Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts

¹My child, if you have made a pledge for your neighbor,[#tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 3, 20).; #sn It was fairly common for people to put up some kind of financial security for someone else, that is, to underwrite another’s debts. But the pledge in view here was foolish because the debtor was a neighbor who was not well known (זָר, zar), perhaps a misfit in the community. The one who pledged security for this one was simply gullible.]

and have become a guarantor for a stranger,

²if you have been ensnared by the words you have uttered,[#tn The term “if” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.; #tn The verb יָקַשׁ (yaqash) means “to lay a bait; to lure; to lay snares.” In the Niphal it means “to be caught by bait; to be ensnared” – here in a business entanglement.; #tn Heb “by the words of your mouth.” The same expression occurs at the end of the following line (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). Many English versions vary the wording slightly, presumably for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).]

and have been caught by the words you have spoken,

³then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself,[#tn The syntactical construction of imperative followed by an imperative + vav consecutive denotes purpose: “in order to be delivered.” The verb means “to deliver oneself, be delivered” in the Niphal. The image is one of being snatched or plucked quickly out of some danger or trouble, in the sense of a rescue, as in a “brand snatched [Hophal stem] from the fire” (Zech 3:2).]

because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:

go, humble yourself,

and appeal firmly to your neighbor.

⁴Permit no sleep to your eyes[#tn Heb “do not give sleep to your eyes.” The point is to go to the neighbor and seek release from the agreement immediately (cf. NLT “Don’t rest until you do”).]

or slumber to your eyelids.

⁵Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare,[#tn Heb “from the hand.” Most translations supply “of the hunter.” The word “hand” can signify power, control; so the meaning is that of a gazelle freeing itself from a snare or a trap that a hunter set.]

and like a bird from the trap of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard;[#sn The sluggard (עָצֵל, ’atsel) is the lazy or sluggish person (cf. NCV “lazy person”; NRSV, NLT “lazybones”).]

observe its ways and be wise!

⁷It has no commander,

overseer, or ruler,

⁸yet it prepares its food in the summer;

it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.

⁹How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?

When will you rise from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to relax,

¹¹and your poverty will come like a robber,[#tn Heb “like a wayfarer” or “like a traveler” (cf. KJV). The LXX has “swiftness like a traveler.” It has also been interpreted as a “highwayman” (cf. NAB) or a “dangerous assailant.” W. McKane suggests “vagrant” (Proverbs [OTL], 324); cf. NASB “vagabond.” Someone traveling swiftly would likely be a robber.]

and your need like an armed man.

¹²A worthless and wicked person[#sn The terms describe one who is both worthless and wicked. Some suggest that בְּלִיַּעַל (bÿliyya’al) is a compound of the negative בְּלִי (bÿli) and a noun יַעַל (ya’al, “profit; worth”). Others suggest that the root is from בַּעַל (ba’al, “lord [of goats]”) or a derivative of בָּלַע (bala’) with reduplication (“confusion” or “engulfing ruin”), or a proper name from Babylonian Bililu. See B. Otzen, TDOT 2:131-36; and D. W. Thomas, “בְּלִיַּעַל in the Old Testament,” Biblical and Patristic Studies in Memory of Robert Pierce Casey, 11-19. Whatever the etymology, usage shows that the word describes people who violate the law (Deut 15:9; Judg 19:22; 1 Kgs 21:10, 13; Prov 16:27; et al.) or act in a contemptuous and foolish manner against cultic observance or social institutions (1 Sam 10:27; 25:17; 30:22); cf. NRSV “a scoundrel and a villain” (NAB and NIV similar). The present instruction will focus on the devious practice of such wicked and worthless folk.]

walks around saying perverse things;

¹³he winks with his eyes,

signals with his feet,

and points with his fingers;

¹⁴he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart,[#tn The noun is an adverbial accusative of manner, explaining the circumstances that inform his evil plans.]

he spreads contention at all times.

¹⁵Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;

in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

¹⁶There are six things that the Lord hates,

even seven things that are an abomination to him:

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue,[#sn The expression “high/ lofty [רָמוֹת, ramot] eyes” refers to a proud look suggesting arrogant ambition (cf. NCV “a proud look”). The use of “eyes” is a metonymy of adjunct, the look in the eyes accompanying the attitude. This term “high” is used in Num 15:30 for the sin of the “high hand,” i.e., willful rebellion or defiant sin. The usage of “haughty eyes” may be illustrated by its use with the pompous Assyrian invader (Isa 10:12-14) and the proud king of the book of Daniel (11:12). God does not tolerate anyone who thinks so highly of himself and who has such ambition.; #tn Heb “a tongue of deception.” The genitive noun functions attributively. The term “tongue” functions as a metonymy. The term is used of false prophets who deceive (Jer 14:14), and of a deceiver who betrays (Ps 109:2). The Lord hates deceptive speech because it is destructive (26:28).]

and hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked plans,[#tn Heb “heart that devises plans of wickedness.” The latter term is an attributive genitive. The heart (metonymy of subject) represents the will; here it plots evil schemes. The heart is capable of evil schemes (Gen 6:5); the heart that does this is deceitful (Prov 12:20; 14:22).]

feet that are swift to run to evil,

¹⁹a false witness who pours out lies,[#sn The Lord hates perjury and a lying witness (e.g., Ps 40:4; Amos 2:4; Mic 1:4). This is a direct violation of the law (Exod 20).]

and a person who spreads discord among family members.

²⁰My child, guard the commands of your father

and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.

²¹Bind them on your heart continually;[#sn The figures used here are hypocatastases (implied comparisons). There may also be an allusion to Deut 6 where the people were told to bind the law on their foreheads and arms. The point here is that the disciple will never be without these instructions. See further, P. W. Skehan, Studies in Israelite Poetry and Wisdom (CBQMS), 1-8.]

fasten them around your neck.

²²When you walk about, they will guide you;[#tn The verbal form is the Hitpael infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffixed subjective genitive to form a temporal clause. The term הָלַךְ (halakh) in this verbal stem means “to go about; to go to and fro.” The use of these terms in v. 22 also alludes to Deut 6:7.; #tn Heb “it will guide you.” The verb is singular and the instruction is the subject.]

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you wake up, they will talk to you.

²³For the commandments are like a lamp,[#tn Heb “the commandment” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).; #tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.; #sn The terms “lamp,” “light,” and “way” are all metaphors. The positive teachings and commandments will illumine or reveal to the disciple the way to life; the disciplinary correctives will provide guidance into fullness of life.]

instruction is like a light,

and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life,

²⁴by keeping you from the evil woman,[#tn The infinitive construct is epexegetical here, explaining how these teachings function as lights: “by keeping you.” This verse is the transition from the general admonition about heeding the teachings to the practical application.; #tc The word translated “woman” is modified by רַע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of violating the codes of the community and inflicting harm on others. The BHS editors propose changing it to read “strange woman” as before, but there is not support for that. Some commentaries follow the LXX and read רַע as “wife of a neighbor” (cf. NAB; also NRSV “the wife of another”; CEV “someone else’s wife”) but that seems to be only a clarification.]

from the smooth tongue of the loose woman.

²⁵Do not lust in your heart for her beauty,[#tn The negated jussive gives the young person an immediate warning. The verb חָמַד (khamad) means “to desire,” and here in the sense of lust. The word is used in the Decalogue of Deut 5:21 for the warning against coveting.sn Lusting after someone in the heart, according to Jesus, is a sin of the same kind as the act, not just the first step toward it (Matt 5:28). Playing with temptation in the heart – the seat of the will and the emotions – is only the heart reaching out after the sin.]

and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes;

²⁶for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,[#tn The word בְעַד (bÿ’ad) may be taken either as “on account of” (= by means of a) prostitute (cf. ASV, NASB), or “for the price of” a prostitute (cf. NAB). Most expositors take the first reading, though that use of the preposition is unattested, and then must supply “one is brought to.” The verse would then say that going to a prostitute can bring a man to poverty, but going to another man’s wife can lead to death. If the second view were taken, it would mean that one had a smaller price than the other. It is not indicating that one is preferable to the other; both are to be avoided.]

but the wife of another man preys on your precious life.

²⁷Can a man hold fire against his chest[#tn The Qal imperfect (with the interrogative) here has a potential nuance – “Is it possible to do this?” The sentence is obviously a rhetorical question making an affirmation that it is not possible.; #sn “Fire” provides the analogy for the sage’s warning: Fire represents the sinful woman (hypocatastasis) drawn close, and the burning of the clothes the inevitable consequences of the liaison. See J. L. Crenshaw, “Impossible Questions, Sayings, and Tasks,” Semeia 17 (1980): 19-34. The word “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) plays on the words “man” (אִישׁ,’ish) and “woman” (אִשָּׁה, ’ishah); a passage like this probably inspired R. Gamaliel’s little explanation that what binds a man and a woman together in a holy marriage is י (yod) and ה (he), the two main letters of the holy name Yah. But if the Lord is removed from the relationship, that is, if these two letters are removed, all that is left is the אֵשׁ – the fire of passion. Since Gamaliel was the teacher of Paul, this may have influenced Paul’s advice that it was better to marry than to burn (1 Cor 7:9).; #tn Heb “snatch up fire into his bosom.”]

without burning his clothes?

²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals[#tn The particle indicates that this is another rhetorical question like that in v. 27.]

without scorching his feet?

²⁹So it is with the one who has sex with his neighbor’s wife;[#tn Heb “thus is the one.”; #tn Heb “who goes in to” (so NAB, NASB). The Hebrew verb בּוֹא (bo’, “to go in; to enter”) is used throughout scripture as a euphemism for the act of sexual intercourse. Cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “who sleeps with”; NCV “have sexual relations with.”]

no one who touches her will escape punishment.

³⁰People do not despise a thief when he steals[#tn Heb “they do not despise.”]

to fulfill his need when he is hungry.

³¹Yet if he is caught he must repay seven times over,[#tn The term “yet” is supplied in the translation.; #tn Heb “is found out.” The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to the imperfect nuances. Here it introduces either a conditional or a temporal clause before the imperfect.; #tn The imperfect tense has an obligatory nuance. The verb in the Piel means “to repay; to make restitution; to recompense”; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “must pay back.”]

he might even have to give all the wealth of his house.

³²A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom,[#tn Heb “heart.” The term “heart” is used as a metonymy of association for discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. NAB “is a fool”; NIV “lacks judgment”; NCV, NRSV “has no sense.”]

whoever does it destroys his own life.

³³He will be beaten and despised,[#tn Heb “He will receive a wound and contempt.”]

and his reproach will not be wiped away;

³⁴for jealousy kindles a husband’s rage,[#tn The word “kindles” was supplied in the translation; both “rage” and “jealousy” have meanings connected to heat.; #tn Heb “a man’s.”]

and he will not show mercy when he takes revenge.

³⁵He will not consider any compensation;[#tn Heb “lift up the face of,” meaning “regard.”; #tn The word rendered “compensation” is כֹּפֶר (cofer); it is essentially a ransom price, a sum to be paid to deliver another from debt, bondage, or crime. The husband cannot accept payment as a ransom for a life, since what has happened cannot be undone so easily.]

he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation.