Proverbs 6:4
in Proverbs 6Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Give not sleep to thine eyes, Nor slumber to thine eyelids;
KJV
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
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This verse in Proverbs 6
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Gregory the DialogistThe Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.
For whosoever is put over others for an example of life is admonished not only to keep watch himself, but also to arouse his friend. For it is not enough for him to keep watch in living well, if he do not also sever him when he is set over from the torpor of sin. For it is well said, "Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor let thine eyelids slumber." For indeed to give sleep to the eyes is to cease from earnestness, so as to neglect altogether the care of our subordinates.
This site's exposition
if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger
on Proverbs 6:1-5
The chapter opens on a scenario rather than a maxim, a son who has become surety for another by striking hands on a pledge and is now snared by his own promise. The father's advice is urgent rather than theoretical, go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend, give not sleep to thine eyes until the debt is settled, because delay only lets the danger grow. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hunter pictures escape as something to be done at once and without dignity spared, since safety matters more than pride here.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Do not give sleep to your eyes, etc. He gives sleep to his eyes who utterly neglects the care of his subjects; but he dozes who indeed knows their blameworthy deeds but, due to weariness of mind, does not correct them with deserving rebuke.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Until the above things are done; which denotes of what consequence and importance they are; and that persons in such circumstances should not be careless, dilatory, and unconcerned; but should use great diligence, and leave no stone unturned, or method untried, to extricate themselves; see Psa 132:4.
Delays are dangerous, and feeble efforts will not serve." See what care God, in his word, has taken to make men good husbands of their estates, and to teach them prudence in the management of them. Godliness has precepts, as well as promises, relating to the life that now is. But how are we to understand this?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּתֵּ֣ן | titen | you give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| שֵׁנָ֣ה | shenah | sleep | H8142 → | 23 times |
| לְעֵינֶ֑יךָ | leeineikha | to eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּ֝תְנוּמָ֗ה | utenumah | and slumber | H8572 → | 5 times |
| לְעַפְעַפֶּֽיךָ׃ | leafapeikha | to eyelids your | H6079 → | 10 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּתֵּ֣ןyou give
titenH5414 →2011 times
שֵׁנָ֣הsleep
shenahH8142 →23 times
לְעֵינֶ֑יךָto eyes your
leeineikhaH5869 →887 times
וּ֝תְנוּמָ֗הand slumber
utenumahH8572 →5 times
לְעַפְעַפֶּֽיךָ׃to eyelids your
leafapeikhaH6079 →10 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
- Ephesians 5:16
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- Romans 12:11
Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
- Psalms 6:5
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
- Ecclesiastes 11:6
Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.
- Colossians 3:23
Through
Psalms 132:4I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
it leads to
- Ruth 3:18
“Wait, my daughter,” said Naomi, “until you find out how things go, for he will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today.”
- Genesis 24:33
Then a meal was set before the man, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I came to say.” So Laban said, “Please speak.”
- Ruth 3:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.