Proverbs 6:25

Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The sage addresses a young man in a direct warning against sexual immorality, positioned between a caution about the adulteress’s smooth tongue in Proverbs 6:24 and a statement about her deadly consequences in Proverbs 6:26.

The words — תַּחְמֹד (tachmod) translates to "you desire" or "lust," and תִּ֝קָּֽחֲ/ךָ֗ (tiqcha'kha) means "she capture/you." The text commands the reader to forbid internal longing for her beauty and to resist being seized by her gaze.

The thread — The prohibition against inward lust and captivation by sight appears in Matthew 5:28, which equates looking with lust to adultery in the heart, and James 1:14, which traces temptation to one’s own evil desires. The external allure is illustrated in 2 Kings 9:30, where Jezebel adorns herself and looks down from a window to provoke reaction.

Why it lands — The verse demands immediate internal discipline over desire and external focus to prevent the moral and physical ruin described in the surrounding context. It requires the reader to actively block the pathway from visual attraction to internal compromise.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

אַל־'al-may not תַּחְמֹ֣דtach.Modyou desire יָ֭פְיָהּYa.fe.ya/hbeauty/ her בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָbi/l.va.Ve./khain/ heart/ your וְאַל־ve./'al-and/ may not תִּ֝קָּֽחֲךָ֗ti.ka.cha./khashe capture/ you בְּעַפְעַפֶּֽיהָ׃be./'af.'a.Pei./hawith/ eyelids/ her

King James Version

Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

Cross-references

Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
James 1:14 But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
2 Kings 9:30 Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.
2 Samuel 11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
Song of Solomon 4:9 You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.
Isaiah 3:16 The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles—