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Proverbs 6-7

Chapter 6 Miscellaneous Proverbs^[a]

Against Going Surety for One’s Neighbor

¹^[b]My son, if you have become surety to your neighbor,^(A)
    given your hand in pledge to another,
²You have been snared by the utterance of your lips,
    caught by the words of your mouth;
³So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s power:
Go, hurry, rouse your neighbor!
⁴Give no sleep to your eyes,
    nor slumber to your eyelids;
⁵Free yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,
    or like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

The Ant and the Sluggard at Harvest

⁶^[c]Go to the ant,^(B) O sluggard,
    study her ways and learn wisdom;
⁷For though she has no chief,
    no commander or ruler,
⁸She procures her food in the summer,
    stores up her provisions in the harvest.
⁹How long, O sluggard, will you lie there?
    when will you rise from your sleep?
¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the arms to rest—^[d]
¹¹Then poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like a brigand.

The Scoundrel

¹²^[e]Scoundrels, villains, are they
    who deal in crooked talk.
¹³Shifty of eye,
    feet ever moving,
    pointing with fingers,
¹⁴They have perversity in their hearts,
    always plotting evil,
    sowing discord.
¹⁵Therefore their doom comes suddenly;
    in an instant they are crushed beyond cure.

What the Lord Rejects

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,
    yes, seven^[f] are an abomination to him;
¹⁷^[g]Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸A heart that plots wicked schemes,
    feet that are quick to run to evil,
¹⁹The false witness who utters lies,
    and the one who sows discord among kindred.

Warning Against Adultery^[h]

²⁰Observe, my son, your father’s command,
    and do not reject your mother’s teaching;
²¹Keep them fastened over your heart always,
    tie them around your neck.
²²When you lie down they^[i] will watch over you,
    when you wake, they will share your concerns;
    wherever you turn, they will guide you.
²³For the command is a lamp, and the teaching a light,
    and a way to life are the reproofs that discipline,
²⁴Keeping you from another’s wife,
    from the smooth tongue of the foreign woman.^(C)
²⁵Do not lust in your heart after her beauty,
    do not let her captivate you with her glance!^(D)
²⁶For the price of a harlot
    may be scarcely a loaf of bread,
But a married woman
    is a trap for your precious life.
²⁷^[j]Can a man take embers into his bosom,
    and his garments not be burned?
²⁸Or can a man walk on live coals,
    and his feet not be scorched?
²⁹So with him who sleeps with another’s wife—
    none who touches her shall go unpunished.^(E)
³⁰Thieves are not despised
    if out of hunger they steal to satisfy their appetite.
³¹Yet if caught they must pay back sevenfold,
    yield up all the wealth of their house.
³²But those who commit adultery have no sense;
    those who do it destroy themselves.
³³^[k]They will be beaten and disgraced,
    and their shame will not be wiped away;
³⁴For passion enrages the husband,
    he will have no pity on the day of vengeance;
³⁵He will not consider any restitution,
    nor be satisfied by your many bribes.

Chapter 7 The Seduction^[l]

