Proverbs 1:18

Pro 1:18 And they lay wait for their [own] blood; they lurk privily for their [own] lives.

Ver. 18. And they lay wait.] Their sin will surely find them out. "No doubt this man is a murderer," said those barbarians, {Act 28:4} "whom though he had escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live." {a} "Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth." {2Ki 9:26} Murder ever bleeds fresh in the eye of God; to him many years, yea, that eternity that is past, is but yesterday.

{a} Nemo noquitiam gerit in pectore, qui non idem Nemesin in tergo.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 1:18-19. And they lay wait, &c. — Assure thyself, such men are working their own ruin, and, as it were, lying in wait for themselves, when they lie in wait to take away the lives of others; for, in the end, they shall not escape the hand of justice, but be overtaken and suffer, either by a special vengeance of God, or by human punishment, what they have deserved. Let the young and unexperienced, who are entering into the paths of the world, treasure up this in their memories; let them write it on the table of their hearts; and, whenever they are solicited by any of their companions to do what their own conscience tells them is evil, let them not hesitate to bid such persons adieu that moment, for they spread snares for their destruction. So are the ways — The actions and courses; of every one that is greedy of gain — That seeks gain by unrighteous and wicked practices; which taketh away, &c. — Which greediness, or, rather, which gain, taketh away the life of the owners thereof — Brings sudden and certain destruction upon those who had made themselves masters and possessors of it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He showeth that there is no cause to move these wicked to spoil the innocent, but their avarice and cruelty.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 18. They lay wait for their own blood] I believe it is the innocent who are spoken of here, for whose blood and lives these lay wait and lurk privily; certainly not their own, by any mode of construction.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(18) And they lay wait.—Yet they cannot see that in truth they are laying wait, not for the innocent, but for themselves, as God will deliver him, and bring the mischief they designed for him upon their own head.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they lay wait for their own blood,.... While they lie in wait for the blood of others, they lie in wait for their own; and when they shed the blood of innocent persons, it in the issue comes upon their own heads, and is the cause of their own blood being shed; vengeance pursues them, and justice will not suffer them to live;

they lurk privily for their own lives: while they are lurking in secret places to take away, the lives of others, they are laying snares for their own souls; and the consequence of it will be, that they will be brought to a shameful and untimely end here, or, however, to everlasting ruin and destruction hereafter.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And, or but, or yet, or so; for all these ways this particle is used; which is more fully expressed in the next verse.

They lay wait for their own blood; the destruction which they design to others falls upon themselves. Their blood answers to their feet, Pro 1:16, and belongs to the same persons.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And they lay wait for their own blood, etc. The third reason or argument why the teacher"s warning should be followed, drawn from the destruction which overtakes the sinners themselves. "Lay wait," and "lurk privily," as in ver. 11, from which this verse is evidently borrowed. They propose, as they say, to lay wait for the blood of others; but it is, says the teacher, for their own blood. (l"dhammam), contra sanguinem suum; they lurk privily. as they say, for the innocent, but in reality it is for their own lives; (l"naph"shotham); contra animus suas (Vulgate); or, as the LXX puts it, Autoi ganon metecontev yhsaurizousin eautoiv kata , "For they who take part in murder treasure up evils for themselves;" that is, they am bringing a heavier and surer destruction upon themselves than they can ever inflict upon others (Wardlaw). The LXX adds, at the close of the verse, H de katastrofh andrwn paranomwn kakh , "And the overthrowing or destruction of transgressors is wrest, or evil." The Arabic Version has a similar addition.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their own blood - The destruction which they design to others, fall upon themselves.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The causal conj. כּי (for) in Pro 1:16 and Pro 1:17 are coordinated; and there now follows, introduced by the conj. ו ("and"), a third reason for the warning:

And they lie in wait for their own blood,

They lay snares for their own lives.

The warning of Pro 1:16 is founded on the immorality of the conduct of the enticer; that of Pro 1:17 on the audaciousness of the seduction as such, and now on the self-destruction which the robber and murderer bring upon themselves: they wish to murder others, but, as the result shows, they only murder themselves. The expression is shaped after Pro 1:11, as if it were: They lay snares, as they themselves say, for the blood of others; but it is in reality for their own blood: they certainly lie in wait, as they say; but not, as they add, for the innocent, but for their own lives (Fl.). Instead of לדמם, there might be used לדמיהם, after Mic 7:2; but לנפשׁם would signify ipsis (post-biblical, לעצמם), while לנפשׁתם leaves unobliterated the idea of the life: animis ipsorum; for if the O.T. language seeks to express ipse in any other way than by the personal pronoun spoken emphatically, this is done by the addition of נפשׁ (Isa 53:11). המו was on this account necessary, because Pro 1:17 has another subject (cf. Psa 63:10).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

These men lie in wait for their own blood—they set an ambush for their own lives

This finishes the comparison started in Proverbs 1:17. The men destroying themselves by doing sinful things is spoken of as if they set a trap and kill themselves. AT: "But these men are more foolish than the birds. They kill themselves with their own traps" (See: Metaphor)

These men lie in wait for their own blood

To lie in wait is to hide, ready to do something wicked. AT: "It is as if they are looking for an opportunity to kill themselves" or "They themselves will be killed because they try to kill others"

their own blood

Here "blood" is a metonym for a violent death. AT: "to kill themselves violently"

they set an ambush for their own lives

Here "their own lives" is a metonym for themselves. AT: "it is as if they are the ones who are waiting to suddenly attack and kill them"

So are the ways of everyone

A person's fate or destiny is spoken of as if it were a road a person walks on. AT: "This is what happens to everyone" (See: Metaphor)

unjust gain takes away the lives of those who hold on to it

A person destroying themselves by trying to gain wealth through violence, theft, and deceit is spoken of as if the unjust gains will kill those who take it. AT: "it is like the unjust gains will destroy those who hold on to it" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

snare

just

life

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

but they lie in wait for their blood But the hunters lie in wait for the blood of the birds.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.