Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 6:12

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

12. a naughty person ] Lit. a man of Belial. The Heb. word Belial means, “of no profit,” “worthless,” and, according to the Heb. idiom, a man of, or a son of (Deu 13:13) Belial, is an unprofitable or worthless person. Here, however, the word “Belial” is in apposition with “man,” “a man (who is) worthless, a good-for-nothing fellow.” The word appears to have been personified by the later Jews, and is used in the form Belial, or Beliar, to denote Satan (2Co 6:15, where see note in this Series).

walketh ] The R.V., following the Heb. pointing, is more abrupt and forcible:

A worthless person, a man of iniquity;

He walketh with a froward mouth.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Thirteenth Address. Chap. 6. Pro 6:12-19 . The Worthless Person

This short section might seem at first sight to break itself into two ( Pro 6:12-19). But the note of character, “he soweth discord,” repeated in Pro 6:19 from Pro 6:14, helps to identify the worthless person as being the subject throughout, and a closer examination exhibits the connection. Would you recognise the worthless man? Here is his description, Pro 6:12-14. Would you understand his end? Here is his destiny, Pro 6:15. Would you know what God, the Judge of all, sees in him to hate and punish? Here are the six, yea seven things that undo him, Pro 6:16-19. The connection is well worked out by Mr Horton, The Book of Proverbs, pp. 84 91.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Pro 6:12

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

A bad man

I. The portrait of a bad man.

1. He is perverse in speech. He has no regard for truth or propriety. False, irreverent, impure, audacious.

2. He is artful in his conduct. Winketh with his eyes, etc. He expresses his base spirit in crafty and clandestine and cunning methods. He is anything but straightforward and transparent.

3. Mischievous in purpose. Deviseth mischief. Malevolence is his inspiration. He rejoiceth in evil.

II. The doom of a bad man. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly. This doom is–

1. Certain. The moral laws of the universe and the Word of God guarantee the punishment of sin.

2. Sudden. Suddenly shall he be broken. The suddenness does not arise from want of warning, but from the neglect of warning.

3. Irremediable. Without remedy. When once his doom is fixed, there is no alteration. As the tree falls, so it must lie. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

False liberty

In human nature, as in every other, there is an innate love of freedom. But alas! in human nature, as fallen, this principle, good in itself, has taken a sadly perverse direction. It is too often the mere love of following, without restraint, our own inclinations. And while aversion to restraint is common to all, it is peculiarly strong in the bosom of youth. The freedom, not the want of it, is sometimes the thing really to be ashamed of. (R. Wardlaw.)

Naughtiness

A man of Belial. Perhaps an unthrifty man; certainly a lawless man. A man of naughtiness. A child of the devil.

I. A notoriously wicked man cares for no laws of God or man.

1. He hath stopped the mouth of his conscience with his sins.

2. He has no love to either God or man, therefore he disregards both.

3. He fears neither, and therefore slights their laws.

4. He sees many escape, and such examples harden their hearts.

II. Such a mans life is altogether wicked.

1. His thoughts are altogether earthly.

2. All his delight is in wickedness.

III. A perverse mouth is a sure mark of an ungodly man.

1. Few, or only the extremely wicked, will talk or boast of their wickedness.

2. When men are grown to this height they are beyond the Cape of Good Hope. A crooked mind will make a crooked mouth. Take heed. God hath given thee a mouth to speak to His glory, not to dishonour Him, nor to proclaim thine own shame. (Francis Taylor, B. D. )

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 12. A naughty person] adam beliyal, “Adam good for nothing.” When he lost his innocence. A man apostata; Old MS. Bible.

A wicked man] 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.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

He showeth the haughtiness of his heart by the wickedness of his talk and discourses, to which he doth accustom himself, as walking implies.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

12. A naughty personliterally,”A man of Belial,” or of worthlessness, that is, for good,and so depraved, or wicked (compare 1Sa 25:25;1Sa 30:22, &c.). Idleness andvice are allied. Though indolent in acts, he actively and habitually(walketh) is ill-natured in speech (Pr4:24).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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 , 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, Re 13:5.

w “homo Belijahal, vir iniquitatis”, Montanus, Vatablus, Baynus, Michaelis.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

There follows now a third brief series of instructions, which run to a conclusion with a deterring prospect similar to the foregoing.

12 A worthless man, a wicked man,

Is he who practiseth falsehood with his mouth;

13 Who winketh with his eyes, scrapeth with his foot,

Pointeth with his fingers.

14 Malice is in his heart,

He deviseth evil at all times,

He spreadeth strife.

15 Therefore suddenly his destruction shall come,

Suddenly shall he be destroyed, and there is no remedy.

It is a question, what is the subject and what the predicate in Pro 6:12. Thus much is clear, that upon him who is here described according to his deceitful conduct the sentence of condemnation shall fall. He who is so described is thus subject, and is without doubt predicate. But does the complex subject begin with ? Thus e.g., Hitzig: “A worthless man is the wicked man who….” But the interchange of and is a sign of parallel relation; and if 12b belonged attributively to , then since is not used, it ought at least to have been continued by . The general moral categories, 12a, are thus predicates, as was indeed besides probable; the copious division of the subject demands also in point of style a more developed predicate. Pro 16:27 is simpler in plan, and also logically different. There the expression is, as is usual, . Since is not possible, the author uses instead . This word, composed of and (from , , to be useful, to be good for), so fully serves as one word, that it even takes the article, 1Sa 25:25. It denotes worthlessness, generally in a chain of words in the genitive, but also the worthless, Job 34:18; and it is to be so taken here, for does not form a constructivus, and never governs a genitive. is thus a virtual adjective (as nequam in homo nequam ); the connection is like that of , Pro 11:7, and elsewhere, although more appositional than this pure attributive. Synonymous with is (from an, to breathe), wickedness, i.e., want of all moral character. Thus worthless and wicked is he who practises deceit with his mouth (cf. Pro 4:24), i.e., who makes language the means of untruthfulness and uncharitableness. is meant in a moral sense, but without excluding that distortion of the mouth which belongs to the mimicry of the malicious. It is the accus. of the object; for is also bound in a moral sense with the accusative of that which one practises, i.e., dealing with, exercises himself in, Pro 2:7; Pro 28:18, Isa 33:15.

Pro 6:13

is translated according to the sense: who winks ( nictat ) with his eyes; but that is not the proper meaning of the word, for is used not only of the eyes. Pro 10:10 (cf. Pro 16:30, qui oculos morsicat or connivet ), Psa 35:19, but also of the lips, Pro 16:30. Thus Lwenstein’s explanation: who opens up the eyes, is incorrect. The verb unites in it the meanings of Arab. qrts , to pinch off with a sharp implement, and Arab. qrd , with a blunt instrument (Arab. mikrad , pincers). It means to pince, to nip, as Arab. kars , pincer – e.g., kars balskyn alarsasat , he cuts off with the knife the leaden seal – hence frequently, to nip together the eyes, provincially: to wink (“ zwickern ,” frequent. of “ zwicken ,” to nip) with the eyes – the action of the deceiver, who thereby gives the sign to others that they help or at least do not hinder him from bantering and mocking, belying and deceiving a third person (Fl.); cf. Ali’s proverb, “O God, pardon to us the culpable winking with the eye ( ramzat ),” and Fleischer’s notes thereon, the Proverbs of Ali, p. 100f.

That the words which follow, , are meant of discourse, i.e., the giving of signs, with the feet, and, so to say, significant oratio pedestris (lxx, Aben-Ezra, Bertheau, Hitzig, and others), is very improbable, since the usage of language has set apart the Piel for the meaning loqui , and admits another suitable signification, for means in Talmudic fricare, confricare – e.g., , he who grinds the parched ears of corn ( b. Beza 12b; Ma’seroth, iv. 5) – after which Syr., Targ., (stamping), Aq. , Symm. , Jerome, ( qui ) terit pede , and Rashi (grinding, scratching); it means one who scrapes with his feet, draws them backwards and forwards on the ground in order thereby to give a sign to others; also the Arab. mll , levem et agilem esse , which as the synonym of Arab. sr is connected with Arab. f of the way, signifies properly to move the feet quickly hither and thither (Fl.).

(Note: The root-idea of the Arab. mall is unquietness of motion; the Arab. noun mallt signifies the glow with its flickering light and burning: glowing ashes, inner agitation, external haste; Arab. malil ( ) is the feverish patient, but also one quickly hastening away, and generally an impatient or hasty person ( vid., Wetstein in Baudissin in his Job. Tischendorfianus, vii. 6). The grinding is made by means of a quick movement hither and thither; and so also is speaking, for the instrument of speech, particularly the tongue, is set in motion. Only the meaning praecidere, circumcidere , does not connect itself with that root-idea: in this signification appears to be a nance of , stringere .)

appears here, in accordance with its primary signification ( projicere , sc. brachium or digitum = monstrare ), connected with ; another expression for this scornful, malicious is , Isa 58:9.

Pro 6:14

In this verse is continued the description of the subject, only once returning to the particip. The clauses are arranged independently, but logically according to the complex conception of the subject. .tce are just the knaveries, i.e., the malicious wickedness which comes to light in word and deportment as . Regarding the double figure of the smithy and of agriculture underlying , machinari , vid., at Pro 3:29, and regarding the omission of the to , at Psa 7:10. The phrase (as Pro 6:19, Pro 16:28), to let loose disputes, so that they break forth, reminds us rather of the unfettering of the winds by Aeolus than of the casting in of the apple of discord. Instead of the Ker has ; on the other hand, remains uncorrected Pro 6:19; Pro 10:12. The form occurs once, Pro 18:18, and its constr. once, Pro 19:13. Everywhere else the text has , for which the Ker has , Pro 18:19; Pro 21:9, Pro 21:19; Pro 23:29; Pro 25:24; Pro 26:21; Pro 27:15. The forms and are also recognised: the former stands alone without any analogous example; the latter is compared at least with , Arab. masad ( Psalmen, p. 163, 3). Probably these two forms are warranted by Gen 25:2, cf. Gen 37:28, Gen 37:36, where and occur as the names of two sons of Abraham by Keturah. But the national name is no reason for the seven times laying aside of the regular form , i.e., , which is the plur. of after the forms , , although , after the forms , , is also found.

Pro 6:15

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. Regarding , the root-meaning of which is illustrated by Amo 2:13, vid., at Pro 1:26. is an old accus. of an absol. , of the same meaning as , used as an adverbial accus., both originating in the root-idea of splitting, opening, breaking out and breaking forth. “Shall be broken to pieces” (as a brittle potter’s vessel, Psa 2:9; Isa 30:14; Jer 29:11) is a frequent figure for the destruction ( ) of an army (cf. Arab. anksar aljysh ), of a city or a state, a man. continues the as Pro 29:1: there shall be as it were no means of recovery for his shattered members (Fl.). Without the Vav this would be a clause conceived of accusatively, and thus adverbially: without any healing.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Seven Abominations.

      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.

      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 (v. 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 (v. 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.

      2. What his doom is (v. 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. xi. 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, v. 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. Next 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 (John viii. 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.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Verse 12 introduces another enemy of the unwary, the naughty person (literally a man of Belial) a term which implies wickedness and worthlessness, Deu 13:13; 1Sa 2:12; 1Ki 21:10; Nah 1:11; 2Co 6:15.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES,

Pro. 6:12. A naughty person, a worthless man.

Pro. 6:13. Teacheth, motions.

Pro. 6:14. Frowardness, perverseness.

Pro. 6:16. Six, yea, seven. A peculiar proverbial form, for which Arabic and Persian gnomic literature supply numerous illustrations. Eister probably gives the simplest and most correct explanation, deriving it purely from the exigencies of parallelism. The form of parallelism could not, on account of harmony, be sacrificed in any verse. But how should a parallel be found for a number? Since it was not any definite number that was the important thing, relief was found by taking one of the next adjacent numbers as the parallel to that which was chiefly in mind (Langes Commentary).

Pro. 6:17. A proud look, literally, haughty eyes.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPHPro. 6:12-19

A STUDENT OF INIQUITY

I. We have in these words a picture of a man so wicked that he makes it his study how to commit sin. The sin of many men, perhaps of most men, arises from thoughtlessness, weakness, or slothfulness (see Pro. 6:9-10), but there are others who make sin their business, and apply themselves to it with as much diligence as the merchant gives to his trade, or the man of letters to his pursuit of knowledge. He deviseth mischief (Pro. 6:14), his heart deviseth wicked imaginations (Pro. 6:18). Those who wish to compass any particular end must think upon the means by which they can accomplish it. Progression in iniquity is not always accomplished without thought, and wicked men have to plan much and think deeply sometimes before their malicious devices are ripe for execution. The thief has to study his profession before he can become an accomplished burglar. The sharper must spend much time in acquiring the skill by which he preys upon less experienced gamblers. The murderer must ponder deeply how he is to do his bloody deed without detection. It cost Haman a good deal of thinking before he could devise a scheme likely to injure Mordecai. The chief priests and scribes held many consultations before they could compass the death of Christ (Mar. 11:18; Mar. 14:1-55, etc.). The wicked man of the text is a student of ways and means.

2. He is constant in his studies. If a man professes to make any branch of knowledge his particular study and only applies himself to it by fits and starts, we know he is not much in earnest about it, but if he is constant in his application, he demonstrates by his perseverance that he intends, if possible, to excel. The wicked man here pictured by Solomon has made up his mind not to fail through lack of continuous application, he deviseth mischief continually (Pro. 6:14). If one plan fails, he begins to form another; when one scheme has brought the desired end, he at once sets to work at a fresh one; as a natural consequence

3. He makes progress, he walks with a froward mouth (Pro. 6:12), his feet become swift in running to mischief (Pro. 6:18). The man who is always in the practice of any art can hardly stand still in it. He can hardly fail to become more and more of an adept. He sees where he might have done better yesterday and supplies the deficiency next time. And this is true of the work of wickedness as of any other work, practice makes perfect. There are men, for instance, who from constant practice lie like truth. The more the man studies how to injure his fellow-creatures, the more easily he can plan; the oftener he plans, the easier he finds it.

4. In order to carry out his designs he invents an original language (Pro. 6:13). There is no member of the body which cannot become a medium to convey thought. The eye is very eloquent in this work, the hand, the lip, the finger, the whole body may do this to some extent, and are sometimes blessedly so employed when affliction has shut out our fellow-man from hearing the human voice, but this man of wickedness makes his whole body a medium for the conveyance of his evil plans and desires. He yields his members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (Rom. 6:13). The common every-day language of outspoken honest men will not do to convey his thoughts, because his thoughts are against the welfare of his fellow creatures. This compels him to use a language which is comprehended only by those who are like himself. The eye can be used in this way as a more safe and swift instrument than the tongue. A look may embody a thought that would need many words to express. The glance of one wicked man to another has often been the sentence of death to many. And so, in a less degree, perhaps, with the foot and the hand, as Matthew Henry says, Those 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.

II. The end of such a man. (Pro. 6:15.)

1. His very success will bring his ruin. The man who makes it the business of his life to lay plans against the comfort of his fellow-creatures may succeed for a time, but by-and-by he will find himself so famous, or infamous, that a reward may be offered for his person, and his very success in deceiving others in the past will possibly so throw him off his guard as to make him an easy prey to those who now lay in wait to bring him to justice. But if he escapes the messenger of human retribution, he is sure of the Divine Nemesis. Gods law and the universe are against him. In sowing discord in the world, he has sowed destruction for himself, and he must reap it. However cleverly he may have outwitted his fellow-men, he has not deceived God, and His law is that Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Eph. 6:7).

2. The punishment will come when least expected. Suddenly shall he be broken (Pro. 6:15). The thief makes it his study to find an entrance into his victims house when he least expects him, and he finds himself one day repaid in his own coin. When he is enjoying his fancied security an officer of justice visits him, and suddenly he is summoned to answer for his crimes. This we find is generally the case with retribution; it not only comes certainly, but at a time when it is least looked for.

3. His ruin will be complete. He shall be broken without remedy (Pro. 6:15). The crime of murder is regarded by our code of law as one which deserves the extremest penalty which man can inflict upon man. The murderer, as a rule, is visited with a punishment which, so far as his earthly existence goes, cuts off all hope for the future. The man who is pictured to us in these verses is one who appears to have completed his character as a sinner. The number seven is often used in Scripture to denote perfectioncompletion; and this student of iniquity appears to have succeeded so well in his studies that there is no vice which is not found in one of the seven things which go to make up his character. His pride leads him to refuse Gods yoke, and to carve out for himself a way without reference to the will of Him in whom he lives and moves. But his lying tongue betrays a sense of weakness. He fears that his plans, though so skilfully laid, may not succeed, and therefore he has recourse to deception to help him out with them. And so cruel is he that he shrinks from no misery that he may bring upon others in the furtherance of his own designs; neither the character nor the life of his victims is spared. He is a false witness that speaketh lies and soweth discord, his hands shed innocent blood. For so diseased a member of the body politic there seems nothing left but amputation. So complete a sinner must suffer a complete ruin, Finally, that such a character should be an abomination to the Lord (Pro. 6:16) is most natural, if we consider how entirely it is at variance with what God is Himself. Like seeks and loves like. The musical soul seeks and delights in those who love music. The courageous Jonathan delights in the courageous David. God is humble. He takes a right estimate of Himself and others. This is true humility. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth? (Psa. 113:5-6). How great a contrast is He in this respect to the man of proud look. God is a God of truth (Psa. 31:5), it is a blessed impossibilty with Him to lie (Tit. 1:2). How can He do other than abominate a lying tongue. He is the Saviour of men (1Ti. 4:10); this sinner seeks to destroy them. He is the Author of peace and the lover of concord; this mans aim has been to sow discord even among brethren.

ILLUSTRATION OF Pro. 6:13

It should be remembered that, in the East, when people are in the house they do not wear sandals, consequently their feet and toes are exposed. When guests wish to speak so as not to be observed by the host, they convey their meaning by the feet and toes. Does a person wish to leave the room in company with another? he lifts up one of his feet; and should the other refuse, he also lifts up a foot and suddenly puts it down again. When merchants wish to make a bargain with others without making known their terms, they sit on the ground, have a piece of cloth thrown over the lap, and then put a hand under, and thus speak with their fingers. When the Brahmins convey religious mysteries to their disciples, they teach with their fingers, having the hands concealed in the folds of their robe.Roberts, in Biblical Treasury.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

Pro. 6:12. He who is nobody in deeds is often strong in words. He whose hands are idle has a tongue anything but idle; and he tries by words suited to mens humours to win that favour which he cannot by deeds.Cartwright.

Walketh implies progress in evil, as the tendency of all sin is to grow more and more inveterate.Fausset.

Every idle man is a naughty man; is, or, ere long, will be, for by doing nothing men learn to do evil. And thou wicked and slothful servant, saith our Saviour (Mat. 25:26). He putteth no difference between the idle person and the wicked person. The devil will not long suffer such an one to be idle, but will soon set him to work. Idleness is the hour of temptation.Trapp.

Pro. 6:13. He conveys his meanings, and carries on his schemes, and promotes his ends, in every sly, covert, unsuspected way.Wardlaw.

Not speech only, but all other means by which man holds intercourse with man, are turned to instruments of fraud and falsehood. The wink which tells the accomplice that the victim is already snared, the gestures with foot and hand, half of deceit, half of mockerythese would betray him to anyone who was not blind.Plumptre.

Pro. 6:14. The wise man had showed before the outward rivulets, now he shows the inward fountain, a corrupt heart. This is added lest we should think that only outward signs and gestures are evil. If neither by outward signs nor gestures a wicked man dare express himself, yet his heart is evilFrancis Taylor.

As the agriculturist applies himself wholly to the ploughing and sowing of his land, so the froward gives himself wholly to iniquity, seeking his harvest of gain, or of enjoyment of malignity, in traducing or lying, or in praising with words whilst all the time traducing by signs.Fausset.

Where frowardness soweth the field, what can grow but contentions only? But these are first sown in the heart by mischievous devices, and there being come to a ripeness, then are they gathered, and are again sown in the outward actions of discord, one harvest serving to bring on another until they bring the seedsman to the harvest of destruction. The force of the verse is, that when wickedness is silent outwardly, it is devising mischief inwardly, that it may practice it the more abundantly.Jermin.

Pro. 6:15. Therefore, if a thing be so ruinous; if it be a fountain of sin; if it be sending forth corruption in such a manner as to increase the mass of it, and never diminish it; if it be putting forth causes of quarrel both with God and man, then that thing must be crushed. We would expect a sharp, clean end. If it be a root, it must be threaded to its very eye, and all the life of it must be traced and crushed quite out of it in the soil.Miller.

The word suddenly shows the vanity of the sinners hope that he shall have the time or the gift of repentance (Job. 21:17-18; Psa. 64:4).Fausset.

It were pity such a villain should go without his reward. The wise man, therefore, doth not leave him without his judgment denounced, and it is a grievous one. For he that spendeth time to devise mischief shall not have time at last to devise help for the preventing of his own sudden mischief. He that by plots maketh the breaches of strife, shall at length be broken suddenly into pieces, without hope of piecing himself together again. Of Satan it is said that he fell like lightning from heaven, the fall whereof is most sudden, and so that it never riseth again. And so cometh the calamity of malicious, froward hearts: such is the breaking fall of their destruction.Jermin.

Pro. 6:16. This, curtly, is a restatement of the picture just passed; not exactly, but ripened a little, and advanced into a more mature expression.Miller.

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.Henry.

The things which God hateth are the things which the devil maketh. He cannot be the author and hater of the same thing. And therefore it is not man, but the wicked things in man, which God abhorreth, and which, did not man love, God would still love man, although He hateth them.Jermin.

Pro. 6:17. A proud look or lofty eyes might seem to have little to do with a worthless man (see Critical Notes on Pro. 6:12), but a man is a man of emptiness solely because he is depending, in divers ways, upon himself. Humility is the very first lesson towards salvation. A man could not live a whole long life taking a little more sleep if he was not arrogantly depending upon something within himself. Hands that shed innocent blood: The movements of such a man are all deadly. The amiable may be fairly stung by such rude speech, but the wise man intends to imply that a deceived impenitence deceives and festers all about it. The worldly father that misguides his son sheds his blood. It is astonishing how much there is in the Bible of this cruel language (Psa. 5:9; Isa. 1:21, &c.).Miller.

Pro. 6:18. The heart underlies the seven vices which are an abomination to God, and in the midst, because it is the fountain from which evil flows in all directions.Starke.

Pro. 6:19. If the heavenly dew descends upon the brethren that dwell together in unity (Psalms 133), a withering blast will fall on those who, mistaking prejudice for principle, cause divisions for their own selfish ends (Rom. 16:17-18). If we cannot attain unity of opinion, perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (1Co. 1:10), at least let us cultivate unity of Spirit (Php. 3:16).Bridges.

Pro. 6:12-19. As respects the arrangement in which the seven manifestations of treacherous dealing are enumerated in Pro. 6:16-19, it does not perfectly correspond with the order observed in Pro. 6:12-14. There the series ismouth, eyes, feet, fingers, heart, devising evil counsels, stirring up strifes; here it is eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet, speaking lies, instigating strife. With reference to the organs which are named as the instruments in the first five forms of treacherous wickedness, in the second enumeration an order is adopted involving a regular descent; the base disposition to stir up strife, or to let loose controversy in both cases ends the series. The six or seven vices, twice enumerated in different order and form of expression, are, at the same time, all of them manifestations of hatred against ones neighbour, or sins against the second table of the Decalogue; yet it is not so much a general unkindness as rather an unkindness consisting and displaying itself in falseness and malice that is emphasised as their common element. And only on account of the peculiarly mischievous and ruinous character of just these sins of hatred to ones neighbour, is he who is subject to them represented as an object of especially intense abhorrence on the part of a holy God, and as threatened with the strongest manifestations of His anger in penalties.Dr. Zckler, in Langes Commentary.

Pro. 6:16-19. There is one parallel well worthy of notice between the seven cursed things here and the seven blessed things in the fifth chapter of Matthew. In the Old Testament the things are set down in the sterner form of what the Lord hates, like the Thou shalt not of the Decalogue. In the New Testament the form is in accordance with the gentleness of Christ. There we learn the good things that are blessed, and are left to gather thence the opposite evils that are cursed. But, making allowance for the difference in form, the first and the last of the seven are identical in the two lists. The Lord hates a proud look is precisely equivalent to Blessed are the poor in spirit; and He that soweth discord among brethren is the exact converse of the peacemaker. This coincidence must be designed. When Jesus was teaching His disciples on the Mount He seems to have had in view the similar instructions that Solomon had formerly delivered, and, while the teaching is substantially new, there is as much of allusion to the ancient Scripture as to make it manifest that the Great Teacher kept His eye upon the prophets, and sanctioned all their testimony.Arnot.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

TEXT Pro. 6:12-22

12.

A worthless person, a man of iniquity,

Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;

13.

That winketh with his eyes, that speaketh with his feet,

That maketh signs with his fingers;

14.

In whose heart is perverseness,

Who deviseth evil continually,
Who soweth discord.

15.

Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;

On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.

16.

There are six things which Jehovah hateth;

Yea, seven are which are an abomination unto him:

17.

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

And hands that shed innocent blood;

18.

A heart that deviseth wicked purposes,

Feet that are swift in running to mischief,

19.

A false witness that uttereth lies,

And he that soweth discord among brethren.

20.

My son, keep the commandment of thy father,

And forsake not the law of thy mother:

21.

Bind them continually upon thy heart;

Tie them about thy neck.

22.

When thou walkest, it shall lead thee;

When thou sleepest, it shall watch over thee;
And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 6:12-22

1.

Worthless is what sense (Pro. 6:12)?

2.

Does Pro. 6:13 make winking a sin?

3.

What is discord (Pro. 6:14)?

4.

Where is the emphasis in Pro. 6:15?

5.

Why not say seven things to begin with instead of the way Pro. 6:16 words it?

6.

Comment on each item in Pro. 6:17.

7.

Comment on each item in Pro. 6:18.

8.

Comment on each item on Pro. 6:19.

9.

What does keep mean in Pro. 6:20?

10.

Comment on bind and tie as used in Pro. 6:21.

11.

What within a person will do the 3 things mentioned in Pro. 6:22?

PARAPHRASE OF 6:12-22

Pro. 6:12-15.

Let me describe for you a worthless and a wicked man; first, he is a constant liar; he signals his true intentions to his friends with eyes and feet and finger. Next, his heart is full of rebellion. And he spends his time thinking of all the evil he can do, and stirring up discontent. But he will be destroyed suddenly, broken beyond hope of healing.

Pro. 6:16-19.

For there are six things which the Lord hatesno, seven: haughtiness, lying, murdering, plotting evil, eagerness to do wrong, a false witness, and sowing discord among brothers.

Pro. 6:20-22.

Young man, obey our father and your mother. Tie their instructions around your finger so you wont forget. Take to heart all of their advice. Every day and all night long their counsel will lead you and save you from harm; when you wake up in the morning, let their instructions guide you into the new day.

COMMENTS ON 6:12-22

Pro. 6:12. One with a perverse mouth is doubly described as a man of iniquity and a worthless person. He is the former in that perverse speech is sinful; he is the latter in that he does neither God nor man good with his speech.

Pro. 6:13. One who gives you signals with his eyes, feet, and fingers to speak to some but to conceal what he is saying from others is a character to be on guard against. He too is described as being a man of iniquity and a worthless person. Other references to this type of winking: Psa. 35:19; Pro. 10:10.

Pro. 6:14. Such a worthless, iniquitous man is further described as having a perverse heart, a heart that is continually devising some kind of evil (in this verse, discord). On Pentecost the apostles were all together with one accord (Act. 2:1)unity, harmony. Discord is just the opposite. It can be sown among very dear friends by subtle-hearted person. Such takes time to grow, but in time it will produce such a crop. Pro. 6:19 also refers to sowing discord among brethren.

Pro. 6:15. He has plotted the downfall of others; he himself will meet his own destruction. The destruction is described in two ways: suddenly and without remedy. Other passages on being ruined without any hope of remedy: 2Ch. 36:16; Pro. 29:1; Jer. 19:11.

Pro. 6:16. God may love the worldthe people (Joh. 3:16), but there are things that He hates. In fact, His hatred can run to holding things in abomination (detestable). Why the unusual construction here? Evidently not only to give emphatic position to sowing discord among brethren but to call particular attention to it.

Pro. 6:17. This verse shows that eyes, tongue, and hands can and do sin, and that God hates and holds in abomination sinful things done by them. Haughty eyes are also condemned in Psa. 18:27 and Psa. 101:5. A lying tongue is called a deceitful tongue in Psa. 120:2-3. Pulpit Commentary aptly observes, Lying is the wilful perversion of truth, not only by speech but by any means whatever whereby a false impression is conveyed to the mind.

Pro. 6:18. Two more ways that one can displease God to the fullest: to have a heart that thinks up evil (evil intentions, evil plots against people, etc. ) and to have feet that are quick to carry the above out. With so much evil in the world (1Jn. 5:19)all stemming, of course, from the devilthere are many such wicked hearts through which the devil works to cause it. Jer. 17:9 speaks of the heart being corrupt. Prior to the Flood (and bringing it on) was the fact that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5). The implication of Joh. 2:23-25 is that what is in man is not good. On the last part of our verse Isa. 59:7 and Rom. 3:15 say the same: Their feet run to evil and Their feet are swift to shed blood.

Pro. 6:19. These two are twins: bearing false witness and sowing discord among brethren. What an act (to utter lies about a person)! What an achievement (to divide good friends)! Jesus pronounces a blessing upon the peacemaker (Mat. 5:9), and this section shows the utter contempt that God has for the opposite of the peacemakerthe discord-sower. The 9th Commandment (Exo. 20:16) forbade bearing false witness against ones neighbor, and yet is has often been done.

Pro. 6:20. The important instructions in Pro. 6:24-35 are introduced by Pro. 6:20-23. Our verse is reminiscent of Pro. 1:8 (My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother) and parallel in instruction with Eph. 6:1 (Children, obey your parents).

Pro. 6:21. Bind them and tie them would be to secure them in your heart and mind; dont let them get away. The continually would assure him of always having them to bless his life. Similarly does Pro. 3:3 say, Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart, and Pro. 7:3 says, Bind them upon thy fingers; Write them upon the tablet of thy heart.

Pro. 6:22. Such binding and tying would cause the understanding imparted to him to do three things for him: (1) lead him when he walked; (2) watch over him when he slept; and (3) talk with him when he awoke. In other words ones childhood teachings should accompany him at all times to instruct him constantly as to what to do (compare Pro. 3:23-24; Pro. 2:11). Even when one is older in life, memory and conscience will combine to say to him, Dad always told me such-and-such; and, I can still hear Mother say such-and-such.

TEST QUESTIONS OVER 6:12-22

1.

Comment on the person with a perverse mouth (Pro. 6:12).

2.

What kind of person is Pro. 6:13 describing?

3.

What kind of heart sows discord (Pro. 6:14)?

4.

How is such a persons downfall described in Pro. 6:15?

5.

What does God not love (Pro. 6:16)?

6.

What all does lying include (Pro. 6:17)?

7.

What other verses of Scripture go along with what is said in Pro. 6:18?

8.

What commandment would be violated by bearing false witness (Pro. 6:19)?

9.

What previous verse in Proverbs is Pro. 6:20 like?

10.

What is the significance of bind and tie in Pro. 6:21?

11.

How long will some childhood teachings remain with a person (Pro. 6:22)?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(k). Eleventh Discourse:Against Deceit and Malice (Pro. 6:12-19).

(12) A naughty person.According to its original meaning, a worthless person, Heb. a man of Belial,

Froward mouth.Comp. Pro. 4:24.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

PICTURE OF THE WICKED MAN AND HIS DESTINY, Pro 6:12-15.

12. A naughty person Literally, a man of Belial, or, a man of worthlessness. Compare Deu 13:13: Jdg 19:22.

A wicked man froward mouth The man of worthlessness is, perhaps, the predicate, and “a wicked man” the subject, to be connected by is; and so we may render, A wicked man is a man of worthlessness. And so Noyes spiritedly renders the passage:

“A wicked man is a worthless wretch,

Who walketh with a deceitful mouth,

Who winketh with his eyes,

Speaketh with his feet,

And teacheth with his fingers.”

The picture of the wicked man, with his language of signs, is drawn as far as the close of Pro 6:14; with the therefore of Pro 6:15 commences his destiny. Miller translates, “A worthless man, utterly vain, talking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, motioning with his fingers, with upturnings in his heart, fabricating evil, will be putting forth grounds of quarrel all the time.” The last clause is translated rather freely, the rest may pass. He makes that clause the apodosis of all that precedes.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Worthless Man ( Pro 6:12-15 ).

This first part, defining the worthless man, may be seen chiastically,

A A worthless person, a man of iniquity (Pro 6:12 a).

B Is he who walks with a perverse mouth (Pro 6:12 b).

C Who winks with his eyes, who scrapes/stamps with his feet, who makes signs with his fingers (Pro 6:13).

D In whose heart is perverseness (Pro 6:14).

C Who devises evil continually (Pro 6:14 b).

B Who sows discord (Pro 6:14 c).

A Therefore will his calamity come suddenly, suddenly he will be broken, and that without remedy (Pro 6:15).

In A the man is a worthless and iniquitous person, and in the parallel he is therefore doomed to calamity. In B he walks with a perverse mouth, and in the parallel he sows discord. In C he makes rude and deceitful gestures with eyes, feet and fingers, and in the parallel he devises evil continually. Centrally in D his heart is perverse.

Pro 6:12-13

‘A worthless person, a man of iniquity,

Is he who walks with a perverse mouth,

Who winks with his eyes, who scrapes/stamps with his feet,

Who makes signs with his fingers.’

Note that he describes the man without addressing him. He does not expect any response from such a man, for he is ‘a man of belial’, a worthless person. Such ‘worthless men’ seek to lead others into idolatry (Deu 13:13). The sons of Eli were ‘sons of belial’, worthless sons who defiled the worship of YHWH (1Sa 2:12). Those who imagined evil against YHWH counselled worthlessness (belial) (Nah 1:11). Those who rejected YHWH’s chosen king and despised him were called ‘sons of belial’ (1Sa 10:27; 2Sa 20:1). Those who bore false testimony against Naboth were characterised as ‘men of belial, and were chosen because they were ‘sons of belial’ (1Ki 21:10; 1Ki 21:13). ‘Sons of belial’ demanded the right to have homosexual relations against his will with the Levite in Jdg 19:22. So a man of belial is totally worthless, takes no account of YHWH, despises justice, and sinks to the lowest level of deed.

The characteristics of this ‘worthless man’ are now described. In his walk he speaks perversely. As he goes on life’s way he has a perverse mouth. A perverse mouth was something which Solomon in Pro 4:24 had told his ‘son’ to put away. Nothing such a man says can be relied on (he has ‘a lying tongue’- Pro 6:17). Thus he will happily bear false testimony on oath (Pro 6:19; Pro 19:28; 1Ki 21:10). He uses his words to cause dissension and trouble (he ‘sows discord among brothers’ (Pro 6:19; Pro 16:27-28). He is a troublemaker and peace disturber.

‘He winks with his eyes.’ Winking with the eye is an indication that he is involved in deceit, and wants others to know it, apart possibly from his victim. (This is not ‘a cheeky wink’). He is someone not to be trusted. Even his actions are deceitful. Thus elsewhere we learn that a man who winks with his eye can be relied on to cause sorrow (Pro 10:10). He is one who is confident that he will get away with his misdeeds (Psa 35:19). In early Jewish tradition he who winked with the eye was seen as ‘a contriver of evil things’ ( Sir 27:22 ).

‘He scrapes/stamps with his feet.’ (The meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Targum translates as ‘stamped’, but elsewhere it indicates scraping). Like the wink with the eye the scraping of the feet was intended to be a rude or threatening gesture, possibly not noticed by the person whom he was insulting. (In the list of abominations the feet are swift in running to mischief – Pro 6:18). He was thus an insolent and unpleasant man. Middle easterners regularly used their feet as indicators. Thus, for example, they use them to point the way, in the same way as we would point with the finger. The scraping of the foot may well have indicated that he wanted to humiliate the person and grind him into the ground. Or stamping the foot may have indicated displeasure or an intention to do harm. Coming immediately after ‘eyes’ the idea may also be that ‘he reveals his insulting and deceitful nature from eye to foot’, in other words with every part of his anatomy.

‘Who makes signs with his fingers.’ His fingers too were used for making secret but insulting, and possibly threatening, gestures which were intended to be seen by others but not the person in question. He was deceitful, unpleasant and possibly dangerous.

With regard to these signals we should notice that, in contrast to the list of abominations, there is no specific suggestion in this part that the worthless man is violent. And yet previously violence has been seen as a prominent sin (Pro 1:11-12; Pro 3:25; Pro 3:31; Pro 4:17). This might be seen as indicating that these signals in some way indicated violence.

Pro 6:14-15

‘In whose heart is perverseness,

Who devises evil continually, who sows discord.

Therefore will his calamity come suddenly,

Suddenly he will be broken, and that without remedy.’

Not only is his mouth perverse, but his heart is too. And this is revealed by the way in which he continually plans evil. He is without scruples. And one of the ways in which he does this is by sowing discord, stirring people up to rebel against authority, or against each other. But like those who refused to hear the voice of wisdom in Pro 1:22-27, calamity will eventually come upon him, and he will be broken in such a way that there will be no remedy. One point being made in all these examples is that the way of the transgressor ends up in judgment.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Worthless Man ( Pro 6:12-19 ).

