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Proverbs 6:16–19

Six things, yea seven

"These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him." The Hebrew uses the X / X+1 numerical pattern. The library's Hebrew (WLC) shows a Masoretic reading note in the last word (ketiv to'avot, "abominations," qere to'avat, "abomination of"). The library's Greek reads verse 16 quite differently, as the end of the troublemaker's portrait: "he rejoices in all things the Lord hates, and he will be crushed for the impurity of his soul."

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

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✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The proverb as first composedCollections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Proverbs
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. Collections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)

    The proverb as first composed

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Proverbs are two small Qumran fragments (4Q102, 4Q103, 1st century BC – 1st century AD, reported).

  2. Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592

    Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Sex sunt quæ odit Dominus, et septimum detestatur anima ejus: oculos sublimes, linguam mendacem, manus effundentes innoxium sanguinem, cor machinans cogitationes pessimas, pedes veloces ad currendum in malum, proferentem mendacia testem fallacem, et eum qui seminat inter fratres discordias.

    Latin position: Proverbs 6:16–19. Jerome translated Proverbs from Hebrew (c. AD 398), so the Vulgate is an indirect witness to a Hebrew text, with Jerome's interpretation.

  3. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    שֶׁשׁ־הֵ֭נָּה שָׂנֵ֣א יְהוָ֑ה וְ֝שֶׁ֗בַע תועבות תּוֹעֲבַ֥ת נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃ עֵינַ֣יִם רָ֭מוֹת לְשׁ֣וֹן שָׁ֑קֶר וְ֝יָדַ֗יִם שֹׁפְכ֥וֹת דָּם־נָקִֽי׃ לֵ֗ב חֹ֭רֵשׁ מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת אָ֑וֶן רַגְלַ֥יִם מְ֝מַהֲר֗וֹת לָר֥וּץ לָֽרָעָה׃ יָפִ֣יחַ כְּ֭זָבִים עֵ֣ד שָׁ֑קֶר וּמְשַׁלֵּ֥חַ מְ֝דָנִ֗ים בֵּ֣ין אַחִֽים׃

    Six things the LORD hates, and seven are an abomination [ketiv: abominations] of his soul…

    Hebrew position: Proverbs 6:16–19.

  4. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

  5. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

    Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Proverbs

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Il se réjouit de toutes les choses que hait le Seigneur; aussi sera-t-il brisé à cause de l’impureté de son âme. Son œil est superbe, sa langue inique; sa main verse le sang du juste; Et son cœur roule de mauvais desseins, et ses pieds courent vers le mal. Témoin injuste, il fomente des faussetés, et soulève des discordes entre frères.

    Greek (digital file) position: Proverbs 6:16–19. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). No Göttingen critical edition of Greek Proverbs is published yet; a C check needs Rahlfs–Hanhart and specialist studies.

What changed, and why

The list runs down the body (proud eyes, lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart devising evil, feet running to mischief), then to the court (a false witness) and the community (one who sows discord among brothers). The seventh item is the climax and echoes 6:14, linking the list to the troublemaker before it.

The ketiv/qere at the end of 6:16 is a Masoretic note: the consonants written in the text (to'avot) are to be read as to'avat nafsho, "an abomination of his soul." The WLC prints both. The meaning hardly changes.

The Greek reading of 6:16 joins it to the previous verses; the list itself (17–19) follows. Whether the translator misread, or had a different text, is not known (C check).

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe WLC prints a ketiv/qere at the end of 6:16.
  • Independently documentedThe library's Greek reads 6:16 as a statement about the troublemaker.
  • Conflicts with current evidenceThe six/seven list is an exhaustive catalogue of sins. A rhetorical numerical pattern.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Proverbs 6: Go to the Ant, Thou Sluggard →Proverbs 6 gathers four short teachings and one long one. Do not guarantee another person's debt; if you have, get free at once (vv. 1–5). Learn from the ant, which works without a supervisor (vv. 6–11). The troublemaker winks, gestures and sows discord, and will be broken suddenly (vv. 12–15). Six things the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination (vv. 16–19). And adultery is fire in one's lap: the husband's jealousy accepts no payment (vv. 20–35).