Proverbs 6 · a question people ask
"There are six things which the LORD hates; yes, seven" (6:16). Which is it, six or seven?
The list that follows names seven: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood (6:17); a heart that devises wicked schemes and feet swift in running to mischief (6:18); a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers (6:19). Proverbs counts this way again in chapter 30, and there too the list names the second number. "There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don’t say, ‘Enough!’" (Proverbs 30:15), and four follow (Proverbs 30:16). "There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I don’t understand" (Proverbs 30:18), and four follow (Proverbs 30:19). So too in Proverbs 30:21-23 and 30:29-31. The text doesn't say why it counts this way, and these notes don't guess.
The verses
“There are six things which the LORD hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.”
““The leech has two daughters: ‘Give, give.’ “There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don’t say, ‘Enough!’: Sheol, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that doesn’t say, ‘Enough!’”
““There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I don’t understand: The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a maiden.”
““For three things the earth trembles, and under four, it can’t bear up: For a servant when he is king, a fool when he is filled with food, for an unloved woman when she is married, and a servant who is heir to her mistress.”