1MY SON, IF YOU have put up security for your neighbor,
if you have struck hands in pledge for another,
2if you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth,
3then 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!
4Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
7It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
8yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
9How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
10A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
11and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
12A scoundrel and villain,
who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
13who winks with his eye,
signals with his feet
and motions with his fingers,
14who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
he always stirs up dissension.
15Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
16There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
20My son, keep your father’s commands
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
21Bind them upon your heart forever;
fasten them around your neck.
22When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
23For these commands are a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and the corrections of discipline
are the way to life,
24keeping you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.
25Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes,
26for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
27Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
28Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
29So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
30Men do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
31Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
32But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment;
whoever does so destroys himself.
33Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never be wiped away;
34for jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
35He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.
Original Meaning
THE CHAPTER BRINGS together two instructions, both concerning behaviors and associations that the wise person avoids. The first set of teachings tells how one deals with other men, here described as brothers and neighbors (6:1–19); the second returns to the subject of the strange/other woman (6:20–35).
Avoid the Way of Pledges, Sluggards, and Scoundrels (6:1–19)
Get free from pledges (6:1–5)
Go learn from the ant (6:6–11)
Watch out for the scoundrel (6:12–15)
Hate the seven things Yahweh hates (6:16–19)
Avoid the Way of Adultery (6:20–35)
The commands are a guide for life (6:20–24)
The adulteress preys on your life (6:25–29)
The husband will show no mercy (6:30–35)
Avoid the Way of Pledges, Sluggards, and Scoundrels (6:1–19)
THE FOUR WARNINGS of 6:1–19 are separate from the instructions on adultery; without this section, that theme would continue uninterrupted in chapters 5–7.1 Remembering that evil deeds ensnare the wicked (5:22), we might read 6:1–19 as an exposition of that theme. The excursus also reminds the reader that not all enticements to folly come from women. Even so, this first set of teachings seems as out of place as the form in which it is presented.
The instruction begins with the customary “my son,” but the typical call to attention is omitted, as are the motivational clauses. Only four sets of imperatives and character descriptions remain (6:1–5, 6–11, 12–15, 16–19); the descriptions use figurative language to create interest and drive the point home. Analogies from the animal kingdom urge the son to learn from gazelles, birds, and ants, while two inventories of human anatomy tell the learner what to avoid. The four sections are related, the first two linking pledges and laziness, the second two linking the specific example of the scoundrel’s behavior with a more general description of wickedness.2
The four sections, though distinct, are linked to one another by catchwords. Common throughout are references to body members: heart (6:14, 18), eyes (6:4, 13, 17), hands (6:1, 3, 5, 10, 17, and perhaps 13b), mouth and tongue (6:2, 12, 17), and feet (6:13, 18). An emphasis on speaking, words, and nonverbal communication also links the sections together. The four teachings of the section serve as warnings of dangerous outcomes, each pointing to those examples the son should avoid. Three different men with three different faults are depicted: the speculator who becomes trapped in unwise pledges (6:1–5), the sluggard who becomes prey to poverty (6:6–11), and the scoundrel who stirs up dissension and is destroyed (6:12–15). The words to the speculator and the sluggard are in a second-person imperative, the description of the scoundrel is in the third person. Finally, a list of seven behaviors Yahweh hates extends the portrait of the scoundrel (6:16–19).
Get free from pledges (6:1–5). In verses 1–5, a warning against a potential danger of pledging security presents another instance in which the young man is in danger of losing his livelihood to strangers, for “another” in 6:1 is zar (lit., “stranger”; cf. 5:10), masculine of the same root used for the other/strange woman (“adulteress” of 5:3). If the wicked are caught by their own sin (5:22), here one can be caught in a hasty pledge.3 While we are not certain about the practice in view, most likely the teacher speaks against the guarantee of security for someone else’s loan. The teachers of Proverbs took a dim view of such pledging; each mention of the practice in the book (11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13) warns against getting involved.
The parallel structure of 6:1 sets taking a pledge for a “neighbor” alongside striking hands for “another.” While some interpreters name one as the creditor and the other as the debtor, the parallel structure and use of the same preposition in both couplets indicate that the young man is to steer clear of making pledges for anyone, whether close friend or someone less familiar. Strictly speaking, the admonition is not to avoid such entanglements, although that is implied, but to get out of them as soon as possible. The command “humble yourself” can also mean “go quickly,” and the double sense may be intentional.
The most significant key word in these first five verses is “hand,” which in the Hebrew Bible is often a symbol for power. So one strikes hands in pledge (kap, 6:1), and thus plays into the neighbor’s hand (kap, 6:3), but one can get free the way gazelles and birds escape the hand of the hunter (yad, twice in 6:5). Striking the hand commits one to a pledge (11:15; 17:18; 22:26), but the one who makes the pledge is ensnared by words, just like the evil man (12:13), the fool (18:7), and one who makes a rash vow (20:25). When I study this passage with church groups, someone always asks why one might guarantee a pledge for a stranger, and the suggestion of some sort of percentage cut is probably correct. Financial speculation can be dangerous, especially when it can lead to the loss of all one has.4 Therefore, pledges made for a neighbor or a stranger are equally dangerous.
Go learn from the ant (6:6–11). Having just used the analogy of the survival instinct of a bird from a trap (6:5), this second warning concentrates on the ant’s foresight and hard work (6:6).5 Such analogies taken from the animal kingdom were common in the ancient Near East6; Solomon taught about plants and animals as a sign of his wisdom and learning (1 Kings 4:33).
The term translated “sluggard” (ʿaṣel) occurs fourteen times in Proverbs and nowhere else in the Old Testament. If we look at the appearances of this figure in Proverbs, we learn that the sluggard exemplifies folly (Prov. 19:15; 21:24–26; 26:12–16), particularly in matters of food production. Therefore, the sluggard must look to a lowly creature to learn wisdom, one of the topsy-turvy motifs of wisdom literature.7 The ant has no ruler, yet it works to provide for itself, gathering and storing. It is self-governed and self-directed, it does not need to be told what it should do; moreover, it does not need to learn, it teaches. To drive home the point on diligence, the LXX adds material about the hard-working bee and its benefits to humans.
Imperative gives way to sarcasm as the teacher asks, “How long will you lie there?” (6:9), and adds a mock quotation, in effect saying, “Oh, you say, ‘Just a few more minutes and I’ll get up,’ but I know you.” Three “little” things (sleep, slumber, and the folding of hands, 6:10) add up to the big trouble of poverty, the third reminding the reader of the hands foolishly struck in pledge. Hands folded when they should be working are the ultimate sign of sloth.
The metaphors for poverty of 6:11 are difficult to translate; literally, “bandit” is “one who goes about traveling” and the “armed man” is a “man of the shield.” Most interpreters extend the meaning of the first to refer to one who goes about like a vagabond (thus the NIV footnote, “like a vagrant”) or a roaming bandit. Translation suggestions for the “man of the shield” include the “beggar” (so the NIV footnote, after a Ugaritic cognate) and a “bold or insistent man” (after an Arabic cognate). Whatever the precise referent of the metaphors, their central meaning that the sluggard will be surprised and overtaken by poverty is clear.
The example of the ant’s diligence and planning challenges avoidance of one’s duties and responsibilities. It urges the young man to prevent being caught in the position of needing a loan and a guarantor. Taken together, the first two teachings resemble our proverb, “Neither a lender nor a borrower be,” for efforts to help others are counterproductive if they allow irresponsibility to go unchecked. The teachings also show that laziness is, at its root, a failure of love. While others work to provide for self and family, caring for others, the loafer wants to be carried.8 In sum, the theme common to the first and second teachings may well be that of laziness, a willful negligence that looks to others to bear the burdens that should be one’s own. Just as it is wrong to take what is not one’s own, so it is wrong to shirk responsibility for what is.
“Sleep” (6:4, 9–10) and “hand” are the terms that link these first warnings. To the one who would strike hands in a pledge, the teacher says, “Save yourself, free yourself! Do not sleep, or you will become the prey of a hunter.” To the one who would fold hands in rest, the teacher says, “Rouse yourself! Do not sleep, or you will become the prey of that robber poverty.” In both cases, sleep, a form of negligence, puts one under another’s power and risks the danger of losing one’s material wealth to others, a theme first introduced in chapter 5.
The two warnings work together to present a lesson on responsibility. The young man is told not to take responsibility for someone else’s finances and to make sure that he never needs others to take responsibility for him.9 Of course, this call to responsibility does not rule out lending to the poor and caring for their needs. Note 19:17: “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done” (cf. 14:21, 31; 17:5; 22:22–23). But one ought not to borrow for purposes of speculation, and one ought not be a beggar out of laziness.
Watch out for the scoundrel (6:12–15). The next two warnings (6:12–19) have a number of common features that should be read in light of one another. Most striking are the parallels between the physical/moral description of the scoundrel and the list of seven actions that are detestable to Yahweh. Both name the body parts of mouth, eye, feet, hands, and heart, showing how each can be used in ways other than what God intended and wisdom counsels.
Second-person address suddenly shifts to third-person description in 6:12. The “scoundrel” (lit., “man of beliyyaʿal”; i.e., worthless man), a recurring figure in Proverbs, uses hatred as a weapon (10:12), scorching speech and gossip to separate close friends (16:27–28), and false witness to mock at justice (19:28).10 Like the bandit who “goes about” (mehallek, 6:11), he “goes about” (holek, 6:12) with a corrupt or crooked mouth (cf. 4:24).
Here in this first description, mouth, eye, feet, and fingers are all used to communicate false and damaging messages. For example, the wink (6:13) is malicious in 10:10 and a sign of perversity in 16:30. It is not clear whether these signals are secret and seen only by some, or made openly as an accusation, insult, or even a curse.11 What is clear is the evil intent with which they are presented. They are outward expressions of internal plotting and deceit (6:14).
“Deceit in his heart” can be translated “perversity of his heart” or “trickery in his heart” (NJB). The word for “perversity” (tahpukot) is almost never used outside of Proverbs, where it is typically associated with speech that is crooked or turned upside down (2:12; 8:13; 10:31–32; 16:28, 30). Such speaking literally plows evil and sows discord, the latter a problem that appears again in 6:19. Perverse to the core, this person’s deceit overturns what is wise and good.
The disaster that pursues the scoundrel will come suddenly, making its appearance all the more frightening (6:15; cf. 3:25; 29:1b). Yahweh is not named as the judge who brings this destruction. As is typical in Proverbs, the trouble simply comes and leaves this man ruined like a city beyond repair.
Hate the seven things Yahweh hates (6:16–19). Similar in its description of body parts dedicated to evil, this section presents a list of six, no seven, practices Yahweh hates. The numerical saying x, x+1 is not unique to the book of Proverbs (cf. 30:15–31)12 or even the Bible.13 Although numerical sayings are found in various ancient cultures, their precise function is not known. It may be that these catalogs and inventories evoked a sense of order that was then ascribed to the order of creation. The numerical pattern not only has the feel of a riddle, it places emphasis on the final statement as a kind of climax.
In this case, the last two items in the list are not body parts at all but persons recognized by their actions: the “false witness” and the “man who stirs up dissension.” The false witness suggests a legal setting, perhaps a property dispute,14 which may also be the source of the dissension between brothers. Thus, the climax to this section brings together the parts into one hideous whole, rephrasing and intensifying the description of the scoundrel in 6:12–15. Evil plotting and scheming of the heart is common to both (6:14, 18). The new twist on this anatomy of evil is that the entire body is not only dedicated to wicked speech and signals but to all forms of arrogance and falsehood, even bloodshed.
The seven items listed are detestable to Yahweh; that is, they are abominations (toʿebah) that provoke loathing. In Proverbs, the perverse are an abomination to Yahweh (3:32; 11:20), as wickedness is an abomination to Woman Wisdom (8:7). Other abominations in Proverbs include dishonest scales (11:1; 20:10, 23), lying lips (12:22; 26:25), the sacrifice of the wicked (15:8–9; 21:27), evil thoughts (15:26), the arrogant (16:5), false judges (17:15), and scoffers (24:9). Often named in covenantal contexts, abominations were morally offensive, as in the case of false weights (Deut. 25:16; cf. Prov. 20:10) or perversions of worship (Isa. 1:13; cf. Prov. 21:27).
The descriptions of the scoundrel and the seven things that Yahweh finds abominable remind the reader of the story of Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21. Ahab offered to buy the property, but Naboth refused, and Ahab went home sullen and angry. Jezebel conspired against Naboth, sending letters in Ahab’s name. Scoundrels (21:10, 13) were brought in to bear false witness, and as a result, innocent blood was shed. Ahab was remembered as the worst of the evil kings of Israel, who “behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols” (tʿb, “did abomination,” 1 Kings 21:26). He rejected God and God’s ways, but still Yahweh sent the prophet Elijah to confront him (21:17–29). Sadly, the king and queen who were charged with protecting justice were caught perverting it.
In sum, the four teachings of Proverbs 6:1–19 work together to create a portrait of folly in its various forms. The young man here is warned about what he might lose in bad deals and neglect and about wicked men who “go about,” scheming to take what is not theirs. Each of the four sections concludes with a negative outcome: The one who pledges is caught in a trap, the sluggard will be ambushed by poverty, the scoundrel will be overtaken by disaster, and the one who stirs up dissension provokes Yahweh’s loathing—no more threat need be said. The one who pledges can get out of the trap and the sluggard can get up and learn from the ant, but the scoundrel will be destroyed without remedy (6:15).
There are good indications, then, that the insertion of these four warnings is not haphazard. We have seen that the teachings on pledges and laziness are related by the call to action (no sleep for the eyes or rest for the hands) and the freedom of self-discipline (free from the power of a neighbor’s hand and free from the need of an overseer). Likewise, the separate but similar teachings on the wicked person and the actions hated by Yahweh are related by the misuse of body parts for evil and its recompense. Yahweh hates these evils, and those who do them will be destroyed.
Taken together, the teaching of the four warnings may be paraphrased: Do not allow your members to become passive so that you are under another’s power, and do not let your members become active for evil so that you imagine you are a power over others. Both extremes ignore the reality of Yahweh’s righteous rule. If the first two have a message about earning and protecting one’s own substance from loss, the last two warn about those who would take it from others.
The teachings of 6:1–19 also build on the motifs set out at the conclusion of chapter 5. Yahweh looks on the ways of humans (5:21 and 6:16–19); the lack of discipline and folly of 5:23 is illustrated in 6:1–11, and the deeds of the wicked one of 5:22 are outlined in 6:12–19.15 The insertion of these four warnings also looks ahead to the warnings on adultery, for the first description in 6:20–35 defines adultery as taking another man’s wife, a cause of dissension (cf. 6:12–19), while 7:10–27 portrays it as a trap that will catch the unsuspecting (cf. 6:1–11). Just as this section harks back to the preview in 2:16–19,16 it also looks ahead, alerting the reader to pay attention to these similarities.
Avoid the Way of Adultery (6:20–35)
THREATS AND WARNINGS continue as the teacher reminds the son that no one who touches another man’s wife will go unpunished (6:29; this third teaching on adultery continues into ch. 7; cf. 2:16–19; 5:1–20). The familiar form of the instruction reappears: There is an address and call to attention (6:20–21), followed by motivations (6:22–24). Three metaphors recommend the parents’ instruction. The father’s commands and mother’s teachings are to be tied to the son’s heart and around his neck (6:20–21; cf. 3:1–3; 7:1–3).17 Next, the teachings are likened to a guide who will not only stand guard while the son sleeps but will give direction in the daylight (6:22). Finally, the commands and corrections are likened to a lamp that keeps feet from stumbling in the dark and onto a path to life (6:23; cf. Ps. 119:105).
The need for reminders and protecting guides becomes clear in Proverbs 6:24, namely, to keep the son from the immoral woman and her smooth tongue. The Hebrew text reads “evil woman,” so the NIV translates “immoral woman,” but the LXX reads the same Hebrew consonants as “the neighbor’s woman” (cf. 6:29). The parallel line in 6:24 does not call her the “other woman” (zarah) but the “wayward wife” (lit., “stranger,” nokriyyah). As in prior teachings, the teacher warns the son about her “smooth tongue” (cf. 2:16; 5:3; 7:21) but here adds a description of her beauty, particularly her eyes or seductive glances (6:25; cf. Song 4:9).
Three arguments from analogy then drive home the prohibition of Proverbs 6:25. The parents compare (1) payments due the prostitute and adulteress (6:26), (2) adultery and the fire that burns lap and feet (6:27–29), and (3) the fates of the hungry thief and the adulterer (6:31–32). Three negative outcomes are named, respectively: loss of life, punishment like burning, and the combination of public disgrace and a husband’s angry vengeance.
(1) The first analogy comes in the form of a proverb, literally: “for a prostitute, as much as a loaf of bread, but the wife of a man hunts a life” (6:26). The adulteress is not called a prostitute but is compared to one to show that the price of a prostitute is low compared with the price of adultery. The wife of another man preys on human lives (nepeš), an image repeated in 7:21–27; yet it is also true that the man who commits adultery destroys himself (lit., “his life,” nepeš, 6:32). We may be surprised by this casual observation about the price of a prostitute, for the practice was neither condoned nor outlawed in Israel. For example, the story of Genesis 38 is more concerned with Judah’s wrong against Tamar than with his hiring a prostitute.
(2) Sexual passion is often likened to fire that cannot be quenched, but here the negative side of the comparison is driven home. Fire must be handled with respect and be contained. You cannot hold fire in your hand or touch it without experiencing searing pain; likewise, you cannot touch another’s wife without experiencing punishment. Fire contained in a lamp can light a road, but no one wants to have fire in the lap or under the feet. It is debatable whether the lap and feet are euphemistic for sexual organs, but the comparison of remorse with burning pain is clear.
(3) The third comparison is a variation on the first; no one despises the thief who steals because he is hungry (stealing perhaps a loaf of bread? cf. 6:26), but even that crime has its payment. Legislation in ancient Israel decreed that the thief must pay back two to five times what was taken (Ex. 22:1–8). If the thief could not pay, he was to be sold to pay the debt. Seven times seems severe, yet even that price is small compared to the costs of adultery, for it claims a man’s life (nepeš, cf. 6:26). One who would do such a thing is a fool (lit., “lacking in heart”). This loss of life may or may not involve sudden death (see the death penalty for adultery in Lev. 20:10 and Deut. 22:22), but this fool is certainly on the path to death, marked by blows and social shame (cf. Prov. 5:14). What began in secret eventually will come out into the open.
The text does not specify whether the offense comes before the legal assembly, for the focus turns to the offended husband, who seeks his own vengeance. Jealousy enrages a man’s fury, a formidable enemy (cf. 27:4), and here “husband” is a geber, the Hebrew word for a warrior. The link with the previous comparisons is the matter of payment. The prostitute takes a loaf of bread, the thief must pay back sevenfold, but the husband will take no compensation. He will decide the terms of the punishment, and they will be severe.18
Divine judgment receives no mention here apart from the possible association between seven things Yahweh hates and the sevenfold repayment, but this is not obvious. Again, the negative consequences of reaching out of bounds come more from the way life works than from God’s direct intervention. Three comparisons, all painful, once again direct the young man to consider the costs before turning away from his parents’ teaching.
AVOIDING RISK. Because the collected warnings of this chapter are as puzzling as they are vivid, we begin by asking right away what is similar and different about these characters and those we might meet today. The person who makes an unwise pledge certainly brings to mind the contemporary practice of cosigning loans for a home or business or even making such loans. While many people may regret having made personal loans that were never repaid, the teachers do not warn against loaning to another but against pledging security for another, as we will hear again throughout the book (11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13). The problem was endangering one’s household, pledging what one cannot afford to do without.
The principle to be carried over into contemporary life is that one should remain free of entanglements, especially those entered with the idea of quick and easy gain. In this way, gambling all of one’s savings on a “sure thing” in the stock market, or even borrowing to go after it, can be just as greedy and foolish. Therefore, because it is both wise and good to “lend . . . without expecting to get anything back” (Luke 6:35), lending freely without thought of gain (Deut. 15:8; Ps. 37:26), we see that the teaching here does not warn against loans and gifts to those in need but against shaky business ventures. The warnings against falling into the power of another speak to our ability to manage our affairs; it should not feed contemporary notions of individualism and self-reliance that show no concern for the community.
Diligence. Just as the sages recommended diligence in avoiding risky business entanglements, so they encouraged diligence in working to earn one’s living. However, it would also be a mistake to read the teacher’s warnings about poverty as proof that no one who is willing to work will be poor. Hard work pays its rewards for many but not for everyone. Since the mid-twentieth century, those who have documented the experience of the poor have shown that unemployment and the need for assistance are rarely matters of choice; things are never as simple as they seem.19 One pastor writes:
All too often, talk about personal responsibility serves subtly or not so subtly to deflect attention from structural injustice. That need not follow from an emphasis on spiritual transformation, but in practice it often does. I believe, as I’ve said, that the gospel is good news for the poor, dramatically changing lives and communities from the bottom up. Yet I want to take issue with the notion that the personal sins and failures of inner-city residents are at the center of inner-city poverty. From 1986 until a few years ago, I lived as a pastor and neighbor in Sandtown (Baltimore). As I reflect on my neighborhood and the struggles for life which people there face every day, I see no way around recognizing racial oppression and economic exclusion as key factors in inner-city dislocation. In fact, I believe they are among the most prominent causes.20
Each time we meet the figure of the sluggard in Proverbs, we will hear the teachers warn that laziness will make one poor, but we will never hear them claim that the poor are lazy (cf. 24:30–33). We dare not use this text to point the finger at the unemployed and underclass and forget the opportunities and privileges that many who read this enjoy without much of a thought. Proverbs never allows for an attitude of superiority but rather encourages kindness, mercy, and most of all doing what is right and just and fair (1:3). The lesson to be drawn from the lecture to the sluggard is a warning that we who have means might turn out to be lazy in failing to shoulder responsibilities that are ours to bear.
Greed and falsehood. The sage’s passion for justice and fair dealing continues with the description of the scoundrel, the antitype of all that they wish to instill in their young charges. Who is the scoundrel? Anyone who promotes one’s own good at the expense of others, thus disturbing the good of the community. We will meet this figure and his practice of stirring up discord again (10:12; 16:27–30). In seeking to find a contemporary analogy for the dissension he causes in our time, we must ask to what use this evil behavior of lies and schemes are put.
The list of things odious to Yahweh in 6:16–19 continues the imagery of body members dedicated to evil, and so this anatomy of wickedness may offer more clues. The list concludes with the specific sin of false witness and a second mention of dissension, this time “among brothers” (6:19). Some interpreters see a verbal connection between these behaviors and the story of Joseph and his family (Gen. 37–50),21 but the closer parallel is with Isaiah 59:7 (common words in italics): “Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.” We also remember that images of feet and blood appeared in Proverbs 1:10–19 as a warning against violence born of greed.
Therefore, the wicked man is a symbol of wanting and taking what is not one’s to have, similar to the figure of the other/strange woman. Like the other woman, his way is both dangerous and seductive; the wicked man is what any of us could become. Although the teachers do not offer their correction to him, suggesting that this man is too far gone to receive correction (cf. 1:24–31; 9:7–8), his way is still a danger to us.
We have seen the devastating effects of taking what belongs to another in the stories of Ahab and Jezebel’s theft and murder of Naboth, and of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. As is true in many cultures, the lives of the monarchs became lessons for the people. While most Christians today may not have the power to do such things as these, we read and tell their stories because we are prone to the same temptations of desire. I once heard the filmmaker Oliver Stone claim that the same identification that sparks our fascination with Shakespeare’s kings also draws us to the fall of Richard Nixon. For all their power, leaders are flesh and blood, like ourselves, who must come to terms with desire. Perhaps this is the strategy of the sages in setting these warnings against greed and falsehood in the midst of the warnings about adultery, for they all grow from the same root.
Similarly, Psalm 50 brings these sins together. In the psalm God upbraids the wicked:
You hate my instruction
and cast my words behind you.
When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.
You use your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit.
You speak continually against your brother
and slander your own mother’s son. (Ps. 50:17–20; cf. 52:2–4; 55:20–23)
It is no accident that such inventories of sin in Scripture correspond to the Ten Commandments. It is striking, therefore, that this chapter of Proverbs reports violations of the last five commandments of murder, adultery, theft, false witness, and coveting (Ex. 20:13–17). The last sums up those that come before; it is covetousness, desire that knows no boundaries, that motivates the other sins against neighbor and God. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Ex. 20:17).22 Ezekiel, wrestling with the question of whether the guilt of parents is visited on their children, lists the wrongs of a “violent son” who looks a lot like the wicked man of Proverbs in his coveting and taking (Ezek. 18:11–13):
He defiles his neighbor’s wife.
He oppresses the poor and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.
He lends at usury and takes excessive interest.
Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head.
To summarize the discussion so far, we have seen that the follies and evils of chapter 6 are brought together under the covetousness that can motivate sins as diverse as taking another man’s wife and scheming to take another man’s rightful property or due. Both cause dissension, both damage the well-being of the community.
Positive and negative inventories. But what of the warnings against unwise pledges and short-sighted laziness? By juxtaposing these vignettes with the seductions of extramarital relations, it shows adultery to be both naive and evil. Like the traps and ambushes of laziness, it will catch one unaware (cf. 7:1–27), and like the schemes of wickedness and falsehood, adultery steals, lies, and stirs up dissension (cf. 6:24–35). Moreover, common to all of the warnings of chapter 6 are the payments exacted, so the theme of unnecessary loss continues. In each case, the teachers point out the irony we have observed throughout the instructions: Those that take from others end up having others take from them.
The portrait of the scoundrel and the list of abominations in 6:12–19 also direct the reader to the more positive description of human anatomy in 4:20–27, where perversity and corrupt talk are put away, where eyes look straight ahead and are not haughty (or “lifted,” 6:17), and feet walk only on level and firm paths, far from evil. Most important, the heart is guarded as the wellspring of life (4:23); it is not allowed to plot evil and devise wicked schemes (6:14, 18). The heart is the control center of human thought and action, so it is not surprising that it is central to these positive and negative inventories and mentioned throughout the warnings that come in between (5:12; 6:14). The heart directs the use of the various body parts; thus, we see the predominance of the mouth in chapter 5 and the repeated use of the word “hand” in chapter 6.
Therefore, before we go on to explore the contemporary significance of the teachings, we should note that the character sketches of chapter 6 also relate to the larger teaching strategy of Proverbs. As we have seen, the teachings on security, sluggards, and scoundrels appear throughout the collection of individual sayings.23 Because these figures appear again and again throughout the book, the reader is signaled to pay special attention to them as reverse images of the virtuous life. We might speak of laziness and wickedness as the passive and active dimensions of sin, and the sages would have us attend to both. Their answer to sloth is diligence, that is, extending the effort it takes to learn wisdom and to live wisely. Their answer to wickedness is righteousness; more than the rejection of evil grasping, righteousness is the desire to do what is right and good for one’s neighbor.
Preachers and teachers may wish to use the arrangement of chapters 4–6 to inform their comments, comparing the uses of the body imagery and their warnings against the painful consequences of active and passive sin. More important, teachers and preachers will seek to show that the problems of sloth, villainy, and adultery are not only disastrous to self but stir up trouble for others as well. They are sins against the community and disturb the well-being of all. While self-interest may come first in these warnings, the social pressure of the community is always in view.
Finally, teachers and preachers will show that the ethical appeal of the sages is directed toward Israel’s standard of life before its God. It is of interest that the instruction only states that God hates certain behaviors, yet does not speak of his vengeance. Readers are called to shape their hearts in such a way that they begin to hate what God hates and love what God loves. The miscellaneous instructions of this chapter are more than practical advice about loans and laziness, they offer theological insight into Yahweh’s desire for a just and harmonious life together.
THE WAY OF RESPONSIBILITY. Although the miscellaneous warnings that comprise this chapter appear out of place and unrelated to their literary context, by taking a closer look, we have seen that the binary opposites that characterize much of Proverbs’ teaching appear here as well. The outline presented earlier summed up 6:1–19 as the ways of the sluggard and the scoundrel. We observed that the warnings against pledges and laziness are linked together by images of misused hands and costly sleep, both a form of sloth. Likewise, the two lists of body parts both depict evil that is conceived in the heart and stirs dissension among brothers. If the sluggard does not want to earn his own way, neither does the scoundrel, who wants to take what is his neighbor’s.
Standing at the crossroads of choice, the teachers of Proverbs point to the way of diligence and righteousness as an alternative route. In many ways, their work is not much different from the many television judges who hear case after case of conflicts over money, relationships, and responsibility, except that these teachers also urge their charges to remember what God hates and loves.
The teachers of Proverbs see that both pledges and laziness are forms of shirking responsibility for one’s self and livelihood. Their message is deceptively simple: Take responsibility for what is yours, and do not take responsibility for what is not. Both use animal images to urge the use of our survival skills; trapped animals struggle to get free and ants model foresight, self-initiative, and industry. In fact, both recommend learning wisdom to be able to see negative outcomes before they arrive.24 The warning against pledges tells us to avoid bad commitments or to get out of them as soon as possible, while the picture of the sluggard tells us to keep commitments that are good. The knack for learning how to decide which is which is the mark of godly wisdom, for the problem facing many if not most Christians today is not idleness but overcommitment.
Bill Hybels tells the story of a father who was so committed to his work and community that he decided he would sleep in on Sundays instead of taking his young daughter to the Sunday school she loved dearly. Diligent in so many areas of life, he had overcommitted himself and ignored what was important to her. We can understand his way of thinking because many of us feel like busy ants already, scurrying around and carrying heavy loads, or like birds caught in the traps of our schedules, but Hybels calls this kind of busyness “selective sluggardliness.”25
We can test our commitments by asking whether they give us excuse to neglect what is most important in life. For some, that most important area may be caring for loved ones, for others it may be the discipline of self-care, getting enough rest, and recreation. The principle of avoiding bad commitments will lead us to take stock of how we have apportioned our time, money, and other resources, so that we can make and keep good ones. The lesson to be learned here is to avoid those responsibilities that are not ours so we can be free for those that are.
The ant is a model of making an appropriate commitment and sticking with it. It is her wisdom that is praised (cf. 30:25; the Heb. word for ant is feminine), for she not only works with great energy, she directs it toward the right goal. The irony of contemporary life is that we are lazy about a great number of things in the midst of frantic activity. For us, good commitments might include the rest and worship of Sabbath-keeping, unhurried time with family and friends to build strong relationships, and schedules planned far enough in advance to ensure that what we do, we do well. Too often I find that I take on too much and then end up doing a half-baked job at my personal and professional commitments. We know we have made bad choices when someone else loses because we have chosen poorly. In sum, while the warnings about pledges and laziness certainly advise diligence in financial matters, they especially warn against all forms of “sluggardliness.”
The way of righteousness. Even as the sages recommended diligence as a way of taking care of one’s own responsibilities, they looked to righteousness as the way one learns to take care of others. Righteousness, the capacity for just and fair relationships, detours its possessors from the path of the wicked scoundrel. The teachers of Proverbs knew that social life is based on confidence in character and trustworthiness, a desire to do good without its being required.
Thus, we have seen that the enemy of righteousness, typified by the scoundrel and list of abominations, is covetousness, that shadow side of desire that is directed to what a neighbor has. Covetous desires are never satisfied; there is no brim of the cup, no lip to the bottle. Coveting does not know what it means to wait, it lives only in the present. It is not only short-sighted but narrow in scope, for it looks out for one’s own, and only one’s own. It sets up the individual as the only standard; it only asks what is good for the self, not what is good for the family, community, or in our ever-shrinking global economy, the world. If we are honest, we will acknowledge that we live in a culture that runs on desire the way a rocket uses up its fuel, but we also know that we ourselves struggle to be responsive to those in need. We alternate back and forth between contradictory impulses with the dangers of covetousness always near at hand.
The sages set out these two ways of thinking in stark contrast, but they were not alone. Take time to read Psalms 14 and 15 together at one sitting. Notice that the fool who says there is no God devours others as if they were bread, while the one whose walk is blameless does what is righteous; no slander is on his tongue and does his neighbor no wrong. The scoundrel, like the fool of Psalm 14, is a picture of desire gone amuck with coveting and with lies, bloodshed, and discord following in his wake. The portrait is so startling, we are inclined to avert our eyes from it, but the sages present it twice, insisting the second time that Yahweh hates every last detail.
These ancient teachers were not satisfied to offer practical advice for living well, for they knew that even that could become self-serving. Instead, they held up their portraits of evil at its worst so that their audiences could view it, like Psalm 14, as a mirror image of the righteous persons they might become. If the scoundrel would take what is his neighbor’s, we can learn to bless our neighbors in good times and assist them in bad. If this villain uses his body members against others, we can learn to use them for serving, speaking truth, and striving for peace. And if his scheming heart is filled with covetousness, we can learn to fill ours with contentment.
Contentment and commitment. Contentment is that virtue that knows what it means to be satisfied, to say “enough.” If covetousness begins with a sense of lack, contentment knows a sense of gratitude. It refuses to believe that life’s goals are achieved in an accumulation of things, but rather appreciates that the material goods of this world are to be enjoyed, not hoarded and stockpiled. Too much of contemporary communication would have us become people who consume, not people of character.
In the city where I live, busses did not always have advertisements posted on their sides, but now one for an Internet stock trading site advised, “Maybe you need to get a bigger wallet.” I could not help but think of the story Jesus told about the man who would build bigger barns, the man God called a “fool” (Luke 12:20). I also was surprised at the setting of the story: Jesus told it when two brothers came with a dispute over their inheritance. Jesus concluded the parable by warning, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:13–21). We don’t need bigger wallets; we need bigger hearts.
Perhaps, then, the temptations of adultery are the test case of these matters of commitment and contentment. As we observed throughout this study, adultery destroys not only the one who practices it but the partners who are wronged. Saying no to its seductions demonstrates the virtues of diligence and righteousness: diligence, because the person who says no is careful to consider costs and maintain commitments; righteousness, because the decision to say no not only respects one’s neighbor, it displays a contentment that does not need to look over the fence to see what the neighbor has. The teacher’s warnings are fierce, but they should be, for the costs of heading in the wrong direction are high. Here is Bill Hybels again:
After being a pastor for more than two decades, I have lost count of the number of times I have sat with wayward husbands or wives who have wept in a cathartic, heart-wrenching way that you have to hear to appreciate. Almost every time they have said, “I have wrecked everything because of what I have done. If only I could turn the clock back. If only I could make a different choice.”26
Wise persons can take the long view, look at the end of the road, and visualize positive and negative outcomes, not only for ourselves but for those around us.
In sum, the various warnings about disaster ask three things of its listeners: (1) to practice self-discipline of our desires with the diligence and wisdom of hard working ants; (2) to recognize the righteousness of neighbor love, replacing covetousness with contentment; (3) to begin to hate what God hates so that we can love the way God loves. Thus, here the teachers of Proverbs begin with an appeal to self-interest in order to teach us to love God and neighbor as we are prone to love ourselves.