¹^[m]My son, keep my words,
    and treasure my commands.
²Keep my commands and live,^[n]
    and my teaching as the apple of your eye;
³Bind them on your fingers,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.^(F)
⁴Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister!”^[o]
    Call Understanding, “Friend!”
⁵That they may keep you from a stranger,
    from the foreign woman with her smooth words.^(G)
⁶For at the window of my house,
    through my lattice I looked out^[p]
⁷And I saw among the naive,
    I observed among the young men,
    a youth with no sense,
⁸Crossing the street near the corner,
    then walking toward her house,
⁹In the twilight, at dusk of day,
    in the very dark of night.
¹⁰Then the woman comes to meet him,
    dressed like a harlot, with secret designs.
¹¹She is raucous and unruly,
    her feet cannot stay at home;
¹²Now she is in the streets, now in the open squares,
    lurking in ambush at every corner.
¹³Then she grabs him, kisses him,
    and with an impudent look says to him:
¹⁴“I owed peace offerings,
    and today I have fulfilled my vows;
¹⁵So I came out to meet you,
    to look for you, and I have found you!
¹⁶With coverlets I have spread my couch,
    with brocaded cloths of Egyptian linen;
¹⁷I have sprinkled my bed^[q] with myrrh,
    with aloes, and with cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let us drink our fill of love,
    until morning, let us feast on love!
¹⁹For my husband is not at home,^[r]
    he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰A bag of money he took with him,
    he will not return home till the full moon.”
²¹She wins him over by repeated urging,
    with her smooth lips she leads him astray.^[s]^(H)
²²He follows her impulsively,
    like an ox that goes to slaughter;
Like a stag that bounds toward the net,
²³    till an arrow pierces its liver;
Like a bird that rushes into a snare,
    unaware that his life is at stake.
²⁴So now, children, listen to me,^[t]
    be attentive to the words of my mouth!
²⁵Do not let your heart turn to her ways,
    do not go astray in her paths;
²⁶For many are those she has struck down dead,
    numerous, those she has slain.
²⁷Her house is a highway to Sheol,
    leading down into the chambers of death.^(I)

Footnotes

6:1–19 Four independent pieces akin to those in 30:1–5, 6–11, 12–15, and 16–19. Some judge the verses to be an ancient addition, but the fact that the pieces differ from the other material in chaps. 1–9 is not a strong argument against their originality. Ancient anthologies did not always have the symmetry of modern collections. An editor may have placed the four pieces in the midst of the three poems on the forbidden woman to shed light on some of their themes. Verses 1–5 warn against getting trapped by one’s words to another person (the Hebrew word for “another” is the same used for the forbidden woman); vv. 6–11 proposes the ant as a model of forethought and diligence; vv. 12–15 describes the reprobate who bears some similarity to the seductive woman, especially as portrayed in chap. 7; vv. 16–19 depicts the typical enemy of God, underscoring the person’s destructive words.
6:1–5 Unlike other instructions that begin with “my son,” this instruction does not urge the hearer to store up the father’s words as a means to wisdom, but only to avoid one practice—going surety for one’s neighbor. The warning is intensified by repetition of “neighbor” and “free yourself,” the mention of bodily organs, and the imagery of hunting. Given your hand in pledge: lit., “struck your hands”; this was probably the legal method for closing a contract. To become surety meant intervening in favor of the insolvent debtor and assuming responsibility for the payment of the debt, either by obtaining it from the debtor or substituting oneself. Proverbs is strongly opposed to the practice (11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26–27; 27:13) apparently because of the danger it poses to the freedom of the one providing surety.
6:6–11 The sluggard or lazybones is a type in Proverbs, like the righteous and the wicked. Sometimes the opposite type to the sluggard is the diligent person. Other extended passages on the sluggard are 24:30–34 and 26:13–16. The malice of the type is not low physical energy but the refusal to act. To describe human types, Proverbs often uses comparisons from the animal world, e.g., 27:8 (bird); 28:1, 15 (lion); 30:18–19 (eagle, snake); 30:24–28 (ant, badger, locust, lizard).
6:10 This verse may be regarded as the sluggard’s reply or as a continuation of the remonstrance.
6:12–15 Proverbs uses types to make the point that certain ways of acting have inherent consequences. The typifying intensifies the picture. All the physical organs—mouth, eyes, feet, fingers—are at the service of evil. Cf. Rom 6:12–13: “Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons of righteousness.”
6:16 Six…seven: this literary pattern (n, n + 1) occurs frequently; cf., e.g., Am 1–2; Prv 30:18–19.
6:17–19 The seven vices, symbolized for the most part by bodily organs, are pride, lying, murder, intrigue, readiness to do evil, false witness, and the stirring up of discord.
6:20–35
The second of three instructions on adultery (5:1–23; 6:20–35; and chap. 7). The instructions assume that wisdom will protect one from adultery and its consequences: loss of property and danger to one’s person. In this poem, the father and the mother urge their son to keep their teaching constantly before his eyes. The teaching will light his way and make it a path to life (v. 23). The teaching will preserve him from the adulterous woman who is far more dangerous than a prostitute. Prostitutes may cost one money, but having an affair with someone else’s wife puts one in grave danger. The poem bluntly urges self-interest as a motive to refrain from adultery.
The poem has three parts. I (vv. 20–24, ten lines), in which v. 23 repeats “command” and “teaching” of v. 20 and “keeping” in v. 24 completes the fixed pair initiated by “observe” in v. 20; II (vv. 25–29, ten lines) is a self-contained argument comparing the costs of a liaison with a prostitute and a married woman; III (vv. 30–35, twelve lines) draws conclusions from the comparison of adultery with theft: the latter involves property only but adultery destroys one’s name and very self. The best protection against such a woman is heeding parental instruction, which is to be kept vividly before one’s eyes like a written tablet.
6:22 They: Heb. has “she.” If this verse is not out of place, then the antecedent of “she” is command (v. 20), or perhaps wisdom.
6:27–29 There is a play on three words of similar sound, ’îsh, “man,” ’ishshâ, “woman,” and ’ēsh, “fire, embers.” The question, “Can a man (’îsh) take embers (’ēsh) into his bosom / and his garments not be burned?”, has a double meaning. “Into his bosom” has an erotic meaning as in the phrase “wife of one’s bosom” (Dt 13:6; 28:54; Sir 9:1). Hence one will destroy one’s garments, which symbolize one’s public position, by taking fire/another’s wife into one’s bosom.
6:33–35 The nature of the husband’s vengeance is disputed, some believing it is simply a physical beating whereas others hold it is public and involves the death penalty because Lv 20:20 and Dt 22:22 demand the death penalty.
7:1–27
The third and climactic instruction on adultery and seduction is an example story, of the same type as the example story in 24:30–34. By its negative portrayal of the deceitful woman, who speaks in the night to a lone youth, it serves as a foil to trustworthy Wisdom in chap. 8, who speaks in broad daylight to all who pass in the street.
As in 6:20–24, the father warns his son to keep his teaching to protect him from the dangerous forbidden woman. The father’s language in 7:4 (“Say to Wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call Understanding ‘Friend’”) sets this admonition apart, however; it is the language of courtship and love. If the son makes Woman Wisdom his companion and lover, she will protect him from the other woman. As in chap. 5, loving the right woman protects the man from the wrong woman.
As motivation, the father in vv. 6–23 tells his son of an incident he once observed while looking out his window—a young man went to the bed of an adulterous woman and wound up dead. As in chap. 5, the realistic details—the purposeful woman, the silent youth, the vow, the perfumed bed—have a metaphorical level. Ultimately the story is about two different kinds of love.
7:1–3 Verses 1–3 are artistically constructed. “Keep” in v. 1a recurs in v. 2a; “commands” in v. 1b recurs in v. 2a; the imperative verb “live” occurs in the very center of the three lines; v. 3, on preserving the teaching upon one’s very person, matches vv. 1–2, on preserving the teaching internally by memorizing it.
7:2 Live: here as elsewhere (Gn 20:7; 42:18; 2 Kgs 18:32; Jer 27:12, 17; Ez 18:32), the imperative (“Live!”) is uttered against the danger of death, e.g., “Do such and such and you will live (= survive the danger); why should you die?”
7:4 You are my sister: “sister” and “brother” are examples of love language in the ancient Near East, occurring in Egyptian love poetry and Mesopotamian marriage songs. In Sg 4:9, 10, 12; 5:1, the man calls the woman, “my sister, my bride.” Intimate friendship with Woman Wisdom saves one from false and dangerous relationships.
7:6–7 I looked out…I saw…: the perspective is unusual. The narrator looks through a window upon the drama in the street.
7:17 Bed: a bed can designate a place of burial in Is 57:2; Ez 32:25; 2 Chr 16:14. Myrrh…aloes: the spices could be used for funerals as for weddings (Jn 19:39). It is possible that the language is ambivalent, speaking of death as it seems to speak of life. As the woman offers the youth a nuptial feast, she is in reality describing his funerary feast.
7:19–20 For my husband is not at home: the woman is calculating. She knows exactly how long her husband will be gone.
7:21 The verbs “to win over” (lit., “to lead astray”) and “to lead off” can be used of leading animals such as a donkey (Nm 22:23) or sheep (Jer 23:2 and 50:17). The animal imagery continues as the youth is compared to an ox, a fallow deer, and a bird in the moment they are slaughtered. None of the animals are aware of their impending death.
7:24–27 The father addresses “children,” a larger audience than his own son; the story is typical, intended for others as an example. The story is a foil to the speech of the other woman in chap. 8.

2 Corinthians 2

Chapter 2

¹For I decided not to come to you again in painful circumstances. ²For if I inflict pain upon you, then who is there to cheer me except the one pained by me? ³And I wrote as I did^[a] so that when I came I might not be pained by those in whom I should have rejoiced, confident about all of you that my joy is that of all of you. ⁴For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you might be pained but that you might know the abundant love I have for you.

The Offender.^[b] ⁵If anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure (not to exaggerate) to all of you. ⁶This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person, ⁷so that on the contrary you should forgive and encourage him instead, or else the person may be overwhelmed by excessive pain.^(A) ⁸Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹For this is why I wrote, to know your proven character, whether you were obedient in everything.^(B) ¹⁰Whomever you forgive anything, so do I. For indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for you in the presence of Christ, ¹¹so that we might not be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not unaware of his purposes.^(C)

Paul’s Anxiety.^[c] ¹²When I went to Troas for the gospel of Christ, although a door was opened for me in the Lord,^(D) ¹³^[d]I had no relief in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus.^(E) So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

B. Paul’s Ministry^[e]

Ministers of a New Covenant. ¹⁴^[f]But thanks be to God,^[g] who always leads us in triumph in Christ^[h] and manifests through us the odor of the knowledge of him^[i] in every place. ¹⁵For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,^(F) ¹⁶to the latter an odor of death that leads to death, to the former an odor of life that leads to life. Who is qualified^[j] for this? ¹⁷For we are not like the many who trade on the word of God; but as out of sincerity, indeed as from God and in the presence of God, we speak in Christ.^(G)

Footnotes

2:3–4 I wrote as I did: we learn for the first time about the sending of a letter in place of the proposed visit. Paul mentions the letter in passing, but emphasizes his motivation in sending it: to avoid being saddened by them (cf. 1 Cor 2:1), and to help them realize the depth of his love. Another motive will be added in 2 Cor 7:12—to bring to light their own concern for him. With many tears: it has been suggested that we may have all or part of this “tearful letter” somewhere in the Corinthian correspondence, either in 1 Cor 5 (the case of the incestuous man), or in 1 Corinthians as a whole, or in 2 Cor 2:10–13. None of these hypotheses is entirely convincing. See note on 2 Cor 13:1.
2:5–11 The nature of the pain (2 Cor 2:5) is unclear, though some believe an individual at Corinth rejected Paul’s authority, thereby scandalizing many in the community. In any case, action has been taken, and Paul judges the measures adequate to right the situation (2 Cor 2:6). The follow-up directives he now gives are entirely positive: forgive, encourage, love. Overwhelmed (2 Cor 2:7): a vivid metaphor (literally “swallowed”) that Paul employs positively at 2 Cor 5:4 and in 1 Cor 15:54 (2 Cor 2:7). It is often used to describe satanic activity (cf. 1 Pt 5:8); note the reference to Satan here in 2 Cor 2:11.
2:12–13 I had no relief: Paul does not explain the reason for his anxiety until he resumes the thread of his narrative at 2 Cor 7:5: he was waiting to hear how the Corinthians would respond to his letter. Since 2 Cor 7:5–16 describes their response in entirely positive terms, we never learn in detail why he found it necessary to defend and justify his change of plans, as in 2 Cor 1:15–24. Was this portion of the letter written before the arrival of Titus with his good news (2 Cor 7:6–7)?
2:13 Macedonia: a Roman province in northern Greece.
2:14–7:4 This section constitutes a digression within the narrative of the crisis and its resolution (2 Cor 1:12–2:13 and 2 Cor 7:5–16). The main component (2 Cor 2:14–6:10) treats the nature of Paul’s ministry and his qualifications for it; this material bears some similarity to the defense of his ministry in chaps. 10–13, but it may well come from a period close to the crisis. This is followed by a supplementary block of material quite different in character and tone (2 Cor 6:14–7:1). These materials may have been brought together into their present position during final editing of the letter; appeals to the Corinthians link them to one another (2 Cor 6:11–13) and lead back to the interrupted narrative (2 Cor 7:2–4).
2:14–6:10 The question of Paul’s adequacy (2 Cor 2:16; cf. 2 Cor 3:5) and his credentials (2 Cor 3:1–2) has been raised. Paul responds by an extended treatment of the nature of his ministry. It is a ministry of glory (2 Cor 3:7–4:6), of life (2 Cor 4:7–5:10), of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:11–6:10).
2:14–16a The initial statement plunges us abruptly into another train of thought. Paul describes his personal existence and his function as a preacher in two powerful images (2 Cor 2:14) that constitute a prelude to the development to follow.
2:14a Leads us in triumph in Christ: this metaphor of a festive parade in honor of a conquering military hero can suggest either a positive sharing in Christ’s triumph or an experience of defeat, being led in captivity and submission (cf. 2 Cor 4:8–11; 1 Cor 4:9). Paul is probably aware of the ambiguity, as he is in the case of the next metaphor.
2:14b–16a The odor of the knowledge of him: incense was commonly used in triumphal processions. The metaphor suggests the gradual diffusion of the knowledge of God through the apostolic preaching. The aroma of Christ: the image shifts from the fragrance Paul diffuses to the aroma that he is. Paul is probably thinking of the “sweet odor” of the sacrifices in the Old Testament (e.g., Gn 8:21; Ex 29:18) and perhaps of the metaphor of wisdom as a sweet odor (Sir 24:15). Death…life: the aroma of Christ that comes to them through Paul is perceived differently by various classes of people. To some his preaching and his life (cf. 1 Cor 1:17–2:6) are perceived as death, and the effect is death for them; others perceive him, despite appearances, as life, and the effect is life for them. This fragrance thus produces a separation and a judgment (cf. the function of the “light” in John’s gospel).
2:16b–17 Qualified: Paul may be echoing either the self-satisfied claims of other preachers or their charges about Paul’s deficiencies. No one is really qualified, but the apostle contrasts himself with those who dilute or falsify the preaching for personal advantage and insists on his totally good conscience: his ministry is from God, and he has exercised it with fidelity and integrity (cf. 2 Cor 3:5–6).

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Old/New Testament

Chapter 6

Miscellaneous Proverbs^[a]

Against Going Surety for One’s Neighbor

The Ant and the Sluggard at Harvest

The Scoundrel

What the Lord Rejects

Warning Against Adultery^[h]

Chapter 7

The Seduction^[l]

Footnotes

Cross references

Chapter 2

B. Paul’s Ministry^[e]

Footnotes

Cross references

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Old/New Testament

Chapter 6

Miscellaneous Proverbs[a]

Against Going Surety for One’s Neighbor

The Ant and the Sluggard at Harvest

The Scoundrel

What the Lord Rejects

Warning Against Adultery[h]

Chapter 7

The Seduction[l]

Footnotes

Cross references

Chapter 2

B. Paul’s Ministry[e]

Footnotes

Cross references

Miscellaneous Proverbs^[a]

Warning Against Adultery^[h]

The Seduction^[l]

B. Paul’s Ministry^[e]