Proverbs 1:16
in Proverbs 1For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.
KJV
For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
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This verse in Proverbs 1
Commentary
11 notes on this verseIt is good for the … feet … that they be not swift to shed blood or to run to evil, but that they be prompted to run to the gospel and the prize of the high calling, and to receive Christ who washes and cleanses them.
This site's exposition
do not walk the road with them
on Proverbs 1:15-19
The command “do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path” uses the road and path language of the whole book. Verse 17 turns the warning on the plotters. Verse 19 closes with the book's verdict that “unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors”.
This site's exposition
their feet run to evil
Paul uses the same words at Romans 3:15, drawn chiefly from Isaiah 59:7, in his charge that all have sinned. Gregory of Nazianzus turns the image to baptism, where feet once swift to shed blood are to run to the gospel instead. Feet show where the heart is set.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsCONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES · Written before 380.
proposed
It is not fair to be too hasty in casting out an offender but slow in receiving him when he returns; to be forward in cutting off but unmerciful when he is sorrowful and ought to be healed. For of such as these speaks the divine Scripture: "Their feet run to mischief; they are hasty to shed blood." … Now the way of peace is our Savior Jesus Christ, who has taught us, saying, "Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you," that is, give remission of sins, and your offenses shall be forgiven you. .
It is not fair to be too hasty in casting out an offender but slow in receiving him when he returns; to be forward in cutting off but unmerciful when he is sorrowful and ought to be healed. For of such as these speaks the …
The Medieval Church1 voice
"For their feet run to evil," etc. They hasten not only to the evil they work temporarily, but also to the evil they will suffer perpetually, as often as they hurry to commit murder or some other crime. For as much as they are led …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Their feet run to evil, to that which is displeasing to God and hurtful to mankind, for they make haste to shed blood. Note, The way of sin is down-hill; men not only cannot stop themselves, but, the longer they continue in it, the faster they run, and make haste in it, as if they were afraid they should not do mischief enough and were resolved to lose no time.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For their feet run to evil,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
For their feet run to evil - The whole of this verse is wanting in the Septuagint, and in the Arabic.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
run to evil They run to their own harm, and they do not know to pay heed to the matter.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רַ֭גְלֵיהֶם | ragleihem | feet their | H7272 → | 247 times |
| לָרַ֣ע | lara' | to <the> evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| יָר֑וּצוּ | yarutzu | they run | H7323 → | 103 times |
| וִֽ֝ימַהֲר֗וּ | vimaharu | and they may make haste | H4116 → | 68 times |
| לִשְׁפָּךְ־ | lishpokh- | to shed | H8210 → | |
| דָּֽם׃ | dam | blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
רַ֭גְלֵיהֶםfeet their
ragleihemH7272 →247 times
לָרַ֣עto <the> evil
lara'H7451 →662 times
יָר֑וּצוּthey run
yarutzuH7323 →103 times
וִֽ֝ימַהֲר֗וּand they may make haste
vimaharuH4116 →68 times
לִשְׁפָּךְ־to shed
lishpokh-H8210 →
דָּֽם׃blood
damH1818 →360 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
Proverbs 4:16For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
it leads to
- Psalms 36:4
Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 2:1
Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Isaiah 57:20
But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.
- Psalms 36:4
Through
Proverbs 6:18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
it leads to
- Genesis 6:5
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
- Jeremiah 4:14
Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Romans 3:15
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
- Zechariah 8:17
do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely, for I hate all these things,” declares the LORD.
- Genesis 6:5
Through
Romans 3:5But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.
it leads to
- Romans 6:19
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now…
- Romans 6:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Gregory of Nazianzus, ON HOLY BAPTISM, ORATION 40:39; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Nilus of Sinai, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2:3.21.