¹My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor, have given a pledge for a stranger … ⁶Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise … ¹²A worthless person, a wicked man, is the one who walks with a perverse mouth …¹⁶There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him … ²⁰My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother …

The early part of Proverbs, as we have seen, repeatedly returns to the foolishness and tragedy of giving in to the temptation of illicit sex. This is not because God is obsessed with sex, but He uses it as a poignant and relatable illustration of the choice between wise and foolish living. His concern extends to all of life as a general principle. This explains how easily the text of Proverbs switches from the illustration to a foretaste of the compendium of practical proverbs in chapters 10-31. When we get there, we will see that the application of wise living moves to the more granular, from principle to practice. The individual proverbs are like tools for helping us work our way through life, making smart choices and not foolish ones.

Proverbs 6:1-23 has the apparent form of an excursus, a break in the flow of thought, an aside, and then the author goes back to his main topic. In the immediate context (chapter 5), Solomon is writing about the foolishness of illicit sexual activity. He goes back to that subject (in particular, adultery) in verse 24 and continues on that theme through the end of chapter 7. But, as we have noted before, the main topic is not sex but wisdom versus foolishness. So this section is an interlude in an illustration to bring us back to the main idea: wise living versus foolish living. Solomon will flesh this out more after this “break” in thought, but he is moving us to see clearly the depths of foolishness conceptually.

We are reminded of the apostle Paul when he described the downward spiral of rejecting the knowledge of God, ending up in gross sexual perversion (Rom. 1:18-33). In a clip reminiscent of the book of Proverbs, he writes, “Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:22).

Back to the excursus, Solomon tackles three general areas of life where wisdom and foolishness battle for our minds and hearts, then lists out seven things God hates and finally returns to honoring parental teaching that he emphasized in the first chapters of Proverbs. The book returns to each of these themes repeatedly.

First, we should avoid at all costs hastily becoming surety for other people, whether a neighbor or, more particularly, a stranger (vss. 1-5). This is where we pledge to hold ourselves legally responsible for someone else’s financial debts, to pay their debts should they default or renege. The assumption is that we have all experienced a situation that puts us in a position to take on the consequences of others’ foolish choices. Wisdom teaches us to learn from our mistakes and do whatever it takes to extricate ourselves. The book comes back to this general area of life repeatedly.

The second area of life involves becoming a hard, diligent worker who personally takes responsibility for providing for the future (vss. 6-11), that is, one who takes his place as a contributor, not a taker. The warning is to avoid being a “sluggard,” a lazy person, which will only lead to stealing from others who work hard. Again, this is a repeating theme in Proverbs.

Third, the section deals with the subject of duplicity, or what we might call narcissism (vss. 12-15). Solomon refers to a person as a “worthless person, a wicked man.” The description is a warning and implicit teaching of wisdom without actually putting it in the form of a command. This person says one thing purposely to distort reality. The foolishness of such a life is self-evident and may become irreversible; that is, there is no hope for such a person.

Fourth, in a phrase form repeated frequently in Proverbs, “six things … yes, seven,” Solomon lays down a definitive list of things God hates (vss. 16-19), covering many of the subjects addressed in detail in chapters 10-31. And then he circles back to the importance of honoring the parental teaching we have each received (vss. 20-23).

As pointed out earlier, this section is not a complete change of subject but a prelude to the bulk of the proverbial teachings of the book. It is included here to show that the topic of illicit sex and adultery is not just teaching about how to act in the sensual area of life but is a supreme illustration of wisdom. And here in Proverbs 6:1-23, we have a brief outline (as it were) of the topics to be addressed in the day in, day out decisions of life. In light of that, we will address each of the general areas next.

Lord, thank You for teaching and illustrating the general principles of wisdom so that I will be equipped with the proper framework for learning the particular applications of wisdom.