Warning Against Enticement by Sinners
Proverbs 1:8-19
Pro.1.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שמע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- מוסר: NOUN,m,sg,const
- אביך: NOUN,m,sg,suff+2ms
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- תטש: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- תורת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- אמך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Prov.6:20 (verbal): Nearly identical wording: 'My son, keep your father's command... do not forsake the teaching of your mother.' (same parental injunction to heed father's instruction and mother's teaching).
- Prov.4:1 (verbal): Similar address and imperative: 'Hear, O children, the instruction of a father...'—same formula calling children to receive parental instruction.
- Prov.3:1 (verbal): Close idiom and warning: 'My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.' Echoes the appeal to a son to retain parental instruction.
- Deut.6:6-7 (thematic): Command to pass covenantal instruction to the next generation: teachings are to be kept 'in your heart' and taught 'to your children'—themantic parallel about family transmission of instruction.
- Psalm 78:5-7 (thematic): God's charge to establish statutes and teach them to children so they will not forget—parallels the concern for parental transmission of instruction across generations.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hear, my son, the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the instruction of your mother.
- Hear, my son, your father's discipline, and do not forsake your mother's instruction.
Pro.1.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- לוית: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- חן: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הם: PRON,personal,3,m,pl
- לראשך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+2,m,sg
- וענקים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לגרגרתיך: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs+2,m,sg
Parallels
- Prov.3:22 (verbal): Closely parallel wording: the products of wisdom are described as 'life to your soul and ornament to your neck'—same adornment imagery applied to wisdom's benefits.
- Prov.4:9 (verbal): Uses nearly identical metaphor of a graceful garland or ornament placed on the head—wisdom/personified 'she' bestows a crown of splendor.
- Ezek.16:11-14 (thematic): God adorns Jerusalem with jewelry, bracelets and a necklace—uses the same motif of garlands, chains and ornaments to signify honor and favor.
- Isa.62:3 (thematic): Israel is pictured as a 'crown of beauty' and a royal diadem—similar royal/adorned imagery signifying dignity and blessing.
Alternative generated candidates
- For they are a graceful garland for your head and a chain about your neck.
- For they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
Pro.1.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- אם: CONJ
- יפתוך: VERB,piel,impf,3,m,pl
- חטאים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אל: NEG
- תבא: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 1:1 (thematic): Both warn against walking in the counsel or companionship of the wicked; the blessed/wise person avoids sinners' influence.
- Proverbs 4:14-15 (verbal): Repeats parental admonition with similar language—do not enter the wicked's path or join their company.
- Proverbs 13:20 (thematic): Contrasts the outcomes of keeping company with the wise versus fools/sinners, echoing the warning to refuse sinners' enticement.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 (quotation): Paul cites the proverb-like principle ('Bad company ruins good morals'), directly reflecting Proverbs' warning about corrupting companionship.
Alternative generated candidates
- My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
- My son, if sinners entice you, do not go along with them.
Pro.1.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- יאמרו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- לכה: VERB,qal,imp,2,f,sg
- אתנו: PRON,1,pl
- נארבה: VERB,qal,impf,1,pl
- לדם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נצפנה: VERB,qal,impf,1,pl
- לנקי: PREP+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- חנם: ADV
Parallels
- Proverbs 1:18 (verbal): Same literary circle—sinners lying in wait and ambushing for blood; continues/outcomes of the scheme described in 1:11 (similar verbs and imagery).
- Psalms 10:8-9 (thematic): Speaks of the wicked lying in ambush to seize and murder the innocent—parallel theme of hidden violence and predatory plotting.
- Isaiah 59:7 (thematic): Describes people whose feet run to evil and who make ready their schemes to shed innocent blood—echoes the motif of ambushing the innocent.
- Psalms 35:7-8 (verbal): The psalmist accuses enemies of hiding and lying in wait 'without cause'—language close to נצפנה לנקי חנם (ambushing the innocent for no reason).
Alternative generated candidates
- If they say, “Come with us; let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without cause,”
- If they say, "Come with us; let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without cause,"
Pro.1.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- נבלעם: VERB,qal,impf,1,pl
- כשאול: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חיים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- ותמימים: CONJ+ADJ,m,pl,abs
- כיורדי: PREP+VERB,qal,ptcp,m,pl
- בור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Proverbs 1:11 (structural): Immediate context — the conspirators’ plan in v.11 (‘we will lie in wait for blood’) continues in v.12 with the imagery of swallowing victims alive, forming one unit of threat.
- Genesis 37:20,24 (thematic): Brothers plotting to kill Joseph and cast him into a pit — similar motif of a group conspiring to consign someone to death by throwing into a pit.
- Psalm 35:8 (verbal): Prays that the enemy’s hidden net cause him to fall into the pit — shares language and imagery of trapping and sending victims into a pit.
- Psalm 9:15 (Heb. 9:16) (thematic): Speaks of nations sinking into the pit they made and being caught in their own snares; parallels the motif of destruction via pit/net and poetic justice.
- Isaiah 5:14 (thematic): Personifies Sheol as widening its mouth to receive the proud and populous, echoing the image of Sheol/pit as a place that swallows the living.
Alternative generated candidates
- we will swallow them alive like Sheol, whole, like those who go down into the pit.
- we will swallow them alive, like Sheol; whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
Pro.1.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כל: DET
- הון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יקר: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- נמצא: VERB,nip,perf,3,m,sg
- נמלא: VERB,nif,perf,3,m,sg
- בתינו: NOUN,m,pl,poss.1pl
- שלל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Prov.1:19 (structural): Immediate continuation of the same address: links the scheme to 'the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain' and says such gain brings death—ties the desire to 'fill our houses with spoil' to ruin.
- Prov.10:2 (thematic): Contrasts the appeal of treasure with its moral outcome: 'Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,' echoing the futility and danger of ill‑gotten wealth implied in Prov 1:13.
- Micah 2:1–2 (thematic): Condemns those who covet and seize fields and houses—parallels the violent acquisition and intent to enrich one’s household expressed in Prov 1:13.
- Habakkuk 2:9–10 (verbal): Pronounces 'woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,' using language of gaining for the house and condemning ill‑gotten spoil, directly resonant with 'fill our houses with spoil.'
Alternative generated candidates
- All precious wealth is there; we will fill our houses with spoil.
- All costly goods are there to be had; we will fill our houses with plunder.
Pro.1.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גורלך: NOUN,m,sg,abs,2,ms
- תפיל: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- בתוכנו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+1p
- כיס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחד: NUM,card,m,sg
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לכלנו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss,1,pl
Parallels
- Proverbs 1:11-12 (structural): Immediate context: the conspirators’ speech continues—inviting the son to join in ambush and share the spoil, completing the same plot begun in v.14.
- Proverbs 1:10 (verbal): The warning that precedes v.14—'If sinners entice thee, consent not'—frames the invitation to 'cast thy lot' as a temptation to resist.
- Genesis 37:18-20 (thematic): Joseph’s brothers conspire 'let us kill him' and plot to profit from his removal; similar 'let us' language and collective intent to harm an innocent for gain.
- John 12:6 (verbal): Mentions Judas as keeper of the disciples’ moneybag ('the bag/purse'), echoing the motif of a common purse and shared funds—here linked to betrayal rather than innocent fellowship.
- Acts 4:32-35 (thematic): Describes the early believers having 'all things common' and a shared pool of resources—a positive, communal counterpart to the sinful 'one purse' sought by the conspirators in Prov 1:14.
Alternative generated candidates
- Throw in your lot with us; let us all have one purse.
- Throw in your lot with us; there will be one purse for us all.
Pro.1.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- אל: NEG
- תלך: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- בדרך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- מנע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- רגלך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+SUFF,2,m,sg
- מנתיבתם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,poss3mp
Parallels
- Prov.4:14-15 (verbal): Same admonition language: 'Enter not into the path of the wicked... avoid it' — uses the image of paths/ways and the verb to keep one's foot from them.
- Prov.7:25 (verbal): Directly parallels phrasing: 'Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths' — warning against following someone into dangerous paths.
- Ps.1:1 (thematic): Same moral instruction in verbal form: 'Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked' — theme of refusing to walk in the ways of sinners.
- Ps.119:101 (verbal): Uses identical bodily imagery: 'I have refrained my feet from every evil way' — the motif of restraining one’s feet from evil paths.
- Prov.2:20 (thematic): Counters/echoes the same road metaphor: exhorts walking in the way of the good and keeping the paths of the righteous, implying avoidance of wicked paths.
Alternative generated candidates
- My son, do not walk in their way; keep your foot from their path.
- My son, do not walk in their way; keep your foot from their paths.
Pro.1.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- רגליהם: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3,m,pl
- לרע: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ירוצו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- וימהרו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- לשפך: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- דם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 59:7 (verbal): Closely mirrors the Hebrew phrasing — 'their feet run to evil, they hurry to shed blood' — a near verbal parallel describing swift movement toward violence.
- Proverbs 6:16-19 (thematic): Lists 'hands that shed innocent blood' among the wicked deeds; echoes the condemnation of those who hasten to commit violence.