We now come to the third person in the triumvirate. The first one committed as a surety what he did not have. He was naive. The second was too lazy to do anything to provide for himself. He was a fool. But this third is a scorner. He is totally untrustworthy. He is called ‘a man of belial’, a ‘man without profit’, a man in whom there is no good, thus a worthless man. It will be noted that Solomon makes no appeal to him. He sees him as a hopeless case to be warned against. He simply describes him and his end.

The subsection divides into two parts, the first defining the worthless man, the second listing seven things which YHWH hates. There is considerable overlap. The worthless man has a perverse mouth, insolent and untrustworthy eyes, threatening feet, fingers which indicate unpleasantness, and a perverse heart which devises evil continually. He sins with every part of his anatomy. The seven things which YHWH hates include a lying tongue, haughty eyes, feet swift to run to mischief, hands which shed innocent blood, and a heart which devises wicked imaginations.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Characteristics of the Wicked Man – This passage gives the characteristics of the wicked man.

Pro 6:12  A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

Pro 6:12 Word Study on “A naughty person” The Hebrew phrase “a naughty person” ( ) literally reads, “a person of Belial.” The term, “sons of Belial,” became a common phrase in the Old Testament to describe wicked men (Deu 13:13, 1Sa 2:12). By New Testament times, this term was equated with Satan (2Co 6:15).

Deu 13:13, “Certain men, the children of Belial , are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;”

1Sa 2:12, “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial ; they knew not the LORD.”

2Co 6:15, “And what concord hath Christ with Belial ? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?”

Pro 6:12 Word Study on “froward” – Strong says the Hebrew word “froward” ( ) (H6143) means, “perversity,” and it comes from the root verb ( ) (H6140) that means, “ to distort, to pervert.”

Pro 6:12 Comments – Pro 6:12-19 give a summary of t he characteristics of the wicked man. Pro 6:12 begins by giving a brief summary of his characteristics before the rest of the verses go into details. That is, the wicked man, a demon-influenced person, a carnal minded person, can most easily be identified by the perverse words that come out of his mouth. In other words, the mouth is the quickest means by which a person can be identified.

Pro 6:13  He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;

Pro 6:13 “He that winketh with the eye” Word Study on “winketh” – Strong says the Hebrew word for “wink” ( ) (H7169) means “to pinch, to bite the lips, blink the eyes (as a gesture of malice), or (fully) to squeeze off (a piece of clay in order to mould a vessel from it).” It is used five times in the Old Testament.

Comments – The author has now warned his son of the wink of the eye. This characteristic speaks of the attitude of the heart. This description will appear quickly on the journey that begins in Proverbs 10. On his journey in life, he can now quickly recognize this man as a wicked person.

Pro 10:10, “He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.”

David also spoke about the wink of the eye in the book of Psalms.

Psa 35:19, “Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.”

The other two uses are found in:

Job 33:6, “Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

Pro 16:30, “He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.”

We see another passage in the book of Job about the wink of the eye used in the context of a wicked person.

Job 15:12-13, “Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at , That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?”

The Hebrew word used in Job 15:12 is ( ) (H7335), which means, “to twinkle the eye (in mockery).” This is the only place in the Old Testament where this Hebrew word is used. Thus, from the context of Psa 35:19 and Job 15:12, we can see that this is a person whose heart is rejoicing over and mocking others, since the eye represents the heart. We see this idea clearly in Pro 30:17.

Pro 30:17, “ The eye that mocketh at his father , and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.”

Thus, the eye represents the heart of man. The wink of the eye represents a proud, haughty heart that despises and looks down upon others.

Pro 6:13 “he speaketh with his feet” Comments – A man’s feet symbolize the path that he is on in this life. Within the context of the book of Proverbs, a path represents a person’s decisions. This characteristic reveals the way the evil man thinks and the decisions he makes in life. For as you watch where someone walks, as you see what path he takes in his life, as you see the friends he hangs around with, you can know his way of thinking. Iron sharpens iron, and a friend sharpens a friend to become just like him (Pro 27:17). Therefore, this phrase refers to the mind of the evil man.

The phrase “to speak with the feet” is used nowhere else in the Scriptures. However, there are many verses that associate feet with evil. Note:

Pro 1:15, “My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path :”

Pro 1:16, “ For their feet run to evil , and make haste to shed blood.”

Pro 3:23, “Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble .”

Pro 4:27, “Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil .”

Pro 5:5, “ Her feet go down to death ; her steps take hold on hell.”

Pro 6:18, “An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief ,”

Therefore, this phrase seems to means that you can recognize a wicked man by the path that he is on, whether he is on the path of righteousness or the path of evil deeds. A person will choose this path by his mind, understanding, will and emotions, thus representing the soul of man. The path that a man is walking on speaks loudly to us about his character. Thus, he speaks with his feet.

Pro 6:13 “he teacheth with his fingers” – Comments – The fingers are a part of the hands. These actions represent the actions that a person does with his body. It is by a man’s actions that you can judge his character.

Pro 6:13 Comments – The eye represents the heart; the feet represent the path that the decisions of the mind, will and emotions will lead a person; and the fingers, or hands, represent the actions of the body. Thus, the three-fold man is seen in this verse. Thus, when we judge a person’s character, we not only listen to his words, but we watch the path that he walks, and we observe the works of his hands. All of these observations together will reveal to us the true character of a person.

Note that we can also see the actions of the three-fold part of man in the next verse.

Pro 6:14  Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.

Pro 6:14 Word Study on “soweth” – Gesenius says the Hebrew word “soweth” ( ) (H7971) means, “he excites, (sends) strife.” Holladay says it literally means, “he sets free, i.e., lets it loose,” and in the Piel, “He really lets it fly, or sends it out. He casts, or throws, it out.”

Scripture References – Note other uses of this Hebrew word:

Pro 6:19, “A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren .”

Pro 16:28, “ A froward man soweth strife : and a whisperer separateth chief friends.”

Pro 6:14 Word Study on “discord” – Gesenius says the Hebrew word “discord” ( ) (H4066) means, “Strife, contention.” Holladay says it means, “To quarrel, dispute, nag.” The Enhanced Strong says This Hebrew word is used 18 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “strife 7, contention 3, discord 1, variant 7.” This Hebrew word occurs 15 in the book of Proverbs

Scripture References – Note other uses of this word:

Pro 15:18, “A wrathful man stirreth up strife : but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.”

Pro 26:20, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.”

Pro 6:14 Comments – As in Pro 6:13, we can also see the actions of the three-fold part of man in this verse. Pro 6:14 seems to repeat Pro 6:13 by also describing the three-fold make-up of the wicked man, but from a different perspective. The heart of the evil person is seen in the phrase, “frowardness is in his heart”. The soul, or mind, of man is seen in the phrase, “he deviseth mischief continually.” The body is seen in the actions of the man, which is found in the phrase, “he soweth discord.” Thus, a wicked heart influences the mind to think of evil devises, and these evil thoughts result in wicked actions.

Pro 6:15  Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

Pro 6:15 “ suddenly shall he be broken without remedy” Word Study on “remedy” – Strong says the Hebrew word “remedy” means, “curative.” The Enhanced Strong says this word is used 16 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “ health 5, healing 3, remedy 3, incurable 1, cure 1, sound 1, wholesome 1, yielding 1.”

Comments – Note other uses of this same Hebrew word “remedy” dealing with divine judgment:

2Ch 36:16, “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy .

Pro 29:1, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy .

The opposite of “remedy” would be “trouble or calamity.” Note the use of the same Hebrew as it is translated “health, healing”:

Jer 8:15, “We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health , and behold trouble!”

