Proverbs 6:23-27

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 6:20-35

Here is, I. A general exhortation faithfully to adhere to the word of God and to take it for our guide in all our actions. 1. We must look upon the word of God both as a light (Pr. 6:23) and as a law, Pr. 6:20, 23. (1.) By its arguments it is a light, which our understandings must subscribe to; it is a lamp to our eyes for discovery, and so to our feet for direction. The word of God reveals to us truths of eternal certainty, and is built upon the highest reason. Scripture-light is the sure... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 6:23

For the commandment is a lamp ,.... The law of God is a lamp or candle to see to work by and to walk by; it enlightens the eyes and directs the feet, and makes working more pleasant, and walking more comfortable; and indeed wit, bout it a man knows not rightly what to do or where he should walk, or where he is walking; see Psalm 119:105 ; and the law is light ; it makes things clear and manifest, what is right and what is wrong; it enlightens the eyes of the understanding, whereby... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 6:24

To keep thee from the evil woman ,.... This is one use of the profit arising from attending to the instructions of parents, and to the law of God, as taught by them; to preserve from fornication and adultery, one of its precepts expressly forbidding adultery and all corporeal uncleanness; and the whole of it directing to an observance of all duties respecting God and our neighbour, which requires diligence and industry, and prevents idleness, that inlet to all sin, and especially to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 6:25

Lust not after her beauty in thine heart ,.... Do not look upon it with the eye, nor dwell upon it in the thought; the one will lead on to and kindle last in the heart, and the other will cherish it and blow it up into a flame; and lust thus conceived and nourished in the heart is no other than committing adultery, Matthew 5:28 ; neither let her take thee with her eyelids ; let her not take thee from instruction with them, so Aben Ezra, from attending to that; or let her not take thy... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 6:26

For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread ,.... To be glad of one, and to beg for one, for the least morsel; it is expressive of the extreme poverty and want which harlots bring men to, who strip them of all their substance, and then send them going to get their bread as they can; thus the prodigal, having spent his substance with harlots, was so reduced as to desire the husks which swine ate, Luke 15:13 ; so spiritual fornication or idolatry leaves men without... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 6:27

Can a man take fire in his bosom ,.... A whore is compared to fire, and is so called by the poets F15 Plauti Bacehides, Acts 4 . Sc. 9. v. 15. "Accede ad ignem hunc", Terent. Eunuehus, Acts 1 . Sc. 2. v. 5. ; and it is a saying of Pythagoras, "it is a like thing to fall into fire and into a woman F16 το εις πυρ και εις γυναικα , apud Maximum, Eclog. c. 39. ;' the Hebrew words אש , "esh", "fire", and אישה , "ishah", "a woman", have some affinity in sound; and the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 6:23

For the commandment is a lamp - It illuminates our path. It shows us how we should walk and praise God. And the law is light - 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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 6:24

To keep thee from the evil 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 sometimes it may also imply a foreign harlot, one who is also a stranger to the God of Israel. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 6:25

Neither let her take thee with her eye-lids - 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." read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 6:26

By means of a whorish woman - In following lewd women, a man is soon reduced to poverty and disease. The Septuagint gives this a strange turn: timh gar pornhv, osh kai enov artou. "For the price or hire of a whore is about one loaf." So many were they in the land, that they hired themselves out for a bare subsistence. The Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic, give the same sense. The old MS. Bible has it thus: The price forsothe of a strumpet is unneth oon lof: the woman forsothe taketh the precious... read more

Group of Brands