- Genesis 4:8-10 (thematic): The account of Cain killing Abel exemplifies the theme of human beings rushing to shed blood and God's confrontation of that violence.
- Matthew 23:35 (thematic): Jesus decries the shedding of righteous blood ('from Abel to Zechariah') as evidence of persistent evil—parallels the motif of wickedness marked by bloodshed.
- Romans 1:29 (thematic): Paul's catalogue of vices includes 'murderers' (those who shed blood), reflecting the same moral condemnation of people given over to violent actions.
Alternative generated candidates
- For their feet run to evil; they hurry to shed blood.
- For their feet hasten to evil; they make haste to shed blood.
Pro.1.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- חנם: ADV
- מזרה: VERB,qal,ptc,ms,sg
- הרשת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- בעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- כל: DET
- בעל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כנף: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Prov.1.18 (structural): Immediate continuation — the same context: the spread net leads to ambush for human life (’they lay wait for their own blood’), closely linked thematically and narratively.
- Psalm 91:3 (verbal): Uses very similar imagery — God delivers from ‘the snare of the fowler’; both texts employ bird/fowler/net language for danger and entrapment.
- Jeremiah 5:26 (thematic): Speaks of wicked men who ‘lie in wait’ and ‘set a trap’ for others; parallels the idea of maliciously spreading nets to ensnare victims.
- Isaiah 59:5-6 (allusion): Describes those who ‘weave the spider’s web’ and hatch harmful plots — comparable imagery of artisanal traps and secret schemes that endanger others.
- Prov.12:13 (thematic): Speaks of the mouth/lips as a snare causing destruction — parallels the proverb motif of hidden snares and self‑destructive schemes leading to ruin.
Alternative generated candidates
- For they spread the net in full view of every bird of wing.
- For a net is spread in full view of every bird.
Pro.1.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והם: CONJ+PRON,3,m,pl
- לדמם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
- יארבו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- יצפנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- לנפשתם: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Prov.1.11 (verbal): Same speech of the enticers; uses identical ambush/blood imagery (‘lay in wait for blood’, ‘lurk for the innocent’) as part of the temptation narrative.
- Prov.1.19 (structural): Immediate conclusion of the episode: explains the moral/structural point that greed leads to ruin—echoes the self-destructive consequence implied in 1:18.
- Jer.5:26 (verbal): ‘They lay wait… they set a snare’ language; depicts wicked men lying in ambush to catch others, closely paralleling the verb imagery of lurking and bloodshed.
- Ps.10:9 (thematic): The wicked ‘lie in wait’ like a lion to seize the poor—similar predatory/ambush motif and exploitation of victims.
- Isa.59:7 (thematic): Speaks of people who ‘make haste to shed innocent blood’ and whose ways are violent—thematic parallel in violence, ambush, and moral culpability.
Alternative generated candidates
- But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
- But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
Pro.1.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כן: ADV
- ארחות: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- כל: DET
- בצע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בצע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- נפש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בעליו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3ms
- יקח: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 10:2 (verbal): States that treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, paralleling Prov 1:19’s assertion that gain obtained by greed harms the owner.
- Proverbs 21:6 (thematic): Warns that getting riches by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death—echoing the idea that ill-gotten gain brings destruction to its possessors.
- Proverbs 15:27 (verbal): Says the greedy for gain brings trouble to his household, reflecting the moral and social harm caused by covetous acquisition described in Prov 1:19.
- Ecclesiastes 5:10–12 (thematic): Describes how the love of money leads to dissatisfaction and misery, and how ill-gotten wealth can leave its owner restless and bereft—paralleling Prov 1:19’s focus on greed’s destructive outcome.
- Jeremiah 17:11 (allusion): Compares one who gains riches unjustly to a partridge that gathers eggs it did not hatch and loses them—similar to Prov 1:19’s theme that wrongful gain will not preserve the lifeblood of its owner.
Alternative generated candidates
- Thus are the ways of all who love gain: by greed they take the life of its possessors.
- Such are the ways of every lover of gain; it seizes the life of its owners.
Hear, my son, your father's instruction; do not forsake your mother's teaching.
For they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
If they say, 'Come with us; let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without cause,'
we will swallow them alive—whole, like Sheol; like those who go down to the pit.
All costly wealth will be found; we will fill our houses with spoil.
Cast your lot among us—one purse shall be for all of us.
My son, do not walk in the way with them; keep your foot from their path.
For their feet hurry to evil; they rush to shed blood.
For a net is spread in view of every bird;
but they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves. Thus are the ways of all who are greedy for gain: it takes away the life of its possessors.