“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

Proverbs 6:16-17

The writer uses a Hebrew construction, a numeral plus one, to indicate the Lord’s ultimate displeasure with the items in the list.

Here, the writer includes in his list “a false witness who breathes out lies.” This person struggles to tell the truth and seems to “lie when the truth would sound better.” However, the reader should not focus on the extreme examples because truth is a priority in Proverbs. For example, Proverbs 28:6 (which we have written about here) reminds us that it is “Better to be a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is corrupt in all his ways.”

This warning about being a false witness reminds me of Jezebel who suborned two false witnesses against Naboth (1 Kings 21). Not only did her dishonesty bring God’s wrath upon herself, it also brought the wrath of God upon her husband Ahab’s royal line.

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. ¹⁹ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’”

I Kings 21: 17-19 ESV

Integrity matters to God, thus it should matter to us.

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

Proverbs 6:16-17

The writer uses a Hebrew construction, a numeral plus one, to indicate the Lord’s ultimate displeasure with the items in the list.

The fifth abomination is “feet that make haste to run to evil.” Many may think this is talking about them since “all have sinned” (Rom 3:23). However, the person who is trying to resist evil, but fails, is not the person in view here. This is the person who seems to be magnetically drawn to evil, and is quick to get involved in evil. His proclivity is to quickly involve himself in evil. Here, the heart is on display through the feet.

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

Proverbs 6:16-17 ESV

The writer uses a Hebrew construction, a numeral plus one, to indicate the Lord’s ultimate displeasure with the items in the list.

Note the connection between the heart and the thoughts. This is the person who sits around plotting wicked actions. He may not carry them out, but he crafts detailed plans of how to steal something, or embarrass that person, or how to wreck that company or, or, or. These thoughts – even without the actions necessary to fulfill them – reflect the heart. Jesus said, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23).

Don’t be fooled into thinking, “It’s okay to devise such plans as long as I don’t do them.” This type of thinking not only reflects an ungodly heart, it also defiles the person. Paul offers some helpful words in this regard,

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8 ESV

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

Proverbs 6:16-17

The writer uses a Hebrew construction, a numeral plus one, to indicate the Lord’s ultimate displeasure with the items in the list.

The third item in this list is “hands that shed innocent blood.” God’s heart for the innocent is present in both the Old and New Testaments. For example, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13), which is contained within the 10 Commandments. This prohibition deals with the physical destruction of another person, an innocent person.

Additionally, in the New Testament, Jesus expressed his heart for the innocence of children, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Mt. 18:5-6). This deals with the spiritual destruction of another.

These examples serve as a warning to us in how we view and treat others. Beware of that which God hates.

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

Proverbs 6:16-17

The writer uses a Hebrew construction, a numeral plus one, to indicate the Lord’s ultimate displeasure with the items in the list. The second item on this list is a lying tongue. When we practice to deceive we are saying one of two things. We are saying that God doesn’t see us OR that God doesn’t care. Neither is true!

God does care; he even warns us of the danger of lying:

“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue

    is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.”

Proverbs 21:6 ESV