Proverbs 6

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Proverbs 6

1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;

14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.

25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life.

27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;

31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>My son, if you have stood surety Our Sages explained this as referring to surety in monetary matters, according to its apparent meaning.</html>

Verse 3

<html>go, humble yourself Heb. התרפס [a combination of two words, התר פס], open the palm of your hand for him to pay him his money. and give your fellow superiority Heb. ורהב. And if he has no money with you, only that you were trapped with the sayings of your mouth by speaking harshly to him, bring many friends to him to beg him to forgive you. Another explanation: [1] My son, if you stood surety for your Friend After you stood surety for the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is your “friend,” as it is written (Song 5:16): “This is my beloved and this is my friend”; you undertook at Sinai and in the plains of Moab with a curse and with an oath to observe His commandments. have given your hand to a stranger You have repented and turned from His ways and clung to the disbelievers to go in their ways. [2] you have been trapped by the sayings of your mouth You have given your hand to cling to strangers. [3] Do this, then, my son, and be saved Since you have come into the palm of your Friend at Sinai and you have accepted His Godliness over you, go, humble yourself Heb. התרפס. Humble yourself before Him like a threshold, which is trodden (נרפסת) and stepped on. and increase your friends Bring many friends who will pray for you before Him. In this manner it is expounded on in Midrash Psalms.</html>

Verse 5

<html>Save yourself like a deer from the hand Hasten and extricate yourself from there like a deer that extricates itself from a man’s hand.</html>

Verse 6

<html>Go to the ant, you sluggard…and become wise Heb. וחכם, and wisen yourself.</html>

Verse 7

<html>for she has no chief who would reprove her and alert her and take out of her hand if she steals anything from her companion, nevertheless…</html>

Verse 8

<html>yet she prepares her bread in the summer, she gathers her food in the harvest She gathers her food, each one of them, and does not rob her companion.</html>

Verse 10

<html>a little folding of the hands The sleeper folds his hands, embrasser in French (abrasar in Provencal,) umfassen [in German], to embrace. In Rashi ms. plier in French [to fold] in German et was falten, to fold a little.</html>

Verse 11

<html>And your poverty shall come like a fast walker If you do this [keep sleeping], your loss and the thing from which you are impoverished shall come to you immediately, like a man walking fast, and your want will come and fill up like an armed man. who comes quickly to protect his master. These verses are mainly an allegory concerning those who are [too] lazy to engage in the Torah.</html>

Verse 12

<html>walks with a crooked mouth He walks with crooked lips.</html>

Verse 13

<html>he winks with his eyes winks of deceit. shuffles with his feet He rubs one on the other. points with his fingers They are all expressions of hinting: one applies to the eye, one applies to the foot, and one applies to the finger, but the main idea is that it is speaking of the wicked.</html>

Verse 14

<html>he incites quarrels between man and his Creator.</html>

Verse 15

<html>suddenly, etc. suddenly Heb. פתע פתאם. This is an expression of immediacy; he will not be aware of the downfall that is ready to descend upon him.</html>

Verse 16

<html>There are six things that the Lord hates, and the seventh is an abomination of His soul The seventh, too, is [included] with them.</html>

Verse 19

<html>[one who] speaks Heb. יפיח, lit. he blows. This is an expression of speech since all speech is a product of the breath of the mouth.</html>

Verse 21

<html>tie them Heb. ענדם, an expression of tying, as in (Job 31:36) “I will tie it (אענדנו) as crowns to me.”</html>

Verse 22

<html>When you walk in your lifetime. it shall lead you Heb. תנחה אותך, like תנהיגך. when you lie down in the grave. and when you awaken for the resurrection of the dead, to stand in judgment. it shall speak for you It shall speak on your behalf.</html>

Verse 23

<html>For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light Just as light always illuminates, so does the merit of the Torah stand for a person forever, but the merit of the commandment is only for a limited time, like the light of a candle. Another explanation: For a commandment is a candle, etc. The command of the father is a candle. Whoever fulfills the command of his father is as though he takes a candle in his hand to light a dark place, and if he loses anything there he finds it by its light; similarly, whoever fulfills his mother’s instruction—it is light to him, and so [Scripture] states (verse 20): “and forsake not the instruction of your mother.” It is certain that this verse speaks of the commands of one’s father and mother, for it is written (20:20): “If one curses his father or mother, his candle will be put out in the blackest darkness.” Now if a person’s candle goes out when he does not fulfill the commandments of his parents, conversely when he fulfills the command, his candle lights up (Rabbi Joseph Kara). and disciplining rebukes are the way of life Disciplining rebukes incline a person to life. It is found that they are the way of life.</html>

Verse 24

<html>to guard you from an evil woman The Torah shall guard you from a woman of evil behavior—perforce, Solomon did not speak of an evil woman, but concerning idolatry, [the prohibition of] which is equal in gravity to all [commandments], for if you say that he meant a real harlot, is that all the reward and the praise of the Torah that it guards one only from a harlot? Rather, perforce this is idolatry, [the prohibition of] which is as stringent as all other [commandments]. from the smoothness of the alien tongue From the sealing of the eyes by an alien tongue.</html>

Verse 25

<html>do not let her captivate you And let her not take away your wisdom from you with her eyelids that she winks at you.</html>

Verse 26

<html>Because a man is brought to a loaf of bread for a harlot He is reduced to poverty and the lack of all good things.</html>

Verse 27

<html>Can a man rake Can a man pick up live coals with the skirt of his garments without burning them? Every expression of חתיה is an expression of raking according to its apparent meaning, that he fills the vessel in the fire.</html>

Verse 29

<html>to his neighbor’s wife According to its apparent meaning, and it can also be expounded upon as referring to the idolatry of the pagans.</html>

Verse 30

<html>They will not despise a thief, etc. And if he is found, he will pay sevenfold, etc. One who commits adultery with a woman The three of them are combined in one statement. If a thief commits a theft, he should not be despised as much as the adulterer. Why? Because he steals in order to sate his hunger, and perhaps he has nothing to eat. And, when he is found, he can rectify his sin with payment; at the most, he will pay sevenfold i.e., many times the double payment and even fifty times for one. Some explain “sevenfold” as referring to one who steals an ox and his trappings and slaughters it, who pays five cattle and double payment of the trappings (totalling seven). he must give all he owns lit. he must give all the property of his house. And, even if he must sell all he owns because of this, he can nevertheless rectify it, and from the beginning he did it because of hunger. But…</html>

Verse 32

<html>One who commits adultery with a woman is devoid of sense since he does not do it because of hunger. one who would destroy his soul—he will do it The lewd act.</html>

Verse 33

<html>He will find wounds and disgrace Lesions are sent for idolatry and immorality.</html>

Verse 34

<html>for jealousy For the jealousy of the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the Mighty One over all, will be aroused to mete out retribution upon him, and He will not have pity on the day of vengeance.</html>

Verse 35

<html>He will not have regard for any money to expiate for his denial of Him and his cleaving to idolatry. And our Rabbis expounded (Tosefta Baba Kamma 7:3): They will not despise a thief—This is one who steals away from his friend and goes to the study hall and engages in Torah. If he is found, he will pay sevenfold. [The intention is that] eventually, he will be appointed as a judge, and he will render legal decisions, for “sevenfold” refers only to the Torah, as it is said (Ps. 12:7): “refined sevenfold.”</html>

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Table of Contents

Proverbs 6

Proverbs 6

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 3

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 19

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 29

Verse 30

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35