In this chapter the wise man dissuades from rash suretyship; exposes the sin of idleness; describes a wicked man; makes mention of seven things hateful to God; exhorts to attend to parental instructions and precepts, and cautions against adultery. Suretyship is described, Prov.

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…

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…

Do 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…

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…

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…

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.

Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler. ] None 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,…

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…

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? &c.] Or “lie” [[15]] in bed, indulging in sloth and ease; while the industrious ant is busy in getting in its provisions, even by moonlight, as naturalists [[16]] observe; when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? and be about thy lawful calling? doing the duties…

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber Or, “little sleeps, little slumbers” [[17]]. 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,…

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…

A naughty person, a wicked man Or, “a man of Belial, a man of iniquity” [[21]]. 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…

He winketh with his eyes Not 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…

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 ; he deviseth mischief…

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, (Rev.

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,…

A proud look Or, “eyes elated” [[3]]; scorning to look down upon others; or looking upon them with disdain; or reckoning them as unworthy to be looked upon, having an high opinion of their own worth and merit.

An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations Or, “thoughts of wickedness” [[4]]; which are framed and formed in the heart: and this being the source and fountain of all wickedness, is placed in the midst of these hateful and abominable things; (See Gill on Prov.

A false witness that speaketh lies Or, “that speaketh lies, even a false witness” [[5]]; and so this is distinguished from a lying tongue, the second of these evils: this is the sin of bearing false witness against one’s neighbour, a breach of the eighth command.

My son, keep thy father’s commandment These are not the words of David to Solomon continued from ; but the words of Solomon to his son; and not to his son only, in a strict natural relation, but to everyone that came to him for and put himself under his instruction; and to everyone that stood in…

Bind them continually upon thine heart Not upon the head or arm, as the words of the law were to be bound, ; to which there seems to be an allusion; and which may confirm the sense of the words given, that this respects the law of God itself, and the precepts of it, instructed in by parents; but…

When thou goest, it shall lead thee The law of God taught by parents; this directs man in the path of duty and business of life; teaches him what way to shun, and which to walk in; it leads out of the paths of sin, and into the way in which he should go, which is most conducive to his good, and to…

For the commandment is a lamp The law of God is a lamp or candle to see to work by and to walk by; it enlightens the eyes and directs the feet, and makes working more pleasant, and walking more comfortable; and indeed wit, bout it a man knows not rightly what to do or where he should walk, or where…

To keep thee from the evil woman This is one use of the profit arising from attending to the instructions of parents, and to the law of God, as taught by them; to preserve from fornication and adultery, one of its precepts expressly forbidding adultery and all corporeal uncleanness; and the whole…

Lust not after her beauty in thine heart Do not look upon it with the eye, nor dwell upon it in the thought; the one will lead on to and kindle last in the heart, and the other will cherish it and blow it up into a flame; and lust thus conceived and nourished in the heart is no other than…

For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread To be glad of one, and to beg for one, for the least morsel; it is expressive of the extreme poverty and want which harlots bring men to, who strip them of all their substance, and then send them going to get their bread as they…

Can a man take fire in his bosom A whore is compared to fire, and is so called by the poets [[13]]; and it is a saying of Pythagoras, “it is a like thing to fall into fire and into a woman [[14]];” the Hebrew words (אש) , “esh”, “fire”, and (אישה) , “ishah”, “a woman”, have some affinity in sound;…

Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? ] He cannot; if he sets his feet upon them, and continues them ever so little on them, they will be burnt, and much more if he walks upon them; and so if a man gives way to the burning lusts of his heart after a whorish woman, and commits…

So he that goeth into his neighbour’s wife To converse with her, or lie with her, as the Targum; for it means not barely going into her house or chamber, or into her company, though without any ill design at first, which yet may be dangerous; but committing adultery with her, as this phrase is…

Men do not despise a thief, if he steal They do not discommend or reproach him for it, or fix a mark of infamy upon him, or expose him to public shame by whipping him; but rather excuse him and pity him when it appears what his case is, what put him upon it, and that he had no other intention in it…

But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold According to the law in (Ex. 22:1, Ex. 22:4) ; in case of theft double was to be restored, if the theft was found alive in his hand; and in some cases fourfold and fivefold.

But whoso committeth adultery with a woman Which is a greater degree of theft than the former, it being the stealing of another man’s wife; lacketh understanding; or “an heart” [[18]]; the thief lacks bread, and therefore steals, but this man lacks wisdom, and therefore acts so foolish a part; the…

A wound and dishonour shall he get A wound, stroke, or blow, either from the husband of the strumpet, as was often the case 23: in later times; or from the civil magistrate, being ordered by him to be beaten [[23]] or stoned; or from God himself inflicting diseases on him; see ; where the same word…

For jealousy is the rage of a man Fills a man with rage against him of whom he is jealous; which keeps boiling within him, till he has an opportunity of venting it: and very severe it is; it is strong as death, and cruel as the grave; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance; when he has…

He will not regard any ransom So that his case is much worse than, a thief’s; if he is taken, he makes restitution according to law, and he is freed, and no more is said and done to him; and, at most, it is but parting with all the goods in his house; but in this case it will not do.