Proverbs 1:12
in Proverbs 1let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit;
KJV
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
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This verse in Proverbs 1
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWherefore by Solomon He commands the children to beware: "My son, let not sinners deceive thee, and go not after their ways; and go not, if they entice thee, saying, Come with us, share with us in innocent blood, and let us hide unjustly the righteous man in the earth; let us put him out of sight, all alive as he is into Hades." This is accordingly likewise a prediction concerning the Lord's passion.
This site's exposition
My son, if sinners entice thee
on Proverbs 1:10-14
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not opens the first of the strange voices the father warns against, sinners rather than the strange woman of chapters 5 and 7, but built on the same pattern, an invitation, an appeal to belonging, and a hidden cost. Let us lay wait for blood spells out actual violence for gain rather than metaphorical temptation, and one purse for men who have just proposed murder is the con of every gang, that shared spoil buys shared guilt. The father's whole strategy is refusal before argument, consent thou not, not weigh the offer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
There is one text in Proverbs so far from being obscure that its relationship to Christ and his possession, the church, can be grasped without any such trouble. Wicked men are speaking: "Let us unjustly hide away in the earth the just man, let us swallow him up alive like hell. Let us abolish his memory from the earth, let us lay hands upon his precious possession." This is very like what the Lord Jesus himself, in one of the Gospel parables, puts into the mouths of the wicked vinedressers: "This is the heir; come let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance."
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Let us swallow him alive like the grave," etc. Thus the wicked desired to extinguish the Lord, that every memory of his virtues and teaching might be removed; and even that it might be forgotten that such a one ever lived among them.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave,....
A faithful and lively representation of wisdom's reasonings with the children of men, and the certain ruin of those who turn a deaf ear to those reasonings,
These bloody men would do this as greedily as the hungry lion devours the lamb. If it be objected, "The remains of the murdered will betray the murderers;" they answer, "No danger of that; we will swallow them whole as those that are buried." Who could imagine that human nature should degenerate so far that it should ever be a pleasure to one man to destroy another!
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Let us swallow them up alive - Give them as hasty a death as if the earth were suddenly to swallow them up. This seems to refer to the destruction of a whole village. Let us destroy man, woman, and child; and then we may seize on and carry away the whole of their property, and the booty will be great.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A solemn warning against temptation. entice--literally, "open the way." consent . . . not--Sin is in consenting or yielding to temptation, not in being tempted.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Abundant rewards of villainy are promised as the fruits of this easy and safe course. The society of the wicked (way or path) is dangerous. Avoid the beginnings of sin (Pr 4:14;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
i. e., “We will be as all-devouring as Sheol. The destruction of those we attack shall be as sudden as that of those who go down quickly into the pit.” Some render the latter clause, and upright men as those that go down to the pit. “Pit” here is a synonym for Sheol, the great cavernous depth, the shadow-world of the dead.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נִ֭בְלָעֵם | nivlaem | let us engulf them | H1104 → | 49 times |
| כִּשְׁא֣וֹל | kishol | like Sheol | H7585 → | 66 times |
| חַיִּ֑ים | chaiyim | alive | H2416 → | 498 times |
| וּ֝תְמִימִ֗ים | utemimim | and complete | H8549 → | 91 times |
| כְּי֣וֹרְדֵי | keyordei | like [those who] go down of | H3381 → | 381 times |
| בֽוֹר׃ | vor | [the] pit | H953 → | 66 times |
נִ֭בְלָעֵםlet us engulf them
nivlaemH1104 →49 times
כִּשְׁא֣וֹלlike Sheol
kisholH7585 →66 times
חַיִּ֑יםalive
chaiyimH2416 →498 times
וּ֝תְמִימִ֗יםand complete
utemimimH8549 →91 times
כְּי֣וֹרְדֵיlike [those who] go down of
keyordeiH3381 →381 times
בֽוֹר׃[the] pit
vorH953 →66 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 3:13“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”
it leads to
- Psalms 5:9
For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.
- Psalms 140:3
They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
- Matthew 23:27–28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- Psalms 5:9
Through
Psalms 28:1To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.
it leads to
- Psalms 143:7
Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.
- Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
- Psalms 88:4–6
I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength.
- Psalms 83:1
O God, be not silent; be not speechless; be not still, O God.
- Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.
- Psalms 143:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, City of God 17.20; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.