Jer 14:19, “Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing , and behold trouble!

Pro 6:15 Comments – The description of judgment in Pro 6:15 reminds us of Pro 1:24-32 when the sinner rejected wisdom’s call and chose calamities rather than peace and rest. This person is characterized by one who has problems in life and there seems to be no help. He does not understand why such bad things happen to him.

Pro 6:16  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

Pro 6:16 Word Study on “hate” – Strong says the Hebrew word “hate” ( ) (H8130) is a primary root that means, “to hate.”

Pro 6:16 Comments – An abomination is something abominable, detestable, offensive.

Pro 6:19  A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Pro 6:19 Word Study on “discord” Webster defines the word “discord” as “disagreement, or lack of concord (agreement) and may imply quarreling: strife or dissension, disagreement, especially with violence involved.”

Pro 6:19 Comments – A person who sows discord plants seeds, which cause discord in the lives of others. He may not be involved in the quarreling, but he can plant seeds with a word here or there that causes attitudes to harden against others. Kenneth Copeland taught how the Lord spoke to him on the subject of slander and said, “You had better give the wrong man a break than to break the wrong man.” [70]

[70] Kenneth Copeland, “Sermon,” ( Southwest Believers Convention, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Fort Worth, Texas), 8 August 2008.

Pro 6:16-19 Comments – Numerical Collections Pro 6:16-19 uses numerical collections to teach us. This style of wisdom literature is also used in Job 5:19, Job 33:14, Proverbs 30, Ecc 11:2 and in Amos 2, 3. Scholars believe that the phrase “six…seven” is intended to mean that this list is not exhaustive.

Comments – Seven Pillars of Wickedness – Just as Pro 9:1 refers to seven pillars in the house of wisdom, so does Pro 6:16-19 contrast the seven pillars of the house of the wicked. These seven pillars are listed in this passage.

Pro 9:1, “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:”

This passage lists the seven primary characteristics of a wicked man.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Characteristics of Evil People: Earthly Wisdom Pro 6:12 to Pro 7:27 is a lengthy passage of Scripture deals with the characteristics of evil people, both the wicked man and the adulteress. This passage of Scripture teaches us about the nature of earthly wisdom, which is described as “earthly, sensual and devilish” (Jas 3:15).

Jas 3:15, “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.”

As we step back and evaluate the lessons that we have learned thus far, we find a common factor in each of these sections. They all begin with wisdom calling us to take heed to God’s Words. Every one of these sections, the three paths of wisdom as well as the three paths of the fool, all begin with this came charge. This is because when we take time each day to mediate and study God’s Word, we allow our minds and hearts to become established in the truth so that we will not be deceived by all of the noise from the world.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. The Characteristics of the Wicked Man (Pro 6:12-19)

2. The Characteristics of the Adulteress (Pro 6:20 to Pro 7:27)

The Adulteress Woman – Proverbs 5-7 deals in large part with the issue of an adulteress woman. Why would this lengthy introduction spend so much time describing and warning the readers about the harlot? Perhaps because this is the one area that trapped and deceived Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived. Also, in a figurative sense, such spiritual adultery represents a believer who chooses to love the things of this world above his love for God. This seduction led to his backsliding from God. Therefore, much attention is given to this issue in the writings of Solomon.

1Ki 11:4, “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”

An interesting writing on the seduction of women is given in a writing called The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. [69]

[69] The author writes, “Pay no heed, therefore, to the beauty of women, and muse not upon their doings; but walk in singleness of heart in the fear of the Lord, and be labouring in works, and roaming in study and among your flocks, until the Lord give to you a wife whom He will, that ye suffer not as I did. Until my father’s death I had not boldness to look stedfastly into the face of Jacob, or to speak to any of my brethren, because of my reproach; and even until now my conscience afflicteth me by reason of my sin. And my father comforted me; for he prayed for me unto the Lord, that the anger of the Lord might pass away from me, even as the Lord showed me. From henceforth, then, I was protected, and I sinned not. Therefore, my children, observe all things whatsoever I command you, and ye shall not sin. For fornication is the destruction of the soul, separating it from God, and bringing it near to idols, because it deceiveth the mind and understanding, and bringeth down young men into hell before their time. For many hath fornication destroyed; because, though a man be old or noble, it maketh him a reproach and a laughing-stock with Beliar and the sons of men. For in that Joseph kept himself from every woman, and purged his thoughts from all fornication, he found favour before the Lord and men. For the Egyptian woman did many things unto him, and called for magicians, and offered him love potions, and the purpose of his soul admitted no evil desire. Therefore the God of my fathers delivered him from every visible and hidden death. For if fornication overcome not the mind, neither shall Beliar overcome you. Hurtful are women, my children; because, since they have no power or strength over the man, they act subtilly through outward guise how they may draw him to themselves; and whom they cannot overcome by strength, him they overcome by craft. For moreover the angel of God told me concerning them, and taught me that women are overcome by the spirit of fornication more than men, and they devise in their heart against men; and by means of their adornment they deceive first their minds, and instil the poison by the glance of their eye, and then they take them captive by their doings, for a woman cannot overcome a man by force.” ( The Testaments Of The Twelve Patriarchs 1.5-4)

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Pro 6:12. A naughty person In the Hebrew a man of Belial, with a froward mouth, Houbigant renders, distorting his mouth. The LXX read, Walketh in ways that are not right. A froward, or distorted mouth, signifies a speech void of truth, fidelity, and honesty.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

One might be prompted to suppose that the sacred Writer had in view, when he thus expressed himself, the seed of the serpent. A naughty person, in scripture language, is a man of Belial; and so it might have been rendered. And of such characters it is not sufficiently expressive to say, that they may commit error, but in fact frowardness is in the heart of all such; it forms their very nature. The Apostle, under the inspiration of the Spirit, called one of these men of Belial, child of the devil. Act 13:10 . See another instance. Joh 8:44 . And the beloved apostle draws the line of distinction between the children of the kingdom, and the children of the evil one. 1Jn 3:10 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Pro 6:12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

Ver. 12. A naughty person. ] Lo, every idle man is a naughty man; is, or ere long will be; for by doing nothing, men learn to do evil, said the heathen. a And “thou wicked and slothful servant,” saith our Saviour. Mat 25:26 He puts no difference between nequam et nequaquam, an idle and an evil person. The devil also will not long suffer such a one to be idle, but will soon set him to work. Idleness is the hour of temptation.

A wicked man. ] Or, An unprofitable man, vir nihili; good for nothing, but to eat, and drink, and sleep, and sport, and sit, and talk, and laugh, and be merry. These are nothing; nay, they are excrements in human society; that live in the world to no purpose, yea, to bad purpose. Oh, it is good, saith one b to do something whereby the world may be the better; and not to come hither merely as rats and mice, only to devour victuals, and to run squeaking up and down.

Walketh with a froward mouth. ] Graditur ore perverso. Nothing more usual with idlebies than to go tattling up and down, prying, and spying, and carrying tales and rumours. 1Ti 5:13 See Trapp on “ 1Ti 5:13 “ It is nothing that they can do; they will say the more therefore; , . 2Th 3:11

a Nihil agendo male agere discunt.

b Mr Wheatly.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

naughty person. Hebrew a man of Belial = a worthless person. Like Anglo-Saxon na (= no, or not) and wiht (= a thing) = a thing of naught: i.e. worthless.

wicked. Hebrew. ‘aven. App-44.

froward = perverse. Same word as in Pro 4:24; Pro 11:20; Pro 17:20; Pro 22:5. Not the same as elsewhere in Proverbs.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Pro 6:12-19

Pro 6:12-19

WARNING AGAINST DECEITFUL MEN; THINGS GOD HATES (THE ELEVENTH DISCOURSE)

“A worthless person, a man of iniquity,

Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;

That winketh with his eyes, that speaketh with his feet,

That maketh signs with his fingers;

In whose heart is perverseness,

Who deviseth evil continually,

Who soweth discord.

Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;

On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.

There are six things which Jehovah hateth;

Yea, seven which are an abomination unto him:

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

And hands that shed innocent blood;

A heart that deviseth wicked purposes,

Feet that are swift in running to mischief,

A false witness that uttereth lies,

And he that soweth discord among brethren.”

“A worthless person, a man of iniquity” (Pro 6:12). Beginning here and through Pro 6:15 we have a description of a wicked and deceitful man; but it is not revealed just what was meant by the various winks, signs, gestures and other bodily movements by which he made evil signals, communicated with confederates, or in other ways hoodwinked, deceived and conspired against his victims. The picture of this evil person that emerges here is that of an underhanded deceiver who concealed his true intentions by these `signs’ and `signals.’ “There is a similar description of a corrupt person, with a prediction of his coming to a bad end in Pro 26:23-26.

THE SEVEN THINGS THAT THE LORD HATES

Here again we encounter a popular memory verse. Both Harris and Delitzsch consider these seven sins as climactic, the seventh, “sowing discord among brethren” being considered as the most serious of the seven. It appears to this writer, as Driver expressed it that, “All these things belong together,” giving a number of characteristics of the same person, a person revealed here as totally evil. Note that his eyes have a proud look; his tongue tells lies; his hands murder the innocent; his heart is full of wicked purposes; his feet run quickly on evil errands – all of these are parts of one man! The last two abominable things are the composite product of all this, namely, that person who by lying speeches sows discord among brethren. In that sense, of course, we may view these as presenting a climax in the seventh. However, “It is the heart that underlies the seven vices which are an abomination to God; and it occupies the central position here,” because it is the fountain from which all evil flows.

Another significant thing here is the fact that, “This passage reflects an acquaintance with the Old Testament,” especially the Pentateuch. The Law of Moses gave specific prohibitions against all of the things mentioned here.

It has been noted that there is an amazing resemblance in the thought of these verses as compared with the Beatitudes of Matthew 5, particularly in the first and last of the two lists. “`The Lord hates a proud look,’ is practically the equivalent of, `Blessed are the poor in spirit’; and, `He that soweth discord among brethren,’ is the exact converse of, `Blessed are the peacemakers.’

Pro 6:12. One with a perverse mouth is doubly described as a man of iniquity and a worthless person. He is the former in that perverse speech is sinful; he is the latter in that he does neither God nor man good with his speech.

Pro 6:13. One who gives you signals with his eyes, feet, and fingers to speak to some but to conceal what he is saying from others is a character to be on guard against. He too is described as being a man of iniquity and a worthless person. Other references to this type of winking: Psa 35:19; Pro 10:10.

Pro 6:14. Such a worthless, iniquitous man is further described as having a perverse heart, a heart that is continually devising some kind of evil (in this verse, discord). On Pentecost the apostles were all together with one accord (Act 2:1)-unity, harmony. Discord is just the opposite. It can be sown among very dear friends by subtle-hearted person. Such takes time to grow, but in time it will produce such a crop. Pro 6:19 also refers to sowing discord among brethren.

Pro 6:15. He has plotted the downfall of others; he himself will meet his own destruction. The destruction is described in two ways: suddenly and without remedy. Other passages on being ruined without any hope of remedy: 2Ch 36:16; Pro 29:1; Jer 19:11.

Pro 6:16. God may love the world-the people (Joh 3:16), but there are things that He hates. In fact, His hatred can run to holding things in abomination (detestable). Why the unusual construction here? Evidently not only to give emphatic position to sowing discord among brethren but to call particular attention to it.

Pro 6:17. This verse shows that eyes, tongue, and hands can and do sin, and that God hates and holds in abomination sinful things done by them. Haughty eyes are also condemned in Psa 18:27 and Psa 101:5. A lying tongue is called a deceitful tongue in Psa 120:2-3. Pulpit Commentary aptly observes, Lying is the wilful perversion of truth, not only by speech but by any means whatever whereby a false impression is conveyed to the mind.

Pro 6:18. Two more ways that one can displease God to the fullest: to have a heart that thinks up evil (evil intentions, evil plots against people, etc. ) and to have feet that are quick to carry the above out. With so much evil in the world (1Jn 5:19)-all stemming, of course, from the devil-there are many such wicked hearts through which the devil works to cause it. Jer 17:9 speaks of the heart being corrupt. Prior to the Flood (and bringing it on) was the fact that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen 6:5). The implication of Joh 2:23-25 is that what is in man is not good. On the last part of our verse Isa 59:7 and Rom 3:15 say the same: Their feet run to evil and Their feet are swift to shed blood.

Pro 6:19. These two are twins: bearing false witness and sowing discord among brethren. What an act (to utter lies about a person)! What an achievement (to divide good friends)! Jesus pronounces a blessing upon the peacemaker (Mat 5:9), and this section shows the utter contempt that God has for the opposite of the peacemaker-the discord-sower. The 9th Commandment (Exo 20:16) forbade bearing false witness against ones neighbor, and yet is has often been done.

STUDY QUESTIONS – Pro 6:12-19

1. Worthless is what sense (Pro 6:12)?

2. Does Pro 6:13 make winking a sin?

3. What is discord (Pro 6:14)?

4. Where is the emphasis in Pro 6:15?

5. Why not say seven things to begin with instead of the way Pro 6:16 words it?

6. Comment on each item in Pro 6:17.

7. Comment on each item in Pro 6:18.

8. Comment on each item on Pro 6:19.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

naughty: Pro 11:6, Pro 17:4, 1Sa 17:28, Jer 24:2, Jer 24:8-10, Jam 1:21

walketh: Pro 6:14, Pro 2:12, Pro 4:24, Pro 8:13, Psa 10:3, Psa 10:7, Psa 36:3, Psa 52:2-4, Psa 59:7, Psa 73:8, Psa 73:9, Mat 12:34, Act 20:30, 1Ti 5:13, Tit 1:10, Tit 1:11, Jam 3:6

Reciprocal: Psa 10:8 – his eyes Pro 5:6 – her Pro 16:30 – shutteth Pro 17:20 – He that hath a froward heart Mic 2:1 – to Mat 15:18 – General

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Pro 6:12-15. A naughty person Hebrew, a man of Belial, a wicked man, whose continual practice it is, in one way or other, to work wickedness; walketh with a froward mouth Makes it his business, by lies; or flatteries, or slanders, or perjuries, to maintain himself in his idle courses. And if the slothful are to be condemned that do nothing, much more those that act wickedly, and contrive to do all the ill they can. He winketh with his eyes, &c. He vents his wickedness, as by his speech, so also by his gestures, by which he secretly intimates what he is ashamed or afraid to express openly to his accomplices, his intentions or desires of doing some evil to some one; he teacheth with his fingers Having declared his designs by the motion of his eyes, or feet, he points out the particular person by his fingers. Frowardness is in his heart Perverse or wicked thoughts and desires. He soweth discord Either out of malice against others, or out of a base design of improving it to his own advantage. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly And prove his utter ruin; suddenly shall he be broken When he fancies he has conducted his matters so craftily that nobody discerns his villany, he shall, on a sudden, be looked upon as the pest of mankind, and, like a vessel broken in small pieces, shall be incurably undone.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

6:12 A naughty person, {f} a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

(f) He shows to what inconvenience the idle persons and sluggards come, by calling them unthrifty, or the men of Belial, and slanderous.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes