Exegesis of Pro. 6:16-19

A false witness that speaketh lies...

Could it be someone who knows the truth but chooses to lie about it?

Or could it be a false religion, say, someone who claims to be from God but who isn't from the true God?

Or someone who has witnessed truth but now denies it? Such as someone who claimed to have been saved at one time but now has become an atheist?

Just some wandering thoughts...hmmmm...

 

Dear Pastor Bob 63,

IMO, the short of it is that the six things cause the seventh and that with a purpose.

These are the tares sown among the wheat.

My opinion of course.

HankD

 

Greetings,

This is not Mr. Fortenberry but his roomate who was reading over his shoulder...and I just couldn't resist making an input on this passage.

I have just recently taken a class on Proverbs in which we covered this passage, and, while I am far from an expert on the book, I think I can shed some light.

First, it is imperative to understand that the literary structure of the entire book is accurately referred to as Ancient Hebrew Poetry. The key characteristic of this structure is parallelism of thought. This is seen through the entire book of Proverbs, the book of Psalms, and other passages of Hebrew poetry. Now the parallelism may be synonymous (a = b) or contrasting (a is opposite to b) but the parallelism still remains. The point is that God uses one stated truth (in a proverb with two lines) and then combines it with another stated truth to form one unified picture.

Now if you look to the beginning of the book of Proverbs it is seen that the purpose of the book is to give instruction and wisdom (1:2-7). The book also describes those who do not seek such knowledge as "fools", "simple ones" and "scorners". The passage in question does not contradict the purpose of the book.

"These six things doth the Lord hate, yea seven are an abomination unto him" this basically means 7 things. There is no difference between the 6th and the 7th. It is a poetical device using numbering that is called something that I have forgotten at the moment.

Anyway, dealing with the rest of the passage in question (Prov. 6:17-19)

All of the listed things may share some kind of connection (perhaps parts of a whole person?) but the connecting thing is the main idea of the seven things: a fool. A person who denies the knowledge of God and despises His wisdom will:
be proud (v17)
tell lies (17)
take advantage of the innocent (17)
imagine wicked (that is contrary to the order of God) plans (18)
rush to wickedness rather than stand in righteousness (18)
give a false testimony when truth is being sought (19)
and try to create division (19)

I do not know Hebrew but I learned the principles of interpreting Ancient Hebrew Poetry from a former pastor of many years who is very familiar with it, and greek, and I think he also speaks a little Russian and French. So I hope this has answered your question. If you have more questions then you will just have to bug this particular teacher about finishing the writing of his book on Hebrew poetry and Proverbs (like all of his students have been doing for quite some time).

As a proof for this interpretation of the passage:
take the principle of interpreting the parallelism and apply it to another passage in proverbs and you should see at least two separate (however similar or dissimilar) truths that are combined to form one central truth.

Russ
a.k.a. sonofcoffeeman

 

I hope I didn't kill this thread. That wasn't my intention. I just wanted to be thorough and accurate in sharing what the passage means.

SoCM

 

AAaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh. I think you did!