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The instructions on chastity and warnings against debauchery, begun by the Wise One in Chapter V, continue in Chapter VI. Art. 20–35, and in VII. Only in Art. 1–19, one coherent speech is interrupted by instructions of a different content and nature: 1–5. The evil of thoughtless guarantee. 6–11. The death of laziness and the call to hard work and diligence. 12–19. The opposition to God of the wickedness and deceit of the wicked towards others. The next section of Art. 20–35 is divided into two smaller sections: 20–24 – an exhortation to chastity, and 25–35 – a warning against the temptations of an adulterous wife. Proverbs 6:1. My son! if you have stood surety for your neighbor and given your hand for another, Proverbs 6:2. you have entangled yourself with the words of your mouth, you have been caught by the words of your mouth. Proverbs 6:3. Do this, my son, and deliver yourself, since you have fallen into the hands of your neighbor: go, fall at your feet and beg your neighbor; Proverbs 6:4. do not let your eyes sleep and your eyelids slumber; Proverbs 6:5. escape like a chamois from the hand and like a bird from the hand of a fowler. Frequent instructions in the book of Proverbs about the dangers of guaranteeing Proverbs 6.1, 11.15, 13.18, 20.16, 22.26) are explained by the fact that, according to the views of ordinary (not written down in the Law of Moses) Hebrew law, one who suretyed for an insolvent debtor was interpreted as legally replacing the latter and, with the usual hard-heartedness of creditors, often paid for his client not only with one’s own property (Sir 8.16, 29.18–25), but also with personal freedom (2 Kings 4.1; Matthew 18.25. See Ewald’s Die Alterthummer des Volkes Israel. 3 A (1866), s. 246). But in this case, the Wise One urgently warns his disciple against the rash, hasty and reckless acceptance of surety obligations, which was no doubt not uncommon among young men of that time (the desire to accept surety for another could turn into a special passion among young men and turn into excitement, like a duel among European peoples). The guarantee itself was accomplished through shaking hands: the guarantor gave his hand to the lender and creditor (cf. Proverbs 11.15; Job 17.3). Having pointed out to his disciple the great danger of guaranteeing (vv. 1–2), the Wise One further (vv. 3–5) advises him by all means to free himself from the possible unpleasant consequences of his thoughtlessly accepted obligation. As such a measure, it is recommended (Article 3) to strenuously, even humiliatingly, beg the debtor to immediately return the debt to the lender; and then - he consults with unremitting vigilance - not allowing the eyes and eyelids to sleep (v. 4 - apparently a Hebrew proverb, cf. Ps. 11.4), at all costs, at least with the greatest effort, to free himself, as sometimes a chamois or a bird is freed from a trap (v. 5, fn. Ps. 123.7), from its painful situation created unreasonable guarantee. All speech about guaranteeing has the character of purely worldly wisdom, indicating the feeling of self-preservation as the main motive of activity. Proverbs 6:6. Go to the ant, slothful one, look at its actions, and be wise. Proverbs 6:7. He has neither a boss, nor a guardian, nor a master; Proverbs 6:8. but he prepares his grain in the summer, he gathers his food in the harvest. Proverbs 6:8a. -[Or go to the bee and know how hardworking she is, what honorable work she produces;- Proverbs 6:8b. – her works are used for health by both kings and common people; she is loved by everyone and glorious; Proverbs 6:8c. – although she is weak in strength, she is respected in wisdom.] Proverbs 6:9. How long will you sleep, lazy man? when will you arise from your sleep? Proverbs 6:10. You’ll sleep a little, doze a little, lie down with your hands folded for a little: Proverbs 6:11. and your poverty will come like a passerby, and your need like a robber. Proverbs 6:11a. -[If you are not lazy, then your harvest will come like a source; poverty will run far away from you.] The same sense of self-preservation, according to the thought of the Wise One, should encourage a person to work hard and distract him from laziness, and in 6–8 an ant is indicated as an example of hard work (according to LXX v. 8 - also a bee), and in art. 9–11 show the disastrous consequences for a person from his laziness. The ant, who works at all times according to his own instinctive impulse - without external compulsion (v. 7) and wisely gathers supplies for himself in the summer for the winter (v. 8), is a very suitable and impressive symbol and lesson of industriousness; as such a symbol or example, the ant is quite often found in Arabic and Persian poetry, as well as in classical writing (in Aristotle, Virgil, Horace, see Zockler. Die Spruche Salomionis, p. 69). LXX (also Slavic and Russian Synod) in Art. 8, in addition to the ant, they also cite the bee as an example of hard work and art (in the Complutensian edition of the Greek text, the speech about the bee is omitted): the honey of the bee, collected by it with the greatest art, is used for health not only by commoners, but also by kings, and the bee is held in high esteem by everyone. Although beekeeping as a trade is not mentioned in the Old Testament (only in Philo and in the Mishnah), under the name of honey (Hebrew debash) (for example, in the expression: the land flowing with milk and honey) of course, mainly fruit honey (and now also called dibs in Syria), but the biblical Jews undoubtedly knew about bee honey (see Deut. 1.44; Judg. 14:8 ; Ps 117.12; Isa 7.18), and therefore LXX could read this other comparison or personification of hard work in the Hebrew original they had 4. From the comparison, the Wise One moves on (v. 9 et seq.) to a direct denunciation of the sloth, carelessly resting in a deep sleep. To the invitation to wake up (v. 9, sn. Eccl. 4.5; sn. Eph. 5.14), the sloth responds with a request to let him sleep or take a nap a little more (v. 10, sn. Proverbs 24.33). But the Wise One threatens him with the inevitable consequences of carelessness and laziness: poverty, poverty, which comes quickly, unexpectedly, like a passer-by like an armed robber (LXX: ὥσπερ κακος ὀδοὸπόρός ὤσπερ ὰγὰθος δρομευύς, Vulg.: quasi viator, quasi vir armatus), see 11. At the end of Art. 11 LXX, Vulg. (Slav., Russian. ) have an addition that expresses the opposite thought to that expressed in the first half of the verse (in the Compl. Bibl. there is no addition): the addition has the form of a distributive gloss. Proverbs 24.33–34 repeats verses 10–11 of the chapter in question, but does not contain this addition. Proverbs 6:12. A wicked man, a wicked man walks with lying lips, Proverbs 6:13. he blinks with his eyes, he speaks with his feet, he makes signs with his fingers; Proverbs 6:14. deceit is in his heart: he plots evil at all times and sows discord. Proverbs 6:15. But suddenly his death will come, he will suddenly be broken - without healing. Proverbs 6:16. Here are six things that the Lord hates, even seven that are an abomination to His soul: Proverbs 6:17. proud eyes, a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood, Proverbs 6:18. a heart that forges evil plans, feet that quickly run to villainy, Proverbs 6:19. a false witness who tells lies and sows discord among brothers. In verses 12–15, the Wise One warns his disciple against all types and manifestations of wickedness and deceit, and in Art. 16–19, these vices and some others seem especially ungodly. Already earlier (Proverbs 4.24–25) he warned against wickedness and called for a direct and open course of action. Here he does the same, but at the same time he describes in detail the cunning facial expressions - eyes, legs, fingers - of an insidious and crafty person (v. 13), always plotting evil in his heart against his neighbor and against society (v. 14, cf. Proverbs 2.12, 14, 3.29): but the final, incurable death of the villain is inevitable (v. 15. Proverbs 1.27, 3.25, 24.22 ). Then, to arouse in the student a greater aversion to the vices of malice, guile, and deceit, the Wise One calls, v. 17–19, seven (actually 6) vices that constitute manifestations of the general depravity and depravity of the human heart. In the LXX (and in Slav.) the idea of ​​six vices in Art. 15 is missing. And in other places of the book. The parable denounces: proud eyes (Proverbs 30.13), hands that shed blood (Proverbs 1.11), etc., but here these denunciations are grouped more fully and are expressed in a special form of numerical parallelism characteristic of the parable language. Proverbs 6:20. My son! keep your father's commandment and do not reject your mother's instruction; Proverbs 6:21. bind them forever on your heart, tie them around your neck. Proverbs 6:22. When you go, they will guide you; when you go to sleep, they will guard you; when you wake up, they will talk to you: Proverbs 6:23. For commandment is a lamp, and instruction is light, and instruction is the way to life, Proverbs 6:24. to protect you from a worthless woman, from the flattering tongue of a stranger. Proverbs 6:25. Do not desire her beauty in your heart, [so that you will not be caught by your eyes,] and may she not captivate you with her eyelashes; Proverbs 6:26. because because of a prodigal wife they become poor to a piece of bread, but a married wife catches a dear soul. Proverbs 6:27. Can anyone take fire into his bosom so that his dress does not burn? Proverbs 6:28. Can anyone walk on burning coals without having their feet burned? Proverbs 6:29. The same thing happens to the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife: whoever touches her will not be left without guilt. Proverbs 6:30. A thief is not allowed to go free