Proverbs 6:20-23

Warnings Against Adultery

20 1My son, keep your father's commandment, 2and forsake not your mother's teaching.
21 3Bind them on your heart always; 4tie them around your neck.
22 5When you walk, they[a] will lead you; 6when you lie down, they will 7watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is 8a lamp and the teaching a light, and the 9reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

Proverbs 6:20-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 6

In this chapter the wise man dissuades from rash suretyship; exposes the sin of idleness; describes a wicked man; makes mention of seven things hateful to God; exhorts to attend to parental instructions and precepts, and cautions against adultery. Suretyship is described, Pr 6:1; and represented as a snare and a net, in which men are taken, Pr 6:2; and advice is given what to do in such a case, for safety in it, and deliverance from it, Pr 6:3-5; The sin of slothfulness is exposed, by observing the industry of the ant, Pr 6:6-8; by expostulating with the sluggard for his continuance in sloth, and by mimicking him, Pr 6:9,10; and by the poverty it brings upon him, Pr 6:11. Then a naughty wicked man is described, by his mouth, eyes, feet, fingers, and heart, whose ruin is sudden and inevitable, Pr 6:11-15. The seven things hateful to God are particularly named, Pr 6:16-19. And next the exhortation in some preceding chapters is reassumed, to attend to the instructions of parents; which will be found ornamental, pleasant, and useful, Pr 6:20-23. Especially to preserve from the lewd woman cautioned against, Pr 6:24,25; whose company is dissuaded from; on account of the extreme poverty and distress she brings persons to, and even danger of life, Pr 6:26; from the unavoidable ruin such come into, Pr 6:27-29; from the sin of uncleanness being greater than that of theft, Pr 6:30,31; from the folly the adulterer betrays; from the destruction of his soul, and the disgrace he brings on himself, Pr 6:32,33; and from the rage and irreconcilable offence of the husband of the adulteress, Pr 6:34,35.

Cross References 9

  • 1. See Proverbs 1:8
  • 2. See Proverbs 1:8
  • 3. See Proverbs 3:3
  • 4. [Job 31:36]
  • 5. See Proverbs 3:23, 24
  • 6. See Proverbs 3:23, 24
  • 7. Proverbs 2:11
  • 8. Psalms 119:105; [Psalms 13:3]
  • 9. [Proverbs 10:17]

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew it; three times in this verse
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.