bond which thou hast

been entrapped into signing:” The “friend” is, as before, the companion, not the creditor.
4. Clarke, “Do this - deliver thyself - Continue to press him for whom thou art become surety, to
pay his creditor; give him no rest till he do it, else thou mayest fully expect to be left to pay the
debt.
5. Gill, “o this now, my son, and deliver thyself,.... Take the following advice, as the best that can
be given in such circumstances, in order to be freed from such an obligation, or to be safe and
easy under it; when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; or, "because or seeing thou art
fallen into the hand of thy friend,'' as the Targum; or "though thou art,'' &c. as Aben Ezra;
which may be understood either of the creditor to whom a man is bound, or of the debtor for
whom he is bound, or of both; for a surety is in the hands or power of both: he is in the hands of
the creditor, who may demand payment of the debt of him; and he is in the hands of the debtor,
who, if a careless or crafty and deceitful man, may leave him to the payment of it. The Septuagint
and Arabic versions are, "for thou art come into the hands of evil men for thy friend;'' and the
Syriac version, "seeing for thy friend thou art fallen into the hands of thine enemy;'' and
therefore must make the best of it thou canst, and in the following way:
go, humble thyself; that is, to the creditor, prostrate thyself before him; lie down upon the ground
to be trodden on, as the word (d) signifies; fall down on thine knees, and entreat him to discharge
thee from the bond, or give longer time for payment, if up; for thou art in his hands, and there is
no carrying it with a high hand or a haughty spirit to him; humility, and not haughtiness, is most
likely to be serviceable in such a case; and make sure thy friend; for whom thou art become a
surety, as the Syriac and Arabic versions add; solicit him, as the former of these versions render
it; stimulate him, as the Septuagint; stir him up, urge him to pay off the debt quickly, and
discharge the bond, or give thee security and indemnity from it. Or, "magnify thy friend" (e);
that is, to the creditor; speak of him as a very able and responsible man, and as an honest and
faithful one, that will pay in due time. Some render it "magnify", and speak well of the debtor to
thy friend, which may please and appease him: or, "multiply thy friends" (f); get as many as thou
canst to intercede for thee, and get thee discharged from the obligation by some means or
another; to this purpose Jarchi.”
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
1. Procrastination is your worst foe,
So get out of bed, and go, go, go.
You have a very important task to do;
You will sleep better when your through.
There is no time for time to waste,
So get up now and run with haste.
You made a mess you have to clean up,
So don't lay back, get up, get up.

1B. There are times when the matter at hand is too serious to let it slide for a night. When you
make a mistake that could ruin your whole future, you need to act swiftly, and not put it off to a
more convenient time. Recognize the urgency of the situation and act on it immediately, for
events can happen that lock you in to a place you don't want to be. I once signed a contract to get
into a time share, but back at the motel it started to sink in that I was getting into something that
was not wise for me. The contract gave me time to change my mind, and so I hurried back and
got out of that commitment, and was so relieved that I did not sleep on it. We sometimes make
major decisions based on the emotions of the moment that are foolish and impulsive. When we
do, we need to think hard about them right away and evaluate if they make sense for our future.
If they do not, we need to hasten to undo them before it is too late, and we have to live with regret
for a hasty decision.
2. Gill, “Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Until the above things are
done; which denotes of what consequence and importance they are; and that persons in such
circumstances should not be careless, dilatory, and unconcerned; but should use great diligence,
and leave no stone unturned, or method untried, to extricate themselves; see Psa_132:4.”
3. Henry, “This is a care which may well break thy sleep, and let it do so till thou hast got
through. “Give not sleep to thy eyes till thou hast delivered thyself. Strive and struggle to the utmost,
and hasten with all speed, as a roe or a bird delivers herself out of this snare of the fowler or
hunter. Delays are dangerous, and feeble efforts will not serve.” See what care God, in his word,
has taken to make men good husbands of their estates, and to teach them prudence in the
management of them. Godliness has precepts, as well as promises, relating to the life that now is.
But how are we to understand this? We are not to think it is unlawful in any case to become
surety, or bail, for another; it may be a piece of justice or charity; he that has friends may see
cause in this instance to show himself friendly, and it may be no piece of imprudence. Paul
became bound for Onesimus, Phm_1:19. We may help a young man into business that we know
to be honest and diligent, and gain him credit by passing our word for him, and so do him a great
kindness without any detriment to ourselves. But, 1. It is every man's wisdom to keep out of debt
as much as may be, for it is an incumbrance upon him, entangles him in the world, puts him in
danger of doing wrong or suffering wrong. The borrower is servant to the lender, and makes
himself very much a slave to this world. Christians therefore, who are bought with a price, should
not thus, without need, make themselves the servants of men, 1Co_7:23. 2. It is great folly to
entangle ourselves with necessitous people, and to become bound for their debts, that are ever
and anon taking up money, and lading, as we say, out of one hole into another, for it is ten to one
but, some time or other, it will come upon us. A man ought never to be bound as surety for more
than he is both able and willing to pay, and can afford to pay without wronging his family, in case
the principal fail, for he ought to look upon it as his own debt. Ecclesiasticus 8:13, Be not surety
above thy power, for, if thou be surety, thou must take care to pay it. 3. It is a necessary piece of
after-wit, if we have foolishly entangled ourselves, to get out of the snare as fast as we can, to lose
no time, spare no pains, and stick at no submission to make ourselves safe and easy, and get our
affairs into a good posture. It is better to humble ourselves for an accommodation than to ruin
ourselves by our stiffness and haughtiness. Make sure thy friend by getting clear from thy
engagements from him; for rash suretiship is as much the bane of friendship as that which is
prudent is sometimes the bond of it. Let us take heed lest we any way make ourselves guilty of
other men's sins against God (1Ti_5:22), for that is worse, and much more dangerous, than being
bound for other men's debts; and, if we must be in all this care to get our debts to men forgiven,
much more to get our peace made with God. “Humble thyself to him; make sure of Christ thy
friend, to intercede for thee; pray earnestly that thy sins may be pardoned, and thou mayest be

delivered from going down to the pit, and it shall not be in vain. Give not sleep to thy eyes nor
slumber to thy eye lids, till this be done.”
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
1. Clarke, “Deliver thyself as a roe - צבי tsebi, the antelope. If thou art got into the snare, get out
if thou possibly canst; make every struggle and excertion, as the antelope taken in the net, and
the bird taken in the snare would, in order to get free from thy captivity.”
2. Gill, “Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter,.... As such a creature, which is very
swift, when it is got into the hand of the hunter, will strive and struggle to get out; so should a
man try all ways and means to get out of his suretyship engagements, especially when he finds
himself liable to danger by it; this he should do "immediately" and "out of hand" (g), as the
phrase here used sometimes signifies with the Jewish writers; and as a bird from the hand of the
fowler; another metaphor, signifying the same thing.”
3. This is a radical picture, for Solomon is saying that it is such a dangerous place you are in that
you have to escape with all of the urgency of a trapped animal. If you have ever seen an animal
trying to get free from a trap you know how they use up all their energy to escape. There is no,
when I get around to it attitude. It is do or die now, and they fight with all their might. There is
an urgency about this issue that should scare the son into immediate action to undo his rash
decision.
4. Dr. Joe Temple, “If a young fawn were caught in a trap, do you think it would lie there quietly,
hoping somehow it could be released? You well know that some animals caught in traps have
chewed their leg off in order to be free, such was the urgency of the need for freedom; and that is
the figure of speech the Spirit of God is using here. When you have committed the sin of
overestimating yourself and find yourself bound with cords that make a veritable trap for you,
then lose no time in seeking deliverance. You can make your own application in many different
ways.”
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!

1. God has given man a great many lessons on wisdom by the way he has created creatures with
instincts to do what man has to learn to do by choice. The ant lives a life of wise planning, and we
can learn from them what is a wise way to live our own lives. If we consider how it operates, and
incorporate that same pattern into our own lives, we will be wise. There is education waiting for
you right outside your door, or somewhere in your back yard. Mother nature is your teacher, for
she is ordained of God to make all who will observe and listen to be wiser in the way they live.
Ants are not her only object lessons, but they are among the best.
2. Barnes, “The warning against the wastefulness of the prodigal is followed by a warning as
emphatic against the wastefulness of sloth. The point of comparison with the ant is not so much
the foresight of the insect as its unwearied activity during the appointed season, rebuking man’s
inaction at a special crisis Pro_6:4. In Pro_30:25, the storing, provident habit of the ant is
noticed.
3. Clarke, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard - נמלה nemalah, the ant, is a remarkable creature for
foresight, industry, and economy. At the proper seasons they collect their food - not in the
summer to lay up for the winter; for they sleep during the winter, and eat not; and therefore such
hoards would be to them useless; but when the food necessary for them is most plentiful, then
they collect it for their consumption in the proper seasons.

o insect is more laborious, not even
the bee itself; and none is more fondly attached to or more careful of its young, than the ant.
When the young are in their aurelia state, in which they appear like a small grain of rice, they
will bring them out of their nests, and lay them near their holes, for the benefit of the sun; and on
the approach of rain, carefully remove them, and deposit them in the nest, the hole or entrance to
which they will cover with a piece of thin stone or tile, to prevent the wet from getting in. It is a
fact that they do not lay up any meat for winter; nor does Solomon, either here or in Pro_30:25,
assert it. He simply says that they provide their food in summer, and gather it in harvest; these
are the most proper times for a stock to be laid in for their consumption; not in winter; for no
such thing appears in any of their nests, nor do they need it, as they sleep during that season; but
for autumn, during which they wake and work. Spring, summer, and autumn, they are incessant
in their labor; and their conduct affords a bright example to men.”
4. Gill, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard,.... That art become surety for another, and got into a snare
and net, and yet takest no pains to get out. Or this may be directed, not to the surety, but the
debtor; who, through his slothfulness, has contracted debts, and uses no industry to be in a
capacity to pay them. Or, it may be, this has no connection with the former; but the wise man
proceeds to a new subject, and to dissuade from idleness, which brings ruin on families, and leads
to all sin; and, for the instruction of idle and slothful men, proposes the example of the ant, and
sends them to it to learn industry of it (h);
consider her ways; what diligence and industry it uses in providing its food; which, though a
small, weak, feeble creature, yet will travel over flints and stones, climb trees, enter into towers,
barns, cellars, places high and low, in search of food; never hinder, but help one another in
carrying their burdens; prepare little cells to put their provisions in, and are so built as to secure
them from rain; and if at any time their corn is wet, they bring out and dry it, and bite off the
ends of it, that it may not grow. These, with others, are taken notice of by Frantzius (i); and some
of them by Gersom on the place;
and be wise; learn wisdom of it, and be wiser than that, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions:

this is a mortification of proud men, that would be reckoned wise, to be sent to so despicable a
creature to get wisdom from.
5. Bridges, “It is a shame said the heathen philosopher not to learn morals from the small
animals. Yet what a proof is it of the degradation of the fall, that " man, created in the image of
God," and made wiser than the creation should be sent as here to this insignificant school for
instruction !”
5B. Let God Be True, “What is a sluggard? A person who is slow, lazy, and does not like to work
hard. He is a pain to those trusting him (10:26). Diligent men will be successful (10:4; 12:24;
14:23; 22:29; 28:19); but lazy men are losers (6:10-11; 12:24; 19:15; 20:4,13; 24:30-34).
Sluggards are too arrogant to be taught (26:16), so Solomon mocks them with ants. If they were
to watch ants for a few minutes, these haughty bums could learn success; for ants are much wiser
than sluggards. A Harvard MBA is not as useful as what is taught in your yard everyday. But
sluggards are too proud to learn from the small teacher.
Sluggards stay in bed, for they love sleep (6:9-11; 20:13; 24:30-34). They want things like other
men, but they don't want to work for them (13:4). Staying in bed is too nice!
Let us consider ants. If we get down in the grass and watch these little creatures, we quickly see
wisdom and habits that are very useful. Ants don't sleep beyond daybreak, and they don't take
siestas; so don't worry about waking them early in the morning.
They are always moving, quickly and energetically. They don't stand around, sit around, or drag
through their work. They work fast. They don't pace themselves to spread work out: they go
right at a project and work hard until it is finished (Eccl 9:10). They hustle!
They don't need supervision (6:7), for they just get to work and find something to do. What a
difference from the sluggard, who must always be prodded to get anything done.
When times are good, they work extra hard to store up for bad times (6:8); they don't presume to
take it easy. They store surplus rather than eat it. And in their wisdom, they even bite off the ends
of grain kernels to keep them from germinating in storage.
They don't have union rules or selfish habits keeping them from helping others. If one is moving
something too large for it alone, others will help him get it where it needs to be.
They do not choose the easiest way or get discouraged if the job cannot be quickly finished. When
facing difficulties, they energetically try again and again until they are successful. They will go
great distances from home in order to find their food. They will get into houses, cars, and just
about anything in order to find what they need.
Dear reader, consider the ways of these little people. Hard work will do much more than talking
(14:23) and dreaming (28:19). Don't love sleep (6:9-11; 20:13); get busy! “
6. “By way of introduction let me say that the ant is the most successful of all social insects.
There are over 11,000 different kinds of ants. They live in colonies numbering from a few to over
20 million. There are approximately 1 quadrillion ants in the world today. (This is a 10 followed
by 15 zeros!) That’s a lot of little critters! Ants are so numerous that scientists say that if all the
ants in the Amazon rain forests were weighed, they would weigh four times more than all the
other species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, living in that area, combined!” author
unknown

6B. Chuck Smith, “They are perhaps one of the most industrious of all little insects. The worker
ants and how they go out and how they gather. How you see them. And I love to watch ants. I
sometimes used to sit out in the backyard with bread and I'd just break off pieces of bread and
throw it down and watch them as the little ant would get hold of it and try and pull it and pull it,
and pretty soon another would get on and they'd hold the thing and just to watch them in their
labor as they are laying up their food. So industrious. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; learn of her
ways, and be wise. Which having no guide, or overseer, or ruler." And you wonder how they
communicate. Yet, they evidently do communicate because you get a couple of them in your house
and they discover something sweet, man, they communicate it to all their cousins and relatives
and everybody else. And soon the whole tribe is in there.
I've often thought about miniaturization, you know. Everything is, the whole concept is that of
miniaturizing everything. Have you ever wondered how big an ant's brain must be? Talk about
something that's miniature. And yet, there is no doubt the capacity to communicate and surely
the capacity of working together. And I think that this is the lesson to learn. Without a foreman
out there yelling instructions and everything else, somehow they get this bread, chunk of bread
together and pretty soon, they're carting the thing off. You can see this chunk of bread just
moving across the ground. It may take them a little while, a little struggling and all. But
ultimately, they get things coordinated without a guide, an overseer, or a ruler. Yet, learning to
just work together. "Providing her meat in the summer, gathering her food in the harvest."
6C. Someone put together an amazing study of the ant and how it illustrates human life and
relationships in the church. I have no idea who the author is, but I wanted to include his or her
study, and I have done so in Appendix A.
6D. Laziness is a also a common theme in Proverbs, and I share this list of texts to make the point
that it is a serious issue in the mind of God.

o one is very wise if they choose to be lazy as a
pattern in their lives. We are all lazy at times, and this is good, for rest is good, but too much of a
good thing is a very bad thing.
Laziness
6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
6:9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
6:10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
6:11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh
rich.
10:5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that
causeth shame.
10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
10:26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.
12:24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.
12:27 The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a
diligent man is precious.
18:9 He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
19:15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
19:24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth
again.

22:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
24:32 Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
6E. An unknown author wrote MR. MEA

T-TO
Mr. Meant to has a comrade
And his name is Didn't-Do:
Have you ever chanced to meet them?
Did they ever call on you?
These two fellows live together
In the house of

ever-Win,
And I'm told that it is haunted
By the ghost of Might-Have-Been.
6F. Another unknown wrote, WHICH LOVED BEST?
"I love you, Mother," said little John;
Then, forgetting his work, his cap went on,
And he was off to the garden swing,
And left her the water and wood to bring.
"I love you, Mother," said rosy

ell---
"I love you better than tongue can tell";
Then she teased and pouted full half the day,
Till her mother rejoiced when she went to play
"I love you, Mother," said little Fran;
"Today I'll help you all I can;
How glad I am that school doesn't keep!"
So she rocked the babe till it fell asleep.
Then, stepping softly, she fetched the broom,
And swept the floor and tidied the room;
Busy and happy all the day was she,
Helpful and happy as child could be.
"I love you, Mother," again they said,
Three little children going to bed;
How do you think that mother guessed
Which of them really loved her best?

6G. Adrian Dieleman, “What is love? Did you know that when the Bible describes love, it almost
always speaks of a command: husbands are commanded to love their wives; wives are
commanded to love their husbands; all people are commanded to love their neighbors. Jesus
spoke of love as something that people should do. This means, people of God, that love requires
commitment and hard work; but, those who are lazy are seldom willing to expend that kind of
energy. For the lazy people of our world, love is something that is just supposed to happen. Most
popular songs on the radio make love sound like an accident, a spontaneous emotion, which can
be neither controlled nor created. But love is not a feeling. You don't fall in love, nor do you fall
out of love. Love is something you deliberately decide to do and to give.
The failure to recognize that love is an art requiring discipline and hard work is largely
responsible for the absence of love in so many of our relationships.

owhere is this more evident
than in marriage. Too many husbands and wives are too lazy to love each other. Love becomes
nonexistent and marriages collapse because most people do not work hard or are not willing to
work hard to create love and build marital relationships.
In my experience with broken or struggling marriages, I have observed that both spouses know
exactly what to do to restore the relationship; yet, one or both of them are often unwilling to put
forth the necessary effort. In almost every case, marriages fail because one or both partners
simply are too lazy to do what is necessary to make the marital relationship work.”
7. Henry, “Solomon, in these verses, addresses himself to the sluggard who loves his ease, lives in
idleness, minds no business, sticks to nothing, brings nothing to pass, and in a particular manner
is careless in the business of religion. Slothfulness is as sure a way to poverty, though not so short
a way, as rash suretiship. He speaks here to the sluggard,
I. By way of instruction, Pro_6:6-8. He sends him to school, for sluggards must be schooled. He
is to take him to school himself, for, if the scholar will take no pains, the master must take the
more; the sluggard is not willing to come to school to him (dreaming scholars will never love
wakeful teachers) and therefore he has found him out another school, as low as he can desire.
Observe,
1. The master he is sent to school to: Go to the ant, to the bee, so the Septuagint. Man is taught
more than the beasts of the earth, and made wiser that the fowls of heaven, and yet is so
degenerated that he may learn wisdom from the meanest insects and be shamed by them. When
we observe the wonderful sagacities of the inferior creatures we must not only give glory to the
God of nature, who has made them thus strangely, but receive instruction to ourselves; by
spiritualizing common things, we may make the things of God both easy and ready to us, and
converse with them daily.
2. The application of mind that is required in order to learn of this master: Consider her ways.
The sluggard is so because he does not consider; nor shall we ever learn to any purpose, either by
the word or the works of God, unless we set ourselves to consider. Particularly, if we would
imitate others in that which is good, we must consider their ways, diligently observe what they do,
that we may do likewise, Phi_3:17.”
7 It has no commander,

no overseer or ruler,
1. Barnes, “The words express the wonder with which the Hebrew observer looked on the
phenomena of insect life. “Guide,” better captain, as in Jos_10:24. The Septuagint introduces
here a corresponding reference to the industry of the bee.
2. Gill, “Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler.

one to guide and direct her what to do; nor
any to overlook her, to see that she does aright, or to oblige her to work, and keep her to it; nor
any to call her to an account, and correct her for doing amiss; and nevertheless diligent and
industrious, doing everything of herself, by the instinct of nature, readily and willingly: and yet
how slothful are men; who, besides the dictates of nature, reason, and conscience, have parents,
masters, ministers, and magistrates, to guide, direct, exhort, instruct, and enforce! so Aristotle (k)
says of the ant, that it is αγαρχος, without any ruler or governor.”
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
1. Gill, “Provideth her meat in the summer,.... Against the winter, of which it is mindful, when it
never comes out of its place, having in the summer time got a sufficiency laid up in cells for its
use: she toils in the heat of summer to get in her provision for the winter, being sensible that
nothing is to be gotten then; she works at it night and day while the season lasts; so diligent is it
in laying up its stores at the proper opportunity (l);
and gathereth her food in the harvest; the time when corn is ripe, and is shed on the earth; this it
gathereth, and lays up in its repositories against a time of need. The seeds it gathers and lays up;
it bites off the chit or bud end of them, that they may not grow, as Pliny (m) and others observe,
but be a winter store; hence its name in Hebrew is "nemalah", from "namal", "to cut off"; it
being done by biting. Yea, according to Aelianus (n), it seems to have some sense of futurity with
respect to famine, which being near, it will work exceeding hard to lay up food, fruits, and seed;
and, according to Virgil (o) and others, it seems to presage old age, and therefore provides against
it. An instruction this to work, while persons are in health, and have youth on their side; that they
may have not only a sufficiency for present use, but to lay up against a time of sickness and old
age. The Septuagint and Arabic versions add,
"or go to the bee, and learn what a worker she is, and what an admirable work she performs;
whose labours kings and private persons use for health: she is desirable to all, and famous; and
though weak in strength, honouring wisdom is advanced.''
But this is not in the Hebrew text; but perhaps being written in the margin of some copy of the
Septuagint as a parallel instance, was by some unskilful copier put into the text of the Greek
version, from whence the Arabic version has taken it; it crept in very early, for Clemens of