if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; Proverbs 6:31. but, being caught, he will pay sevenfold, giving up all the property of his house. Proverbs 6:32. Whoever commits adultery with a woman has no understanding; he who does this destroys his soul: Proverbs 6:33. he will find beatings and shame, and his dishonor will not be erased, Proverbs 6:34. for jealousy is the wrath of a husband, and he will not spare on the day of vengeance, Proverbs 6:35. will not accept any ransom and will not be satisfied, no matter how many gifts you multiply. Now intending to resume the thread of reasoning and instructions about chastity and the dangers of debauchery, the Wise here (v. 20), as at the beginning of the book (Proverbs 1.8), makes a deliberate admonition to the student - to remember the commandments and instructions of parents, who, according to the law of Moses (Deut. 6.7), not only themselves had to keep and fulfill the commandments of God, but also proclaim them to their children. This general introduction to the exhortations to chastity is completely analogous to similar introductions in Proverbs 5.1–2, and Proverbs 7.1–5 to the discussion on the same subject. In view of the special importance of the covenants of chastity, the Wise One strongly advises his disciple to always urgently keep in mind, as if on the heart and neck (v. 21, cf. Proverbs 3.3, 7.3) parental covenants, which should protect the young man from temptations in all situations and relationships of life (v. 22, sn. 23–24), for this is the property passed on parents, the commandments of the Law of God, which always serves as the true light and guiding principle of human life (v. 23, n. Ps 123.105), and therefore, in particular, these commandments are always strong to restrain an inexperienced young man from criminal intimacy with an evil, i.e., adulterous wife (v. 24, cf. Proverbs 2.16, 7.5). Now, in Art. 25–35, in order to more decisively protect the young man from the temptations of adultery, the Wise One depicts the internal - psychological and external - factual side of adultery, indicating the disastrous consequences of the latter. First of all, the Wise One warns (v. 25) against the very beginning or root of the sin of adultery: one must beware of the emergence of lust or passionate attraction in the heart for a prodigal or generally stranger woman under the impression of the beauty or apparent attractiveness of her appearance. In this instruction from the Wise One on the need to protect, first of all, one’s heart from lust, one cannot help but see a further revelation of the commandment of the decathlon “thou shalt not covet a wife” (Exodus 20.17; Deut. 5.21) and the preparation of the Evangelical sublime understanding of this confession (Matthew 5.28). Having further mentioned (Art. 26) that a harlot, a despicable and insignificant creature, can, however, destroy a respectable man who, falling into debauchery, loses not only property (cf. Proverbs 29.3; Sir 9.6), but also honor and good name, the Wise further (vv. 27-29) expresses the idea that any contact with a neighbor’s wife, made with an unclean purpose, is in no way cannot remain innocent: just as it is impossible to keep clothes intact if you take fire in your bosom, it is equally impossible to protect your legs from being burned if you walk on burning coals (both questions in vv. 27 and 28 presuppose an unconditionally negative answer, as in Am 3.4–6), so it is unthinkable for a man to preserve his innocence, untarnished name and irresponsibility in court - with imprudent and inadmissibly close communicating with the unfaithful wife of another. In Art. 30–32 another everyday example is offered from which the same idea is deduced about the inevitable responsibility of a person who has fallen under the sin of an adulterous wife: if a thief is not forgiven for his act, even in the presence of mitigating circumstances (hunger), - on the contrary, they are punished sevenfold (according to the Law of Moses (Exodus 22.1–2)), actually five or four times; “seven” here v. 31, as in Gen. 4.15 - a round number instead of an indefinite set, for in the second half of the verse the fine is defined even more broadly, that is, even the entire property of his house, then all the more the participant in adultery, to which nothing forced him, deserves no mercy. 33–35. Dishonor, shame, beatings from the husband he insulted will be his lot; the shame will remain indelible, especially since the husband of his unfaithful wife, dishonored by him, will not want to take a fine or ransom from him. But the highest and most sensitive punishment of an adulterer, according to the views of Solomon, like Sirach, is contempt from public opinion, an indelible shame before society. However, on philological grounds, Lagarde, Gitzig Ewald, Delitzsch and others consider the whole speech about the bee to be a Greek interpolation. You might be interested in: