Proverbs 4:21

4:21 Do not let them depart ¹  from your sight,

guard ²  them within your heart; ³ 

Proverbs 6:25

6:25 Do not lust ⁴  in your heart for her beauty,

and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes; ⁵ 

[4:21]  ¹ tn The Hiphil form יַלִּיזוּ (yallizu) follows the Aramaic with gemination. The verb means “to turn aside; to depart” (intransitive Hiphil or inner causative).

[4:21]  ² tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV and many others).

[4:21]  ³ sn The words “eyes” and “heart” are metonymies of subject representing the faculties of each. Cf. CEV “think about it all.”

[6:25]  ⁴ tn The negated jussive gives the young person an immediate warning. The verb חָמַד (khamad) means “to desire,” and here in the sense of lust. The word is used in the Decalogue of Deut 5:21 for the warning against coveting.

[6:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “her eyelids” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “eyelashes”; TEV “flirting eyes”). This term is a synecdoche of part (eyelids) for the whole (eyes) or a metonymy of association for painted eyes and the luring glances that are the symptoms of seduction (e.g., 2 Kgs 9:30). The term “alluring” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarification.