Proverbs

Proverbs 6:13

"Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers," (Proverbs 6:13 NASB1995).

Matthew Poole writes: "He vents his wickedness, as by his speech, so also by his gestures, whereby he secretly signifies what he is afraid or ashamed to express openly to his accomplices, his intentions or desires of some evil towards another person; which having in the general declared by the motion of his eyes or feet, he points out the particular person by his fingers," (Poole).

Dr. Gill also explains: "he speaketh with his feet; the motions of the feet have a language; the stamping of the feet expresses rage; here it seems to intend the giving of a him to another, by privately pressing his foot with his, when he should be silent or should speak, or do this or the other thing he would have him do," (Gill).

Proverbs 8

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Proverbs 9:17

“Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant," (Proverbs 9:17 NASB1995).

The reference to "stolen water" and "bread" here is a reference to acts of lust or adultery. It being "sweet" or "in secret is pleasant" is as if to say that by it being unlawful, the unclean find a greater pleasure in it. When the kleptomaniac steals, they feel a pleasure or a high. The same is true for the unclean.

"Are sweet; partly, from the difficulty of obtaining them; partly, from the art which men use in contriving such secret sins; and partly, because the very prohibition renders it more grateful to corrupt nature," (Poole)

"By which in general is meant, that all prohibited unlawful lusts and pleasures are desirable to men, and sweet in the enjoyment of them; and the pleasure promised by them is what makes them so desirable, and the more so because forbidden: and particularly as adultery, which is a sort of theft (r), and a drinking water out of another's cistern, Proverbs 5:15; being forbidden and unlawful, and secretly committed, is sweeter to an unclean person than a lawful enjoyment of his own wife; so false worship, superstition, and idolatry, the inventions of men, and obedience to their commands, which are no other than spiritual adultery, are more grateful and pleasing to a corrupt mind than the true and pure worship of God ... and bread eaten in secret is pleasant; or, "bread of secret places" (s); hidden bread, as the Targum, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions; that which is stolen and is another's (t), and is taken and hid in secret places, fetched out from thence, or eaten there: the sweet morsel of sin, rolled in the mouth, and kept under the tongue; secret lusts, private sins, particularly idolatry, to which men are secretly enticed, and which they privately commit, Deuteronomy 13:6; the same thing is designed by this clause as the forager," (Gill).

References:

Poole, Matthew. Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible. United States, Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 1990.

Wolever, Terry. John Gill's Exposition of the Old and New Testaments: Some Background on the First Three Editions. United States, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018.

Proverbs 16:33

"The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord," (Proverbs 16:33 NASB1995).

The lot or dice was a common tool used to determine the proper course of action; particularly, in Israelite culture, this was done as a sort of mediator to God. As the Pulpit Commentary notes: "In these cases the Jew learned to see, in what we call chance, the overruling of Divine power. ... The lot was employed religiously in cases where other means of decision were not suitable or available; it was not to supersede common prudence or careful investigation; but, for example, in trials where the evidence was conflicting and the judges could not determine the case". This verse in no way promotes Determinism; rather, it references how God would settle certain disputes. "The event [of casting lots], though casual to men, is directed and determined by God’s counsel and providence," (Poole).

References:

Poole, Matthew. Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible. United States, Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 1990.

The Pulpit Commentary, Volume 6. United States, Delmarva Publications, Inc., 2015.