Proverbs 23:28
in Proverbs 23Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous among men.
KJV
She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseShe also lieth in wait as for a prey,.... At the door of her house, in the corner of the streets, in the dark of the night; laying her snares, and spreading her nets, for unwary persons, to make a prey of their virtue and of their money.
This site's exposition
give me thine heart
on Proverbs 23:26-28
My son, give me thine heart is the father's plainest request in the whole book, and it opens directly into the warning against the strange woman: a whore is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit, the two images sharing the same danger, a fall a man does not see coming and cannot easily climb back out of. She also lieth in wait as for a prey names the predatory side of the danger the earlier chapters already drew, and Bridges reads give me thine heart as the whole chapter's real subject, since a heart already given has no room left for the pit to catch.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is like a deep ditch and a narrow pit, which it is almost impossible to get out of; and therefore it is wisdom to keep far enough from the brink of it. Take heed of making any approaches towards this sin, because it is so hard to make a retreat from it, conscience, which should head the retreat, being debauched by it, and divine grace forfeited.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A solemn warning against whoredom and drunkenness (Ho 4:11). give me--This is the address of that divine wisdom so often presented (Pr 8:1; 9:3, &c.). heart--confidence. observe--keep. my ways--such as I teach you (Pr 3:17;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
increaseth . . . transgressors-- (Pr 5:8-10). The vice alluded to is peculiarly hardening to the heart. This picture is often sadly realized now. mixed wine--(Compare Pr 9:2;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
Increaseth the transgressors among men - More iniquity springs from this one source of evil, than from any other cause in the whole system of sin. Women and strong drink cause many millions to transgress.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| הִ֭יא | hi' | she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| כְּחֶ֣תֶף | kechetef | like a robber | H2863 → | |
| תֶּֽאֱרֹ֑ב | teero | she lies in wait | H693 → | 41 times |
| וּ֝בוֹגְדִ֗ים | uvogdim | and treacherous [people] | H898 → | 49 times |
| בְּאָדָ֥ם | beadam | among humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| תּוֹסִֽף׃ | tosif | she increases | H3254 → | 212 times |
אַף־also
ʾaf-H637 →134 times
הִ֭יאshe
hi'H1931 →1879 times
כְּחֶ֣תֶףlike a robber
kechetefH2863 →
תֶּֽאֱרֹ֑בshe lies in wait
teeroH693 →41 times
וּ֝בוֹגְדִ֗יםand treacherous [people]
uvogdimH898 →49 times
בְּאָדָ֥םamong humankind
beadamH120 →551 times
תּוֹסִֽף׃she increases
tosifH3254 →212 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
1 Corinthians 10:8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
it leads to
- Numbers 25:1–9
While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
- 1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
- Psalms 106:29
So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…
- Numbers 25:1–9
Through
Ecclesiastes 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:14
The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
- Proverbs 5:3–5
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Proverbs 22:14
Through
Proverbs 22:14The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
Through
Hosea 4:11Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Proverbs 20:1
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.