Suretyship is to be avoided, because be it proverty and ruin are often brought into families. Proverty and want will certainly come upon those who are slothful. The forward man who devises mischief will surely fall into mischief. Adultery is to be looked upon with utmost dread and detestation as a sin that impoverishes men, debauches their consciences, threatens death and brings infamy upon the reputation. against idleness 6-11; description of a worthless person, 12-15; seven things hateful to God, 16-19; the benefits of instruction, 20-23; farther exhortations against wicked women 24-33; jealousy, 34, 35. 1. Cautions against rash suretiship. (1-5) 2. A rebuke to slothfulness. (6-11) 3. Seven things hateful to God. (12-19) 6:1 My son, if you be surety for your friend, if you have stricken your hand with a stranger, 6:2 You art snared with the words of your mouth, you art taken with the words of your mouth. 6:2 The licentiousness of the tongue is a great snare, and needs a strong bridle. Therefore also some one saith. “His own lips are a powerful snare to a man, and he is snared by the words of his own mouth.” Above all the other members, then, let us control this; let us bridle it; and let us expel from the mouth railings, and contumelies, and foul and slanderous language, and the evil habit of oaths. St. John Chrysostom: Concerning the Statues, 15:13. 6:3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when you art come into the hand of your friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure your friend. Continue to press him for whom You art become surety, to pay his creditor; give him no rest till he do it, else You mayest fully expect to be left to pay the debt. 6:4 Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. 6:5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. 1.Cautions against rash suretiship. (1-5) 2. A rebuke to slothfulness. (6-11) 6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Go to the ant, You sluggard, the ant, is a remarkable creature for foresight, industry, and economy. At the proper seasons they collect their food-not in the summer to lay up for the winter; for they sleep during the winter, and eat not; and therefore such hoards would be to them useless; but when the food necessary for them is most plentiful, then they collect it for their consumption in the proper seasons. No insect is more laborious, not even the bee itself; and none is more fondly attached to or more careful of its young, than the ant. When the young are in their aurelia state, in which they appear like a small grain of rice, they will bring them out of their nests, and lay them near their holes, for the benefit of the sun; and on the approach of rain, carefully remove them, and deposit them in the nest, the hole or entrance to which they will cover with a piece of thin stone or tile, to prevent the https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 6 2 wet from getting in. It is a fact that they do not lay up any meat for winter; nor does Solomon, either here or in chap. 30:25, assert it. He simply says that they provide their food in summer, and gather it in harvest; these are the most proper times for a stock to be laid in for their consumption; not in winter; for no such thing appears in any of their nests, nor do they need it, as they sleep during that season; but for autumn, during which they wake and work. Spring, summer, and autumn, they are incessant in their labor; and their conduct affords a bright example to men. 6:6 But if You art ashamed to have a woman for thy teacher, fly from sin, and You wilt quickly be able to mount up an the throne which God hath given thee. Since so long as You sinnest the Scripture sends thee not to a woman only, but even to things irrational, and those of the viler sort; yea, it is not ashamed to send thee who art honored with reason, as a disciple to the ant. St. John Chrysostom: Homilies on Matthew, 7:7. 6:6 We say, “Mark such an one, who is less than you, how earnest and watchful he is.” Do You then likewise receive from this animal the best exhortation to industry; and marvel at thy Lord, not only because He hath made heaven and the sun, but because He hath also made the ant. For although the animal be small, it affords much proof of the greatness of God’s wisdom. Consider then how prudent the ant is, and consider how God hath implanted in so small a body, such an unceasing desire of working! St. John Chrysostom: Concerning the Statues, 12:5. 6:7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 6:8 Provides her meat in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. 6:8; Be therefore prudent, copy the ant, as saith the Scripture: “Store in summer, lest You hunger in winter;” the winter is the last day, the day of tribulation; the winter is the day of offenses and of bitterness: gather what may be there for thee for the future: but if You doest not so, You wilt perish both imprudent and unwise. St. Augustine: On the Psalms, 49:12.. 6:9 How long wilt you sleep, O sluggard? when wilt you arise out of your sleep? 6:10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: Yet a little sleep, a little slumber — This, if not the language, is the feeling of the sluggard. The ant gathers its food in summer and in harvest, and sleeps in winter when it has no work to do. If the sluggard would work in the day, and sleep at night, it would be all proper. The ant yields him a lesson of reproach. 6:11 So shall your poverty come as one that travells, and your want as an armed man. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth — That is, with slow, but surely approaching steps. Thy want as an armed man. — That is, with irresistible fury; and You art not prepared to oppose it. The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Arabic add the following clause to this verse: — “But if You wilt be diligent, thy harvest shall be as a fountain; and poverty shall flee far away from thee.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 6 3 3. Seven things hateful to God. (12-19) If the slothful are to be condemned, who do nothing, much more those that do all the ill they can. Observe how such a man is described. He says and does every thing artfully, and with design. His ruin shall come without warning, and without relief. Here is a list of things hateful to God. Those sins are in a special manner provoking to God, which are hurtful to the comfort of human life. These things which God hates, we must hate in ourselves; it is nothing to hate them in others. 6:12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walks with a froward mouth. When he lost his innocence. A wicked man. He soon became a general transgressor after having departed from God. 6:12-14 Differently to be admonished are sowers of strifes and peacemakers. For sowers of strifes are to be admonished to perceive whose followers they are. For of the apostate angel it is written, when tares had been sown among the good crop, An enemy hath done this (Matthew 13:28). Of a member of him also it is said through Solomon, An apostate person, an unprofitable man, walketh with a perverse mouth, he winketh with his eyes, he beateth with his foot, he speaketh with his finger, with froward heart he deviseth mischief continually, he soweth strifes (Proverbs 6:12-14). Lo, him whom he would speak of as a sower of strifes he first named an apostate; since, unless after the manner of the proud angel he first fell away inwardly by the alienation of his mind from the face of his Maker, he would not afterwards come to sow strifes outwardly. He is rightly described too as winking with his eyes, speaking with his finger, beating with his foot. For it is inward watch that keeps the members outwardly in orderly control. He, then, who has lost stability of mind falls off outwardly into inconstancy of movement, and by his exterior mobility shews that he is stayed on no root within. Let sowers of strifes hear what is written, Blessed are the peacemakers, far they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). And on the other hand let them gather that, if they who make peace are called the children of God, without doubt those who confound it are the children of Satan. Fr. Gregory (the Great), Pastoral Rule, 23. 6:13 He winks with his eyes, he speaks with his feet, he teachs with his fingers; 6:14 Frowardness is in his heart, he devises mischief continually; he sows discord. He plots schemes and plans to bring it to pass. He soweth discord. — Between men and their wives, by seducing the latter from their fidelity. See the preceding quotation. 6:15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken wiYout remedy. Probably alluding to some punishment of the adulterer, such as being stoned to death. A multitude shall join together, and so overwhelm him with stones, that he shall have his flesh and bones broken to pieces, and there shall be no remedy-none to deliver or pity him. 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: These six-doth the Lord hate — 1. A proud look-exalted eyes; those who will not condescend to look on the rest of mankind. 2. A lying tongue-he who neither loves nor tells truth. 3. Hands that shed innocent blood, whether by murder or by battery. 4. A heart https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 6 4 that deviseth imaginations-the heart that fabricates such, lays the foundation, builds upon it, and completes the superstructure of iniquity. 5. Feet that be swift in running to mischief-he who works iniquity with greediness. 6. A false witness that speaketh lies-one who, even on his oath before a court of justice, tells any thing but the truth. Seven are an abomination unto him — wvpn naph hs , “to his soul.” The seventh is, he that soweth discord among brethren-he who troubles the peace of a family, of a village, of the state; all who, by lies and misrepresentations, strive to make men’s minds evil-affected towards their brethren. 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 6:18 An heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 6:19 A false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren. 4. Exhortations to walk according to God’s commandments. (20-35) The word of God has something to say to us upon all occasions. Let not faithful reproofs ever make us uneasy. When we consider how much this sin abounds, how heinous adultery is in its own nature, of what evil consequence it is, and how certainly it destroys the spiritual life in the soul, we shall not wonder that the cautions against it are so often repeated. Let us notice the subjects of this chapter. Let us remember Him who willingly became our Surety, when we were strangers and enemies. And shall Christians, who have such prospects, motives, and examples, be slothful and careless? Shall we neglect what is pleasing to God, and what he will graciously reward? May we closely watch every sense by which poison can enter our minds or affection. 6:20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother: 6:21 Bind them continually upon your heart, and tie them about your neck. 6:22 When you goest, it shall lead you; when you sleepest, it shall keep you; and when you awakest, it shall talk with you. Here the law is personified; and is represented as a nurse, teacher, and guardian, by night and day. An upright man never goes but as directed by God’s word and led by God’s Spirit. When You sleepest — He commends his body and soul to the protection of his Maker when he lies down and sleeps in peace. And when he awakes in the morning, the promises and mercies of God are the first things that present themselves to his recollection. 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: It illuminates our path. It shows us how we should walk and praise God. A general light, showing the nature and will of GOD, and the interest and duty of MAN. And reproofs of instruction — Or, that instruction which reproves us for our sins and errors leads us into the way of life. 6:24 To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Solomon had suffered sorely from this quarter; and hence his repeated cautions and warnings to others. The strange woman always means one that is not a man’s own; and https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 6 5 sometimes it may also imply a foreign harlot, one who is also a stranger to the God of Israel. 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in your heart; neither let her take you with her eyelids. It is a very general custom in the East to paint the eye-lids. I have many Asiatic drawings in which this is expressed. They have a method of polishing the eyes with a preparation of antimony, so that they appear with an indescribable lustre; or, as one who mentions the fact from observation, “Their eyes appear to be swimming in bliss.” 6:25 Let not desire of beauty overcome you. Many nets and many snares are spread by the devil. The look of a harlot is the snare of him who loves her. Our own eyes are nets to us, wherefore it is written: “Be not taken with thine eyes.” So, then, we spread nets for ourselves in which we are entangled and hampered. We bind chains on ourselves, as we read: “For every one is bound with the chains of his own sins.” St. Ambrose: Concerning Repentance, 1:14:73. 6:26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life. 6:25 Therefore, we do not allow any man whatsoever to sit with a married woman; much less to live in the same house with a maiden who has taken the vow, or to sleep where she sleeps, or to be constantly with her. For this is to be hated and abominated by those who fear God. Epistle 2 of the Blessed Clement concerning Virginity, 9. 6:27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 6:27 Let us then flee it (this fire of lust) as though following us, though indeed it follows not behind us, but within our very selves. Let us then diligently take heed lest while we are fleeing from it we carry it with ourselves. For we wish for the most part to flee, but if we do not wholly cast it out of our mind, we rather take it up than forsake it. Let us then spring over it, lest it be said to us: “Walk ye in the flame of your fire, which ye have kindled for yourselves.” (Isa. 50:11). For as he who “takes fire into his bosom burns his clothes,” so he who walks upon fiery coals must of necessity burn his feet, as it is written: “Can one walk upon coals of fire and not burn his feet?” St. Ambrose: Concerning Repentance, 1:14:75. 6:27 Evil lust is like a burning and a fire. Doth fire consume a garment, and doth not the lust of adultery consume the soul?. St. Augustine: On the Psalms, 58:12. 6:27 But granted that the eye has fallen upon another, at least let not the inward affection follow. For to have seen is no sin, but one must be careful that it be not the source of sin. The bodily eye sees, but let the eye of the heart be closed; let modesty of mind remain. We have a Lord Who is both strict and indulgent… The Lord said: “Whoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:28). He does not say, “Whosoever shall look hath committed adultery,” but https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 6 6 “Whosoever shall look on her to last after her.” He condemned not the look but sought out the inward affection. St. Ambrose: Concerning Repentance, 1:14:70. 6:27 That You mayest not say, What harm is there in the eyes, when there is no necessity that he should be perverted who looks? he shows thee that desire is a fire, and the flesh is like a garment. The latter is an easy prey, and the former is a tyrant. And when anything harmful is not only taken within, but also held fast, it will not go forth again until it has made an exit for itself. For he who looks upon a woman, even Yough he escape the temptation, does not come away pure of all lust. And why should one have trouble, if he can be chavee and free of trouble? See what Job says: “I made a covenant with mine eyes, that I should not think of another’s wife.” Thus well does he know the power of abuse. And Paul for this reason kept “under his body, and brought it into subjection.” And, figuratively speaking, he keeps a fire in his breast who permits an impure Yought to dwell in his heart. And he walks upon coals who, by sinning in act, destroys his own soul. From the Commentary of St. Hippolytus on Proverbs 6:28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? 6:29 So he that goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. So he that goeth In to his neighbor’s wife — As sure as he who takes fire into his bosom, or who walks upon live coals, is burnt thereby; so sure he that seduces his neighbour’s wife shall be guilty. That is, he shall be punished. 6:30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; 6:31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house. 6:30,32 LXX The thief is a grievous offender, but not so grievous a one as the adulterer: for the former, though it be a sorry reason for his conduct, yet at the same time has to plead the necessity arising from indigence; but the latter, when no necessity compels him, by his mere madness rushes into the gulf of iniquity. St. John Chrysostom: Concerning the Statues, 10:11. 6:32 But whoso commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding: he that does it destroys his own soul. 6:33 A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. Among the Romans, when a man was caught in the fact, the injured husband took the law into his own hand; and a large radish was thrust up into the anus of the transgressor, which not only overwhelmed him with infamy and disgrace, but generally caused his death. 6:34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. 6:35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, Yough you gives many gifts. https://coptic-treasures.com/ 7:22 “If it is the incarnate Lord who says ‘I am the way,’ (John 14:6). and ‘No man cometh unto the Father but by me,’ (John 14:6). it is He Himself Who said, ‘The Lord created me beginning of ways.’ The word is also used of the creation and making of a begotten being, as ‘I have created a man through the Lord,’ and again ‘He begat sons and daughters,’ (Gen. 5:4). and so David, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God,’ (Ps. 51:10). not asking for another, but for the cleansing of the heart he had. And a new creature is spoken of, not as Yough another creation came into being, but because the enlightened are established in better works. If the Father created the Son for works, He created Him not on account of Himself, but on account of the works. But that which comes into being on account of something else, and not on its own account, is either a part of that on account of which it came into being, or is inferior. The Savior will then be either a part of the creature, or inferior to the creature. We must understand the passage of the manhood. And it might be said that Solomon uttered these words of the same wisdom whereof the Apostle makes mention in the passage ‘For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.’ (1 Cor. 1:21). It must moreover be borne in mind that the speaker is not a prophet, but a writer of proverbs. Now proverbs are figures of other things, not the actual things which are uttered. If it was God the Son Who said, The Lord created me,’ He would rather have said, ‘The Father created me.’ Nowhere did He call Him Lord, but always Father. The word ‘begot’, then, must be understood in reference to God the Son, and the word created, in reference to Him who took on Him the form of a servant. In all these cases we do not mention two, God apart and man apart (for He was One), but in Yought we take into account the nature of each. Peter had not two in his mind when he said, ‘Christ hath offered for us in the flesh (1 Peter 4:1). If, they argue, the Son is a thing begotten and not a thing made, how does Scripture say, ‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, Whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ’? (Acts 2:36). We must also say here that this was spoken according to the flesh about the Son of Man; just as the angel who announced the glad tidings to the shepherds says, ‘To you is born to — day a Savior, ‘Who is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2:11). The word ‘to — day’ could never be understood of Him Who was before the ages. This is more clearly shewn by what comes afterwards where it is said, ‘That same Jesus whom ye have crucified " (Acts 2:36). If when the Son was born He was then made wisdom, it is untrue that He was ‘the power of God and the wisdom of God.’ (1 Cor. 1:14). His wisdom did not come into being, but existed always. And so, as Yough of the Father, it is said by David, ‘Be You, God, my defender,’ (Ps. 31:2 LXX). and again, ‘You art become my salvation’ (Ps. 118:21), and so Paul, ‘Let God be true, but every man a liar.’ (Rom. 3:4). Thus the Lord ‘of God is made unto us wisdom and sanctification and redemption.’ (1 Cor. 1:30). Now when the Father was made defender and true, He was not a thing made; and similarly when the Son was made wisdom and sanctification, He was not a thing made. If it is true that there is one God the Father, it is assuredly also true that there is one Lord Jesus Christ the Savior. According to them the Savior is not God nor the Father Lord, and it is written in vain, ‘the Lord said unto my Lord.’ (Ps. 110:1). False is the statement, ‘Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee.’ (Ps. 45:8). False too, ‘The Lord rained from the Lord.’ (Gen. 19:24). False, ‘God created in the image of God.’ (Gen. 1:27). and ‘Who is God save the Lord?’ and ‘Who is a God save our God.’ False the statement of John that ‘the Word was God and the Word was with God; and the words of Thomas of the Son, ‘my Lord and my God.’ The distinctions, then, ought https://coptic-treasures.com/ to be referred to creatures and to those who are falsely and not properly called gods, and not to the Father and to the Son.” St. Basil the Great: On Proverbs 7:22. The Lord created Me (LXX.). 7:26 You have seen her mischief. Wait not to admit the rising of lust; for her death is everlasting. And for the rest, by her words, her arguments in sooth, she wounds, and by her sins she kills those who yield to her. For many are the forms of wickedness that lead the foolish down to hell. And the chambers of death mean either its depths or its treasure. How, then, is escape possible? From the Commentary of St. Hippolytus on Proverbs 7:2 “Honor the Lord, and be strong: but fear not another besides Him,” we understand it to be meant fearing to sin, and following the commandments given by God, which is the honor that cometh from God. For the fear of God is De>ov [in Greek]. But if fear is perturbation of mind, have it that fear is perturbation of mind, yet all fear is not perturbation. Superstition is indeed perturbation of mind; being the fear of demons, that produce and are subject to the excitement of passion. On the other hand, consequently, the fear of God, who is not subject to perturbation, is free of perturbation. For it is not God, but failing away from God, that the man is terrified for. And he who fears this — that is, falling into evils — fears and dreads those evils. And he who fears a fall, wishes himself to be free of corruption and perturbation. “The wise man, fearing, avoids evil: but the foolish, trusting, mixes himself with it,” says the Scripture; and again it says, “In the fear of the LORD is the hope of strength.” St. Clement of Alexandria: Stromata 2:9.
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