Proverbs 6 · Verse 4

Proverbs 6:4

Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
Proverbs 6:4, King James Version

Proverbs 6:4 in other translations

BSBAllow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
WEBGive no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
ASVGive not sleep to thine eyes, Nor slumber to thine eyelids;
YLTGive not sleep to thine eyes, And slumber to thine eyelids,
DARBYGive not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids:
BBEGive no sleep to your eyes, or rest to them;
WebsterGive not sleep to thy eyes, nor slumber to thy eyelids.

What does Proverbs 6:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 6:4-5
4-5. The danger requires promptness.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 6:1-5

If we live as directed by the word of God, we shall find it profitable even in this present world. We are stewards of our worldly substance, and have to answer to the Lord for our disposal of it; to waste it in rash schemes, or such plans as may entangle us in difficulties and temptations, is wrong. A man ought never to be surety for more than he is able and willing to pay, and can afford to pay, without wronging…

Read the full comment on Proverbs 6:1-5 →

Proverbs 6:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אַל\־'al-may notH408
תִּתֵּ֣ןti.Tenyou giveH5414
שֵׁנָ֣הshe.NahsleepH8142
לְעֵינֶ֑יךָle.'ei.Nei.khato eyes yourH5869
וּ֝תְנוּמָ֗הu.te.nu.Mahand slumberH8572
לְעַפְעַפֶּֽיךָ\׃le.'af.'a.Pei.khato eyelids yourH6079

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 6:4

  • Psalms 132:4

    I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids,

  • Proverbs 6:10-11

    Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

  • Mark 13:35-36

    Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

  • Ecclesiastes 9:10

    Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

  • Matthew 24:17-18

    Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
10,11; Ps 132:4; Ec 9:10; Mt 24:17,18; Mr 13:35,36

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 6:3

    Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.

  • Proverbs 6:4

    Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

  • Proverbs 6:5

    Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Read all of Proverbs 6

Proverbs 6:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No des sueño á tus ojos, ni á tus párpados adormecimiento.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ne permets pas à tes yeux de dormir, ni à tes paupières de sommeiller;
German
Elberfelder 1871		gestatte deinen Augen keinen Schlaf, und keinen Schlummer deinen Wimpern;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Ne dederis somnum oculis tuis, nec dormitent palpebræ tuæ.