Charles Ellicott Commentary Proverbs 6:16

"There are six things which Jehovah hateth; Yea, seven which are an abomination unto him:" — Proverbs 6:16 (ASV)

These six things does the Lord hate...— Rather, six are the things which He hates. It is a sort of climax:—He hates six things, but the seventh worse than all.

This numerical form of proverb, to which the name of middah is given by later writers, is also found in Proverbs 30:15-16; Proverbs 30:18–19; Proverbs 30:21–23; Proverbs 30:29–31; Job 5:19; Amos 1:3 -Amos 2:1; Sirach 23:16; Sirach 25:7; Sirach 26:5; Sirach 26:28.

In all these instances, the number first named is afterwards increased by one.

This peculiarity is absent from the instances occurring in Proverbs 30:7-9; Proverbs 30:24–28; Sirach 25:1-2.