Alexandria makes mention of it (p).
2. Henry, “The lesson that is to be learned. In general, learn wisdom, consider, and be wise; that is
the thing we are to aim at in all our learning, not only to be knowing, but to be wise. In
particular, learn to provide meat in summer; that is, (1.) We must prepare for hereafter, and not
mind the present time only, not eat up all, and lay up nothing, but in gathering time treasure up
for a spending time. Thus provident we must be in our worldly affairs, not with an anxious care,
but with a prudent foresight; lay in for winter, for straits and wants that may happen, and for old
age; much more in the affairs of our souls. We must provide meat and food, that which is
substantial and will stand us in stead, and which we shall most need. In the enjoyment of the
means of grace provide for the want of them, in life for death, in time for eternity; in the state of
probation and preparation we must provide for the state of retribution. (2.) We must take pains,
and labour in our business, yea, though we labour under inconveniences. Even in summer, when
the weather is hot, the ant is busy in gathering food and laying it up, and does not indulge her
ease, nor take her pleasure, as the grasshopper, that sings and sports in the summer and then
perishes in the winter. The ants help one another; if one have a grain of corn too big for her to
carry home, her neighbours will come in to her assistance. (3.) We must improve opportunities,
we must gather when it is to be had, as the ant does in summer and harvest, in the proper time. It
is our wisdom to improve the season while that favours us, because that may be done then which
cannot be done at all, or not so well done, at another time. Walk while you have the light.
The advantages which we have of learning this lesson above what the ant has, which will
aggravate our slothfulness and neglect if we idle away our time. She has no guides, overseers, and
rulers, but does it of herself, following the instinct of nature; the more shame for us who do not in
like manner follow the dictates of our own reason and conscience, though besides them we have
parents, masters, ministers, magistrates, to put us in mind of our duty, to check us for the neglect
of it, to quicken us to it, to direct us in it, and to call us to an account about it. The greater helps
we have for working out our salvation the more inexcusable shall we be if we neglect it.”
9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
1. Gill, “How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?.... Or "lie" (q) in bed, indulging in sloth and ease;
while the industrious ant is busy in getting in its provisions, even by moonlight, as naturalists (r)
observe;
when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? and be about thy lawful calling? doing the duties of
religion, and the business of life; providing things honest in the sight of all men; things necessary
for thyself and family, and wherewith to do good to others; exercising a conscience void of offence
both to God and men. Time should not be slept away, to the neglect of the affairs of life, nor of
the concerns of the immortal soul and a future state; men should not be slothful in things
temporal or spiritual: whatever may be the proper time to awake and arise out of sleep in a
morning, which seems to be according to a man's circumstances, health and business; it is always
high time for the sinner to awake out of the sleep of sin, and arise from the dead; and for the

drowsy saint to arise out of his lethargy and carnal security.
2. Henry, “By way of reproof, Pro_6:9-11. In these verses,
1. He expostulates with the sluggard, rebuking him and reasoning with him, calling him to his
work, as a master does his servant that has over-slept himself: “How long wilt thou sleep, O
sluggard? How long wouldst thou sleep if one would let thee alone? When wilt thou think it time
to arise?” Sluggards should be roused with a How long? This is applicable, (1.) To those that are
slothful in the way of work and duty, in the duties of their particular calling as men or their
general calling as Christians. “How long wilt thou waste thy time, and when wilt thou be a better
husband of it? How long wilt thou love thy ease, and when wilt thou learn to deny thyself, and to
take pains? How long wilt thou bury thy talents, and when wilt thou begin to trade with them?
How long wilt thou delay, and put off, and trifle away thy opportunities, as one regardless of
hereafter; and when wilt thou stir up thyself to do what thou hast to do, which, if it be not done,
will leave thee for ever undone?” (2.) To those that are secure in the way of sin and danger: “Hast
thou not slept enough? Is it not far in the day? Does not thy Master call? Are not the Philistines
upon thee? When then wilt thou arise?”
2. He exposes the frivolous excuses he makes for himself, and shows how ridiculous he makes
himself. When he is roused he stretched himself, and begs, as for alms, for more sleep, more
slumber; he is well in his warm bed, and cannot endure to think of rising, especially of rising to
work. But, observe, he promises himself and his master that he will desire but a little more sleep,
a little more slumber, and then he will get up and go to his business. But herein he deceives
himself; the more a slothful temper is indulged the more it prevails; let him sleep awhile, and
slumber awhile, and still he is in the same tune; still he asks for a little more sleep, yet a little
more; he never thinks he has enough, and yet, when he is called, pretends he will come presently.
Thus men's great work is left undone by being put off yet a little longer, de die in diem - from day
to day; and they are cheated of all their time by being cheated of the present moments. A little
more sleep proves an everlasting sleep. Sleep on now, and take your rest.”
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-
1. Clarke, “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber - This, if not the language, is the feeling of the
sluggard. The ant gathers its food in summer and in harvest, and sleeps in winter when it has no
work to do. If the sluggard would work in the day, and sleep at night, it would be all proper. The
ant yields him a lesson of reproach.
2. Gill, “ Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,.... Or, "little sleeps, little slumbers" (s). These are the
words of the sluggard, in answer to the call of him to awake and arise, desiring he might not be
disturbed, but be suffered to sleep on longer: there is a very beautiful climax or gradation in the
words, aptly expressing the disposition and actions of a sluggard; he first desires a "few sleeps"
more, some sound sleeps one after another; which is quite agreeable to his character: and if he

cannot be allowed them, then he requests a "few slumbers" at least, some dozings, till he can get
himself thoroughly awake; and if these cannot be granted, yet he prays however that this might
be admitted,
a little folding of the hands to sleep; or, "to lie down" (t); a few tossings and tumblings upon the
bed more, with his hands folded about his breast; a sleeping gesture, and the posture of
sluggards. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "a little thou wilt embrace the breast
with the hands"; and the Syriac version, "and a little thou wilt put thine hand upon thy breast".
The Jewish commentators understand this as a direction and command to sleep and slumber but
little, since a little sleep is sufficient for nature; or otherwise poverty will come, &c. but the
former sense is best.”
3. Dr. Ray Pritchard, “Do you want to know the ironic thing between the easy road and the hard
road? The easy road looks easy but once you get on it, it turns into the hard road. And the hard
road looks hard but once you do the hard thing in life, it turns out to be the easy thing. The easy
road is deceptive. It is the way of destruction, poverty, starvation and desperation. It is the way of
total financial collapse, the way to wasted days, wasted weeks, wasted months, wasted lives. The
hard road which appears to be so difficult is ultimately the road of prosperity, the road of wealth
and blessing, the road of fulfillment, happiness, and personal satisfaction. It is the road that leads
you to the top. The easy road takes you down to the bottom. The only road that goes to the top is
the hard road. It is tough, but it is the only one that goes where you want to go with your life.
Hard work is a Christian virtue. It is a sign of increasing godliness. Somebody said to me, “Well,
what about the work-aholics?” I answered, “One sermon at a time, please. I am preaching about
the value of hard work. We’ll come to the other later.” I am not talking about the number of
hours that you work. I am not calling on you to work 70 or 80 or 90 or100 hours a week. I am
calling on you not to let life pass you by. The call to hard work is a call to truly purposeful living.
It is a call not to waste your life but to get up and get out and do something with the opportunities
that God has placed before you. Don’t just sit there, don’t just roll over, don’t be a couch potato.
Get up and in the name of God do something Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your
might. Use your power, your intelligence, your vision, your gifts and all that God gave you, to do
something. So many Christians just while away the hours, looking at the flowers, consulting with
the rain. All the while the game of life is being played all around us and we are sitting on the
bench, sound asleep.”
4. "The Procrastinator's Poem" by an unknown author
I've gone for a drink and sharpened my pencils,
Searched through my desk for forgotten utensils.
I reset my watch, I adjusted my chair,
I've loosened my tie and straightened my hair.
I filled my pen and tested the blotter.
And gone for another drink of water.
Adjusted the calendar, and raised the blind.
And I've sorted erasers of all different kinds.

ow down to work I can finally sit.
Oops, too late, it's time to quit.

11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
1. Barnes, “The similitude is drawn from the two sources of Eastern terror: the “traveler,” i. e.,
“the thief in the night,” coming suddenly to plunder; the “armed man,” literally “the man of the
shield,” the armed robber. The habit of indolence is more fatally destructive than these
marauders.
2. Clarke, “So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth - That is, with slow, but surely
approaching steps. Thy want as an armed man - That is, with irresistible fury; and thou art not
prepared to oppose it. The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Arabic add the following clause to this verse:
-“But if thou wilt be diligent, thy harvest shall be as a fountain; and poverty shall flee far away
from thee.” It is also thus in the Old MS. Bible: If forsothe unslow thou shul ben; shul comen as a
welle thi rip; and nede fer shal fleen fro thee.
3. Gill, “ So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth,.... Either swiftly and suddenly, as a
traveller makes haste to get to his journey's end, and comes upon his family or friends at an
unawares; or though he moves gradually, by slow paces and silent steps, yet surely: and so it
signifies that poverty should come upon the sluggard very quickly, and before he was aware: and
though it might come by degrees, yet it would certainly come; and thy want as an armed man; or,
"thy wants as a man of shield" (u): denoting many wants that should come rushing in one upon
another, like a man armed with shield and buckler; appearing with great terror and force, not to
be resisted. It denotes the unavoidableness of being brought into penury and want by sloth, and
the terribleness of such a condition. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, add,
"but if thou art not slothful, thy harvest shall come as a fountain (as the inundation of a fountain,
Arabic); but want shall flee as an evil racer (as an evil man, Arabic; far from thee, Vulgate
Latin):'' but this is not in the Hebrew text.
4. Henry, “He gives him fair warning of the fatal consequences of his slothfulness, Pro_6:11. (1.)
Poverty and want will certainly come upon those that are slothful in their business. If men neglect
their affairs, they not only will not go forward, but they will go backward. He that leaves his
concerns at sixes and sevens will soon see them go to wreck and ruin, and bring his noble to nine-pence.
Spiritual poverty comes upon those that are slothful in the service of God; those will want
oil, when they should use it, that provide it not in their vessels. (2.) “It will come silently and
insensibly, will grow upon thee, and come step by step, as one that travels, but will without fail
come at last.” It will leave thee as naked as if thou wert stripped by a highwayman; so bishop
Patrick. (3.) “It will come irresistibly, like an armed man, whom thou canst not oppose nor make
thy part good against.”
12 A scoundrel and villain,

who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
1. Jamison, “A naughty person — literally, “A man of Belial,” or of worthlessness, that is, for
good, and so depraved, or wicked (compare 1Sa_25:25; 1Sa_30:22, etc.). Idleness and vice are
allied. Though indolent in acts, he actively and habitually (walketh) is ill-natured in speech
(Pro_4:24).
1B. Constable, “The person in view in verses 12-15 is one who, for the amusement it gives him or
her,causes other people to experience inconvenience or suffering. A simple joke is different from
joking at someone else's expense. The latter practice is what Solomon urged his sons to avoid. He
called such a mischievous prankster "worthless" and "wicked" (v. 12). "Worthless" is literally
"of Beliel," a word that became a name for Satan (2 Cor. 6:15).”
2. Barnes, “A naughty person - literally, “a man of Belial,” i. e., a worthless man (see the
Deu_13:13 note). This is the portrait of the man who is not to be trusted, whose look and gestures
warn against him all who can observe. His speech is tortuous and crafty; his wink tells the
accomplice that the victim is already snared; his gestures with foot and hand are half in deceit,
and half in mockery.
3. Clarke, “A naughty person - אדם בליעל adam beliyal, “Adam good for nothing.” When he lost
his innocence. A man apostata; Old MS. Bible. A wicked man - איש און ish aven. He soon became
a general transgressor after having departed from his God. All his posterity, unless restored by
Divine grace, are men of Belial, and sinners by trade; and most of them, in one form or other,
answer the character here given. They yield their members instruments of unrighteousness unto
sin.
4. Gill, “A naughty person, a wicked man,.... Or, "a man of Belial, a man of iniquity" (w). The
former signifies an unprofitable man, a man good for nothing, that is of no use to God or man; or
one that is lawless, that has thrown off the yoke of the law, and will not be subject to it; Belial is
the name of the devil; and here it may design such as are his children, and will do his lusts: the
latter phrase signifies one that is wholly given up to work wickedness. The characters well agree
with the ανομος, the lawless one, the man of sin and son of perdition, antichrist, 2Th_2:3. Who
walketh with a froward mouth; speaking perverse things, things contrary to the light of nature
and reason, to law and Gospel; uttering lies, and deceit, and blasphemies against God and man;
to which he has used himself, and in which he continues, as the word "walketh" signifies: so
antichrist has a mouth opened in blasphemies against God and his saints, Rev_13:5.
5. Henry, “Solomon here gives us,
I. The characters of one that is mischievous to man and dangerous to be dealt with. If the
slothful are to be condemned, that do nothing, much more those that do ill, and contrive to do all
the ill they can. It is a naughty person that is here spoken of, Heb. A man of Belial; I think it
should have been so translated, because it is a term often used in scripture, and this is the
explication of it. Observe,
1. How a man of Belial is here described. He is a wicked man, that makes a trade of doing evil,

especially with his tongue, for he walks and works his designs with a froward mouth (Pro_6:12),
by lying and perverseness, and a direct opposition to God and man. He says and does every thing,
(1.) Very artfully and with design. He has the subtlety of the serpent, and carries on his projects
with a great deal of craft and management (Pro_6:13), with his eyes, with his feet, with his fingers.
He expresses his malice when he dares not speak out (so some), or, rather, thus he carries on his
plot; those about him, whom he makes use of as the tools of his wickedness, understand the ill
meaning of a wink of his eye, a stamp of his feet, the least motion of his fingers. He gives orders
for evil-doing, and yet would not be thought to do so, but has ways of concealing what he does, so
that he may not be suspected. He is a close man, and upon the reserve; those only shall be let into
the secret that would do any thing he would have them to do. He is a cunning man, and upon the
trick; he has a language by himself, which an honest man is not acquainted with, nor desires to
be. (2.) Very spitefully and with ill design. It is not so much ambition or covetousness that is in his
heart, as downright frowardness, malice, and ill nature. He aims not so much to enrich and
advance himself as to do an ill turn to those about him. He is continually devising one mischief or
other, purely for mischief-sake - a man of Belial indeed, of the devil, resembling him not only in
subtlety, but in malice.”
6. Let God Be True, “What is the easiest way to spot a wicked man or woman? Check their police
record? Smell for marijuana? Look for tattoos?

o, no, no. Listen for a froward mouth.
Our proverb reveals naughty and wicked people (6:12-15). Wisdom includes discerning
character. We must avoid fools and scorners: we must seek wise and good men (9:7-9; 13:20;
14:7). The world is full of bad people, and wise men will mark and avoid them.
But they will say, "You don't know my heart, so you can't judge me." They say this to hide their
hypocrisy and excuse their actions. But we see their hearts clearly. For the froward words of their
mouths leak like sewer from their froward hearts (6:14).
Our Lord taught plainly that a wicked mouth proves a wicked heart (Luke 6:45). A pure heart is
known by gracious speech (22:11). Good speech does not come from an evil heart, and neither
can evil speech come from a good heart. Here is wisdom. Learn it.
Two words in our proverb are not often used, so let us review their English definitions.

aughty. Characterized by moral badness or wickedness; bad, wrong, blameworthy, improper.
Froward. Disposed to go counter to what is demanded or what is reasonable; perverse, difficult to
deal with, hard to please; refractory, ungovernable; bad, evilly-disposed, 'naughty'.

aughty and wicked people have bad, evil, wrong, and dangerous hearts. They are fools,
scorners, and worse. Because we must avoid them, we need to learn to spot them first. Their
speech will be contrary, unreasonable, negative, critical, ornery, disrespectful, haughty, harsh,
rebellious, and profane. They cannot change it, for their hearts are evil.
Parents, hear and correct such speech in your children. Foolishness and wickedness can be driven
out, if you use the rod and reproof early enough (22:6,15; 23:13-14; 29:15).
When you spot such a person, go from him (14:7; 22:10). He will snare your soul, waste your
time, and bring contention and trouble. But you need not fear him, for calamities are soon
coming to his life: God will destroy him suddenly without remedy (6:15).
Paul prayed for deliverance from them, for he knew that only men with good hearts and faith
were his object (II Thess 3:1-2). Lord, let us be such men; let us seek such men.”

13 who winks with his eye, signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers,
1. Jamison, “If, for fear of detection, he does not speak, he uses signs to carry on his intrigues.
These signs are still so used in the East.
2. Clarke, “He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers -
These things seem to be spoken of debauchees, and the following quotation from Ovid, Amor. Iib.
i., El. iv., ver. 15, shoots the whole process of the villany spoken of by Solomon:
Cum premit ille torum, vultu comes ipsa modesto
Ibis, ut accumbas: clam mihi tange pedem.
Me specta, nutusque meos, vultum que loquacem
Excipe furtivas, et refer ipsa, notas.
Verba superciliis sine voce loquentia dicam
Verba leges digitis, verba notata mero.
Cum tibi succurrit Veneris lascivia nostrae,
Purpureas tenero pollice tange genas, etc., etc.
The whole elegy is in the same strain: it is translated in Garth’s Ovid, but cannot be introduced
here.
3. Gill, “ He winketh with his eyes,....

ot through natural infirmity, but purposely and with
design; with one of his eyes, as Aben Ezra, as is usual with such persons: it is the air and gesture
of a sneering and deceitful man, who gives the wink to some of his friends, sneering at the
weakness of another in company; or as signifying to them some secret design of his against
another, which he chooses not to declare in any other way;
he speaketh with his feet; the motions of the feet have a language; the stamping of the feet
expresses rage; here it seems to intend the giving of a him to another, by privately pressing his
foot with his, when he should be silent or should speak, or do this or the other thing he would
have him do;
he teacheth with his fingers; by stretching them out or compressing them; and so showing either
scorn and contempt (x), or rage and fury. The whole of it seems to design the secret, cunning,
artful ways, which wicked men have to convey their meanings to one another, without being
understood by other persons; they have a language to themselves, which they express by the
motions of their eyes, feet, and fingers: and this character of art and cunning, dissimulation and
deceit, fitly agrees with the man of sin, 2Th_2:10. So mimics are said to speak with their hands;
some have been famous in this way.”

4. “God hates slanderers. They are scoundrels and villains with hidden hatred in their hearts and
deceit in their mouths. Some people have turned slander into a fine art. They would never use a
meat cleaver to cut down another person. They are more subtle than that. They have learned to
slander with a gesture, a wink, or an evil smile. Jonathan Swift, an author who knew well the
ugliness of slander, described a man who could "convey a libel in a frown, and wink a reputation
down." Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "The cruelest lies are often told in silence." When
someone is attacked in a conversation, the listeners can join the mugging with a nod.
The book of Proverbs describes people in the ancient world who used body language to destroy
others (6:12-15). They winked, motioned, or gave a shrug to work their slander, and they felt safe
in their attacks. After all, it is difficult to refute a gesture or to prove evil in a wink. Their actions
were subtle, yet as deadly as bullets piercing the heart. What are your gestures saying about
others? Ask the Lord of love and truth to help you guard your speech and actions. For His sake,
for your own sake, and for the sake of others, do it now!” —Haddon W. Robinson in Our Daily
Bread
5. Let God Be True, “Wicked persons often hide naughty intentions behind subtle body language.
Rather than declare their evil goals and be rejected as dangerous, they use covert and indirect
methods for wickedness. A wise man will learn to recognize these hypocrites and liars, even
though they make efforts to cover their malicious designs. All noble and virtuous men should
reject such secret methods and make their godly intentions fully known.
The proverb is preceded and followed by others that indicate the subject is a wicked, malicious,
and naughty person (6:12,14). This is no ordinary winking, foot movement, or teaching with
fingers. The context requires that these movements are part of a froward man's repertoire in
communicating his evil thoughts to others. Those who wisely use winking, foot movements, or
pointing out things need not fear from this proverb.
Wicked persons are controlled by the folly and evil that boils in their hearts (6:14). They cannot
stop their sinful thoughts or actions (6:14). They talk with a froward, or arrogant and rebellious,
mouth (6:12). They are constantly working their vile business of sowing discord (6:14). They
cannot rest if others are at peace, for they are always at war (Ps 55:21; 120:7). Mouth, eyes, feet,
and fingers all work in one direction - to defraud others.
Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ ... with a kiss (Luke 22:47-48). The wounds of a friend are
better than such kisses (27:6). Whorish women do not openly declare they are whores - they
communicate their intentions by their eyes, clothes, and body movements (6:25; 7:10; Is 3:16-23).
Rebellious children roll their eyes at their parents rather than curse them verbally, but God
counts both actions equally vile (20:20; 30:17).
This proverb teaches you to identify wicked persons by their arrogant mouths and covert body
language, to avoid them lest you become a victim of their evil intentions and subtle
communication, and to know that God will soon judge them without remedy (6:15). The blessed
and holy God of heaven hates such men (6:15-19). Stay away from these dangerous men, or they
will devour you when it would serve them (10:10; Ps 35:19).
This proverb also teaches you to be direct, honest, and virtuous in word and deed. The speech
and body language of righteous men should be entirely different from the wicked snakes
described above. Your words should be clear, concise, noble, and right. Your actions should be
open and honest without subversive intentions or even the appearance of such. Let your gaze be
sober and constant, without winking. Let your feet be used only for walking. And let your fingers
only point righteously in the sight of all men.”

14 who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
he always stirs up dissension.
1. Jamison, “Frowardness — as in Pro_2:14.
deviseth — literally, “constructs, as an artisan.”
mischief — evil to others.
discord — especially litigation. Cunning is the talent of the weak and lazy.
2. Clarke, “He deviseth mischief - He plots schemes and plans to bring it to pass. He soweth
discord - Between men and their wives, by seducing the latter from their fidelity. See the
preceding quotation.
3. Gill, “Frowardness is in his heart,.... Or perverse things; evil habits and principles of sin; all
manner of wickedness, errors and heresies; things contrary to right reason, repugnant to the will
and law of God, and the reverse of sound doctrine; all evil thoughts and evil things; see
Mat_15:19; he deviseth mischief continually; against his neighbours, and especially against good
men; he is continually planning schemes, contriving methods, ways, and means, how to disturb,
distress, and ruin men; being a true child of Belial, or of the devil, his heart is the forge where he
is continually framing wickedness in one shape or another; and the ground which he is always
ploughing up and labouring at to bring forth sin and wickedness, and with which it is fruitful;
he soweth discord; or "strifes" (z): the Syriac version adds, "between two"; which Jarchi
interprets between a man and his Maker; rather between a man and his neighbour; between one
friend and another; between husband and wife, parents and children, brethren and brethren,
magistrates and subjects; between kings and princes of the earth in which sort of work the man
of sin, antichrist, has been very busy. The Targum is, "he casteth out strifes", as firebrands
among men. The words in the Hebrew text are, "he sendeth out discord", or "strife" (a); these
are the messengers sent out by him to make mischief.”
15 Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
1. Keil, “With the 14th verse the description terminates. A worthless and a wicked person is he
who does such things. The point lies in the characteristic out of which the conclusion is drawn:
therefore his ruin will suddenly come upon him, etc.”

2. Jamison, “Suddenness aggravates evil (compare Pro_6:11; Pro_29:1).
calamity — literally, “a crushing weight.”
broken — shivered as a potter’s vessel; utterly destroyed (Psa_2:9).
3. Clarke, “Suddenly shall he be broken - Probably alluding to some punishment of the adulterer,
such as being stoned to death. A multitude shall join together, and so overwhelm him with stones,
that he shall have his flesh and bones broken to pieces, and there shall be no remedy - none to
deliver or pity him.
4. Gill, “Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly,.... Unthought of and unexpected: he that
deviseth mischief to others secretly shall have no warning of his own ruin, nor time and means of
preventing it; the destruction of antichrist will be sudden, and of all wicked men at the coming of
Christ, 1Th_5:3;
suddenly shall he be broken without remedy; or, "and there shall be no healing" (b): his bones
will be broken to pieces, and there will be no cure for him; or he shall be like an earthen vessel,
which, when broke, cannot be put together again. The ruin of wicked men is sudden, inevitable,
and irreparable; so antichrist will "come to his end, and none shall help him", Dan_11:45.
5. Henry, “What his doom is (Pro_6:15): His calamity shall come and he shall be broken; he that
devised mischief shall fall into mischief. His ruin shall come, (1.) Without warning. It shall come
suddenly: Suddenly shall he be broken, to punish him for all the wicked arts he had to surprise
people into his snares. (2.) Without relief. He shall be irreparably broken, and never able to piece
again: He shall be broken without remedy. What relief can he expect that has disobliged all
mankind? He shall come to his end and none shall help him, Dan_11:45.
II. A catalogue of those things which are in a special manner odious to God, all which are
generally to be found in those men of Belial whom he had described in the foregoing verses; and
the last of them (which, being the seventh, seems especially to be intended, because he says they
are six, yea, seven) is part of his character, that he sows discord. God hates sin; he hates every sin;
he can never be reconciled to it; he hates nothing but sin. But there are some sins which he does
in a special manner hate; and all those here mentioned are such as are injurious to our neighbour.
It is an evidence of the good-will God bears to mankind that those sins are in a special manner
provoking to him which are prejudicial to the comfort of human life and society. Therefore the
men of Belial must expect their ruin to come suddenly, and without remedy, because their
practices are such as the Lord hates and are an abomination to him, Pro_6:16. Those things which
God hates it is no thanks to us to hate in others, but we must hate them in ourselves. 1.
Haughtiness, conceitedness of ourselves, and contempt of others - a proud look. There are seven
things that God hates, and pride is the first, because it is at the bottom of much sin and gives rise
to it. God sees the pride in the heart and hates it there; but, when it prevails to that degree that
the show of men's countenance witnesses against them that they overvalue themselves and
undervalue all about them, this is in a special manner hateful to him, for then pride is proud of
itself and sets shame at defiance. 2. Falsehood, and fraud, and dissimulation.

ext to a proud look
nothing is more an abomination to God than a lying tongue; nothing more sacred than truth, nor
more necessary to conversation than speaking truth. God and all good men hate and abhor lying.
3. Cruelty and blood-thirstiness. The devil was, from the beginning, a liar and a murderer
(Joh_8:44), and therefore, as a lying tongue, so hands that shed innocent blood are hateful to God,
because they have in them the devil's image and do him service. 4. Subtlety in the contrivance of

sin, wisdom to do evil, a heart that designs and a head that devises wicked imaginations, that is
acquainted with the depths of Satan and knows how to carry on a covetous, envious, revengeful
plot, most effectually. The more there is of craft and management in sin the more it is an
abomination to God. 5. Vigour and diligence in the prosecution of sin - feet that are swift in
running to mischief, as if they were afraid of losing time or were impatient of delay in a thing they
are so greedy of. The policy and vigilance, the eagerness and industry, of sinners, in their sinful
pursuits, may shame us who go about that which is good so awkwardly and so coldly. 6. False-witness
bearing, which is one of the greatest mischiefs that the wicked imagination can devise,
and against which there is least fence. There cannot be a greater affront to God (to whom in an
oath appeal is made) nor a greater injury to our neighbour (all whose interests in this world, even
the dearest, lie open to an attack of this kind) than knowingly to give in a false testimony. There
are seven things which God hates, and lying involves two of them; he hates it, and doubly hates it.
7. Making mischief between relations and neighbours, and using all wicked means possible, not
only to alienate their affections one from another, but to irritate their passions one against
another. The God of love and peace hates him that sows discord among brethren, for he delights in
concord. Those that by tale-bearing and slandering, by carrying ill-natured stories, aggravating
every thing that is said and done, and suggesting jealousies and evil surmises, blow the coals of
contention, are but preparing for themselves a fire of the same nature.”
16 There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
1. Barnes, “A new section, but not a new subject. The closing words, “he that soweth discord”
(Pro_6:19, compare Pro_6:14), lead us to identify the sketch as taken from the same character.
With the recognized Hebrew form of climax (see Pro_30:15, Pro_30:18, Pro_30:24; Amo_1:1-15;
2; Job_5:19), the teacher here enumerates six qualities as detestable, and the seventh as worse
than all (seven represents completeness), but all the seven in this instance belong to one man, the
man of Belial Pro_6:12.
2. Clarke, “These six - doth the Lord hate -
1. A proud look - exalted eyes; those who will not condescend to look on the rest of mankind.
2. A lying tongue - he who neither loves nor tells truth.
3. Hands that shed innocent blood, whether by murder or by battery.
4. A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations - the heart that fabricates such, lays the
foundation, builds upon it, and completes the superstructure of iniquity.
5. Feet that be swift in running to mischief - he who works iniquity with greediness.
6. A false witness that speaketh lies - one who, even on his oath before a court of justice, tells
any thing but the truth.

Seven are an abomination unto him - נפשו naphsho, “to his soul.” The seventh is, he that
soweth discord among brethren - he who troubles the peace of a family, of a village, of the state;
all who, by lies and misrepresentations, strive to make men’s minds evil-affected towards their
brethren.
2B. Kidner: “The detestable things are expressed in characteristically concrete, personal
terms: the reader can almost catch the superior look and the shifty talk, and may wonder
when his own hands were last employed to an innocent person’s detriment. If we try to
classify them, the abominations comprise one sin of attitude (17a), one of thought (18a)
imaginations, AV, RV = plans, RSV), two of speech (lies unofficial, 17b, and official,
19a), two of action (17c, 18b) and one of influence (19b).”
3. Gill. “These six things doth the Lord hate,.... That is, the six following, which are all to be
found in a man of Belial, a wicked man before described. There are other things besides these
that God hates, and indeed more so; as sins against the first table, which more immediately strike
at his being, horror, and glory; these being such as are against the second table, but are
mentioned, as more especially appearing in the character of the above person; and must be
hateful to God, as contrary to his nature, will, and law;
yea, seven are an abomination unto him; or, "the abomination of his soul" (c); what his soul
abhors, or he abhors from his very heart: meaning not seven others, but one more along with the
six, which make seven; a like way of speaking, see in Pro_30:15.

or is the word "abomination"
to be restrained to the "seventh", or "hatred" to the "sixth"; but they are all to be supposed to be
hateful and abominable to the Lord; though some think the cardinal number is put for the
ordinal, "seven" for the "seventh"; as if the seventh, which is sowing discord among brethren,
was of all the most abominable, Pro_6:19; it being what was last mentioned in the character of
the wicked man, Pro_6:14; and which seems to have given occasion to, and for the sake of which
this enumeration is made.”
4. An unknown pastor wrote, “ The title of my message today is, “Seven Habits God Hates.”

ow,
I think we throw the “hate” word around pretty casually in our normal conversation. And we all
pretty much understand that it’s a figure of speech about something that bugs us. What would be
on your “hate” list. We hate rising gas prices, we hate it when we have to wait at the doctor’s
office or at the gas pump, we hate it when our neighbor parks all his cars along the street in front
of our house, we hate it when we have a bad hair day, we hate it when we get sick on vacation.
Most often, we say we hate certain things because they inconvenience us.
But, when we all think about it a bit deeper, we would add things to our list like…We hate the
horrors of terrorism…we hate the injustices of tyranny…we hate the pride of racial
discrimination…we hate the violation of innocence in child abuse or molestation. We hate these
types of things because of the suffering and persecution they bring onto our lives or the lives of
other human beings just like us. In the context of these types of issues, the word hate takes on a
whole other intensity.” “For many of us, when our kids were little we tried to teach them not to
use the word hate, we corrected them when they would say that they hated something we were
serving for dinner or that they hated some kid who was mean to them on the play ground. So, at
first reading, there is a little cringe factor when we hear this kind of talk from God. One thing is
for sure these four verses get our attention and make it clear to us that there are 7 things that

really get God fired up.” “Why God hates the things he hates and why he tells us so. God hates
these types of things because they are totally contrary to his character. They grate across his
holiness like fingernails on a chalkboard. These types of behaviors break his heart and grieve his
spirit. The other reason God hates these kind of behaviors and attitudes is because…They
contrary to God’s design and intent for us. These things bring pain and heartache into our lives
and they slaughter our relationships with each other.”
5. The Virtual Preacher,
“1. Haughty eyes, Proverbs 6:17a
A. Refers to a proud look suggesting arrogant ambition
B. Willful rebellion against authority, (Daniel 11:2)
C. Goes before destruction, (Numbers 14:40-45)
2. A lying tongue, Proverbs 6:17b
A. Means deception in speech
B. It’s harmful, (Proverbs 26:28)
C. Christians who lie will never enter God’s kingdom, (Revelation 21:8)
3. Hands that shed innocent blood, (Proverbs 6:17c)
A. Shedding human blood is prohibited. People are made in the image of God, (Genesis 9:6)
B. Shedding innocent blood is considered a more serious offense.
C. Imagine the blood guilt of abortion doctors!
D. Imagine the blood guilt of the judges and politicians who allow the shedding of the blood of
innocent, unborn babies!
4. A heart that devices wicked schemes, (Proverbs 6:18)
A. The heart represents ‘the will” most often
B. Here it plots evil.
C. God early on declared that the human heart is capable of this, (Genesis 6:5)
D. God has given us a free will. Exercise it to bring glory to God
5. Feet that are quick to rush into evil, (Proverbs 6:18)
A. Refers to The enthusiasm and complete involvement in activities that bring pain to all concerned.
B. True child of God doesn’t rejoice about evil, (1 Corinthians 13:6)
C. Bible speaks of Christians who rejoiced in evil, (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)
6. A false witness who pours out lies, (Proverbs 6:19)
A. OT law required 2 or more witnesses to be presented before accusing someone, (Deuteronomy 9:15)

B. The law institutes a penalty for false witnessing also, (Deuteronomy 19:16-19)
C. God hates those who do harm and disservice to His system of justice and lie about other people.
7. A man who stirs up dissension among his brothers, (Proverbs 6:19b)
A. Refers to contentious men
B. These are tale bearers
C. Some times Christians carry tales to others in authority to gain favor.”
6. Let God Be True, “How bad is sin? God hates it with extreme disgust and intense aversion! Sin
is an abomination to the LORD! What men call faults, errors, or mistakes - God calls sin! He
despises and abhors sin - He loathes it! With our degraded concept of God's holiness, we cannot
know the full extent of God's incredible hatred and loathing of sin. With a degraded concept of
God's character, foolish men imagine that God must be like them.
Jehovah's infinite hatred of sin is one of His most glorifying attributes - it separates Him from the
pagan deities men have imagined. Holiness - the absolute freedom from sin, and the absolute and
violent loathing of sin - is what makes God beautiful (Ps 29:2; 96:9)! The more pure the
character, the more glorious the Being! There is none holy as the Lord (I Sam 2:2). Even the
heavens are not clean in His sight (Job 15:14-16). Worship Him!
Solomon here introduced seven sins God hates. The blessed LORD hates all sin equally, with an
infinite hatred and loathing; but Solomon sought to warn his son about several that destroy
wisdom and leave man exposed before his holy Creator. The seven sins are pride, lying, murder,
evil thoughts, mischief, false witnesses, and sowing discord.
The fear of the LORD, which is the foundation of wisdom and understanding (1:7; 9:10), includes
a God-like hatred for sin. Solomon wrote later in Proverbs, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil:
pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate" (8:13). David wrote,
"Ye that love the LORD, hate evil."
In an effeminate and compromising society, it is impossible to get a proper view of sin. Criminals
are pardoned; sin is glamorized by the entertainment industry and justified by the educational
system; and all levels of authority allow sin to go unchecked or punish it leniently and slowly - so
leniently and slowly it is no deterrent at all (Eccl 8:11).
How bad is sin? God condemned Satan to an eternal hell for pride (Is 14:12-15; Matt 25:41). God
condemned mankind to an eternal hell for Adam eating the fruit from a forbidden tree (Gen
2:16-17; 3:1-7; Rom 5:12-14). And He drowned the entire world in a flood of water, without
regard to age or sex, for their sin and wickedness (Gen 7:21-23).
How bad is sin? The LORD annihilated seven nations of Canaan for abominable atrocities like
adultery and sodomy, two sins glamorized in America (Lev 18:1-30; Acts 13:19). A man was
stoned to death for picking up sticks on the Sabbath (

um 15:32-36). And God killed a man and
his wife in church for fudging their giving (Acts 5:1-11).
How bad is sin? God required capital punishment for disrespectful children (30:17; Deut 27:16).
He required the death penalty for adultery (Lev 20:10), and He measures even the desire for
another woman as adultery (Matt 5:28). He considers unjust anger and cruel words as implicit
murder (Matt 5:21-26). And He counts the violation of one precept as breaking the entire law, for

even one transgression is of infinite evil (Jas 2:10-11).
How bad is sin? In order for God to accept any man in His presence, He had to send His only
begotten Son to be tortured to death in a substitutionary payment for sin! In the crucifixion of
Jesus of

azareth, we clearly see God's hatred for sin, for He forsook His beloved Son, when the
sins of the elect were laid to His charge (Matt 27:46). God is able and willing to love His elect,
only because He views them in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3-6).
Sometimes God lets men get away with sin for a while to deceive them, but He warns about His
judgment and wrath for such presumption (Ps 50:21-22). The Jews thought they were rid of Jesus
of

azareth, but He brought the Roman armies just 40 years later to kill over one million in the
city of Jerusalem alone and level their city to the ground.
One of the greatest character traits of the Lord Jesus Christ was His love of righteousness and
hatred of sin (Ps 45:7; Heb 1:8-9). For this glorious attribute, the blessed God honored Him far
above all other men. From His example, we can see that nobility of spirit and approval before
God is in direct proportion to love of virtue and hatred of sin.
Reader, if your knowledge of God is from a sweet Sunday School teacher, you probably think
God hates the sin, but loves the sinner. Guess again! David wrote, "For thou art not a God that
hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy
sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD
will abhor the bloody and deceitful man" (Ps 5:4-6).
David wrote again, "The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes
behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and
him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone,
and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loveth
righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright" (Ps 11:4-7). Why are these verses
ignored? Why are they not in football stadiums?
What should you do? Reorder your value system! Hate Hollywood and the

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