What Does Proverbs 6:16 Mean?
Six things the LORD hates, and seven are the things his living soul recoils from.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:THE KEY
The count rises from six to seven to give the coming list a sense of completion, while Hebrew pairs the LORD’s hatred with a word for what is abhorrent.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks now with a clear measure: the conduct named in the verses that follow is not morally neutral; it meets the LORD’s rejection. The rising count makes that list feel deliberate and complete.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the LORD is indifferent to human conduct: this verse names certain acts as objects of hatred and abhorrence.
THE ROOT
שָׂנֵא
śānēʾ
GROWS FROM
שנא
ś-n-ʾ
To hate or reject.
“hates” in this verse is śānēʾ. The Hebrew verb places these things in a posture of active rejection by the LORD. The next phrase adds a different angle: what is rejected is itself called abhorrent.
ALSO GROWS
sinʾah: Hatred or enmity.
שִׂנְאָה
The related noun makes clear that this root names an enduring stance as well as an act of hating.
sone: One who hates; an enemy.
שׂוֹנֵא
This form names the one who holds that stance, showing how the root links rejection with relationship.
תּוֹעֵבָה
tōʿēvāh
GROWS FROM
תעב
t-ʿ-b
To abhor or regard as repulsive.
“the things his living soul recoils from” in this verse is tōʿēvāh. The word translated “abomination” names what is regarded with abhorrence. Beside “hate,” it gives the verse two angles on rejection: the LORD’s response and the character of what is rejected.
ALSO GROWS
taʿab: To abhor.
תָּעַב
The verb shows the action at the heart of the noun: treating something as repellent.
to'evah: An abhorrent thing; an abomination.
תּוֹעֵבָה
The noun names the thing regarded with abhorrence, as in this verse’s plural form, “abominations.”
THE PATTERN
Wisdom raises a count by one to hold the list open, then gives the completed count added force.
In six narrow places he snatches you free, and in seven no harm touches you.Thus says the LORD, for three rebellions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn it back; because they have threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.Three things are too wonderful for me, and four I do not perceive.THE THREAD
Scales of deceit are an abomination to the LORD, but a whole stone is his delight.“Abomination” translates the same Hebrew word family in both verses. Its use for a false balance shows that abhorrence reaches into ordinary dealings, where a measure can distort trust.
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