Proverbs 6:17-19 Meaning: What God Hates and Why

The phrase 'haughty eyes' translates a Hebrew word that literally means 'high' or 'elevated.' It pictures a person who looks down on others, as if above them. Pride stands at the top of the list because it is the root of so much harm. 'A lying tongue' uses a word for falsehood that also carries the sense of deception, not just an occasional misstatement but a pattern of misleading. The most striking phrase is 'soweth discord among brothers.' The verb means to send out, stretch forth, or let loose; it suggests someone actively spreading contention like seed. The word for strife here is medanim, which implies ongoing conflict. Together, the seven items form a person who starts with pride, lies about it, harms others, and finally tears apart the very community God designed for unity.

Christian commentators have long noted the structure here. The numerical pattern 'six… yes, seven' was a Hebrew way of building intensity, and most agree the seventh item, sowing discord, is the worst of all. Matthew Henry described these as sins against both tables of the law: offenses against God (pride, lying) and against neighbor (violence, slander). Keil and Delitzsch saw the passage as a portrait of the 'man of Belial,' an archetype of wickedness. Across traditions, the list has been used for self-examination and moral teaching. While Christians may differ on how to apply such lists today, all agree that God's hatred here is not petty anger but holy opposition to whatever destroys His good creation.

Some readers treat these seven items as a checklist of sins God dislikes, as if He only hates these things. In fact, the list is a focused portrait of one kind of person, the 'worthless person' described earlier in the chapter. These seven traits belong together in a single character. God’s hatred is not a random inventory but an intense opposition to the whole pattern of pride, deceit, violence, and division that unravels human life. The passage calls us not to avoid a list but to examine the shape of our own hearts.

This week, you might ask yourself where your eyes have been looking. Pride is insidious; it can show up in a critical thought, a dismissive glance, or the way you compare yourself to others. Check your tongue: is there a pattern of trimming the truth to make yourself look better? And most searchingly, consider your relationships. Have you sown discord, by a sharp word, a repeated complaint, a story that doesn’t need telling? The antidote is not just avoiding these seven things but actively pursuing humility, honesty, and peace. You could begin by asking one person today how you can better serve them.