“There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.” – Proverbs 6:16-19

At first glance, this proverb written by King Solomon seems confusing. First, there are six things the Lord (Yahweh) hates, then seven. Which is it? Then he lists seven, but which ones does the Lord hate and which one is an abomination?

The answer is hidden in the linear Anglo-Saxon style of writing for which we are familiar with, but it is revealed if it’s written in the original Hebrew style of writing called a “chiasm.” This style of literature is used extensively in the Old Testament and some in the New Testament. It was a common way of writing to communicate the main idea the author was trying to impress upon his audience. There are verses, chapters, and even entire books (e.g. most of Isaiah) written in this style. It was an extremely powerful method of driving a point home and most Hebrews would recognize its use.

So, what exactly is this chiasm and how does it solve the riddle in Proverbs 6? In a chiasm, a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order resulting in a “mirror” effect. The structure of a chiasm can be expressed through a series of letters, each letter representing a new idea. For example, the structure ABB’A’ refers to two ideas (A and B) “reflected” in reverse order (B’ and A’). When a chiasm includes another idea in the middle of the repetition such as ABCB’A’, the two ideas (A and B) are repeated in reverse order, but a third idea is inserted before the repetition (C) to emphasize it.

So let’s evaluate the passage above using this structure:

There are six things which the Lord hates.  Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

A —– Haughty eyes,

B ———— A lying tongue,

C —————– and hands that shed innocent blood,

D ———————- a heart that devises wicked plans,

C’ —————- feet that run rapidly to evil,

B’ ———– a false witness who utters lies,

A’ —– and one who spreads strife among brothers.

Looking closely at the verse like this we can see that:

Low and behold, all three stem from “a heart that devises wicked plans” (D -the main point)! The seventh (which is the Hebrew number for complete) abomination is the source for the other six. Moses was right when he wrote “… for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth…” (Genesis 8:21).

Can you see the “seventh” abomination now? It’s easy when it’s laid out this way, isn’t it? The heart is the source of all our evil for it is truly wicked. We all need heart surgery. And there’s only one heart surgeon in the universe who can fix us … guess who that is?

Jesus Christ …. Calling Dr. Jesus!!!!!

Serving Christ together,

Dave