Proverbs 6:20-35

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 6:20

My son, keep thy father's commandment ,.... These are not the words of David to Solomon continued from Proverbs 4:4 ; but the words of Solomon to his son; and not to his son only, in a strict natural relation, but to everyone that came to him for and put himself under his instruction; and to everyone that stood in such a relation to a religious father; for not the divine Being, the Father of all, is here meant, according to some Jewish writers; though the commandment no doubt is the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 6:21

Bind them continually upon thine heart ,.... Not upon the head or arm, as the words of the law were to be bound, Deuteronomy 6:3 ; to which there seems to be an allusion; and which may confirm the sense of the words given, that this respects the law of God itself, and the precepts of it, instructed in by parents; but they should be bound upon the heart, and have an abiding place in the understanding, affections, memory, and will; and tie them about thy neck ; as an ornament, instead... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 6:22

When thou goest, it shall lead thee ,.... The law of God taught by parents; this directs man in the path of duty and business of life; teaches him what way to shun, and which to walk in; it leads out of the paths of sin, and into the way in which he should go, which is most conducive to his good, and to the glory of God; it will lead him safely, so that he shall not stumble, Proverbs 3:3 ; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee ; from terrifying dreams, evil spirits, dangers by fire or... 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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 6:28

Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? He cannot; if he sets his feet upon them, and continues them ever so little on them, they will be burnt, and much more if he walks upon them; and so if a man gives way to the burning lusts of his heart after a whorish woman, and commits adultery with her, though not with frequency, he will not escape punishment in one shape or another; and much more if he continues such a lewd course of life; such practices are extremely dangerous F17 ... read more

Group of Brands