Proverbs 6:16–6:19
Sources
Reformed ConsensusReformation Study BibleGeneva Bible Notes (1599)John Trapp (1647)Matthew Poole (1685)John Gill (1748)Matthew Henry (1714)Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBarnes (1832)Cross-References (TSK)Reformed Consensus
The numerical saying of Proverbs 6:16–19 — "six things the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him" — employs a common Hebrew rhetorical device not to enumerate a complete catalogue of evil but to arrest the reader's attention and drive home the cumulative weight of sins that flow from a corrupt inner life. Commentators in the Reformed tradition, from Calvin to Bridges to Waltke, observe that pride heads the list deliberately: haughty eyes represent the root disposition from which every subsequent sin springs, for the creature who refuses to reckon with God's sovereign majesty will inevitably lie, plot, and destroy. The movement from inner attitude (proud eyes, devising heart) to outward action (lying tongue, rushing feet, shedding blood) illustrates the Reformers' insistence that depravity is not merely behavioral but proceeds from a disordered will bent away from God. Particularly striking is the double mention of falsehood — the lying tongue and the false witness — underscoring that God's own truthfulness makes him uniquely intolerant of deceit, which strikes at the very fabric of covenant community. The climactic abomination, sowing discord among brothers, reminds the covenant people that unity is not a peripheral concern but a reflection of the God whose triune life is perfect harmony, so that the troublemaker who tears apart the community attacks a living image of divine fellowship itself.
Reformation Study Bible
These verses are the first of the numerical sayings in Proverbs (cf, 30:15-31). The form of these sayings suggests a kind of riddle with an answer provided, not to dispose of the question, but to invite further appropriate answers. Wisdom literature often lists things together that are perceived to have something in common. Relationships are estab- lished in surprising ways, and the process of discerning orderly relation- ships in the universe increases wisdom. This unit is quite distinct from the previous one (vy. 12-15), but is probably placed next to it for devel- opment of the theme. Whereas v. 15 expresses the perspective of an unspecified natural retribution, this saying implies that the Lord renders judgment (5:21-23 note). | six... seven. The use of successive numbers is a common device in Hebrew poetry (Job 5:19; Amos 1:3).
Geneva Bible Notes (1599)
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
John Trapp (1647)
These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: These six things doth the Lord hate. — That is, He detesteth, damneth, punisheth them in the sluggard, whose soul is the sink of all these ensuing evils. Where note, that sin makes wicked men the object of God’s hatred; the saints, of his pity: as we hate poison in a toad, but we pity it in a man; in the one, it is their nature, in the other, their disease. Yea, seven are an abomination to him. — Or, That seventh Septimum abominatio animae illius. his soul abhorreth, that sowing of discord among brethren heighteneth and completeth his hatred of the rest.
Matthew Poole (1685)
Hate, to wit, above many other sins, which have a worse name in the world.
John Gill (1748)
These six things doth the Lord hate,.... That is, the six following, which are all to be found in a man of Belial, a wicked man before described. There are other things besides these that God hates, and indeed more so; as sins against the first table, which more immediately strike at his being, horror, and glory; these being such as are against the second table, but are mentioned, as more especially appearing in the character of the above person; and must be hateful to God, as contrary to his nature, will, and law; yea, seven are an abomination unto him; or, "the abomination of his soul" (c); what his soul abhors, or he abhors from his very heart: meaning not seven others, but one more along with the six, which make seven; a like way of speaking, see in Proverbs 30:15 . Nor is the word "abomination" to be restrained to the "seventh", or "hatred" to the "sixth"; but they are all to be supposed to be hateful and abominable to the Lord; though some think the cardinal number is put for the ordinal, "seven" for the "seventh"; as if the seventh, which is sowing discord among brethren, was of all the most abominable, Proverbs 6:19 ; it being what was last mentioned in the character of the wicked man, Proverbs 6:14 ; and which seems to have given occasion to, and for the sake of which this enumeration is made. (c) "abominatio ejus animae", Montanus, Vatablus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens.
Matthew Henry (1714)
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. Let us shun all such practices, and watch and pray against them; and avoid, with marked disapproval, all who are guilty of them, whatever may be their rank.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16-19. six … seven—a mode of speaking to arrest attention (Pr 30:15, 18; Job 5:19).
Barnes (1832)
A new section, but not a new subject. The closing words, "he that soweth discord" ( Proverbs 6:19 , compare Proverbs 6:14 ), lead us to identify the sketch as taken from the same character. With the recognized Hebrew form of climax (see Proverbs 30:15 , Proverbs 30:18 , Proverbs 30:24 ; Amos 1:1-15 ; 2; Job 5:19 ), the teacher here enumerates six qualities as detestable, and the seventh as worse than all (seven represents completeness), but all the seven in this instance belong to one man, the man of Belial Proverbs 6:12 .
Cross-References (TSK)
Proverbs 6:15; Proverbs 6:17; Proverbs 8:13; Proverbs 30:18; Amos 1:3; Amos 2:1; Proverbs 3:32; Proverbs 11:1; Proverbs 15:8; Proverbs 17:15; Proverbs 20:10; Deuteronomy 18:10; Deuteronomy 23:18; Deuteronomy 24:4; Deuteronomy 25:16; Revelation 21:27; Psalms 11:5; Proverbs 6:1; Proverbs 6:6; Proverbs 6:12; Proverbs 6:16; Proverbs 6:20; Proverbs 6:25; Ezra 9:14; Job 15:16; Psalms 101:5; Proverbs 1:22; Proverbs 5:12; Psalms 120:6; Psalms 119:164; Job 42:12; Proverbs 3:22; Proverbs 8:7; Proverbs 26:25; Proverbs 21:27; Proverbs 11:15; Proverbs 6:31; Isaiah 6:2; Proverbs 6:30