Proverbs 1:10-19 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
‘Sinners’ [Hebrew: chata’] criminal; to miss the mark; pass the limits of the law. Translated as sinners (Ps. 1:1, 5; 25:8 etc.).
‘Consent thou not’ – Five examples of consenting not to sin: Joseph (Gen. 39:9-10). The unknown prophet (1Kin. 13:8-9). Jehoshaphat (1Kin. 22:49). Joash (2Chr. 24:2). Jesus Christ (Heb. 4:14-16).
‘If they say, Come with us …’ Note the sevenfold enticement of sinners to young men, showing how gangs and sinful relations are formed to this day (1:10-14).
‘Grave’ [Hebrew: She’owl] is incorrectly translated for the Hebrew word for grave is qeber which is the grave, the place of the body; this should have been translated as hell [she’owl] the place of departed souls. The body goes to the grave at death, where it turns to dust. The soul, however, goes to Sheol, a place of consciousness after death.
‘Pit’ [Hebrew: bowr] is a hole bored or dug, referring to a grave. This verse contrasts She’owl, hell – the place of the soul (where it is swallowed up alive) – and bowr, the place of the body.
‘Walk not thou in the way with them.’ Contrast the seven recruiting arguments of Proverbs 1:10-14, with the seven reasons why a young man should not join gangs or ungodly relations (1:15-19).
‘Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.’ Quoted in Romans 3:15 and states that they intend to bring harm to others.
‘Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.’ Just as the enemy set traps to ensnare us, so do his followers. One cannot ensnare those whose eyes are open.
‘Own blood … own lives.’ The consequence of those who plan evil against others – it shall happen to you. Matthew 7:12 states the golden rule of “do unto others as you want others to do unto you” and Galatians 6:7-8 gives the law of sowing and reaping.
Living the Word 