For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he wanders into its mesh.
A snare will take him by the heel. A trap will catch him.
A noose is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him on the path.
Parallel Translations
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For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he wanders into its mesh.
A snare will take him by the heel. A trap will catch him.
A noose is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him on the path.
-
For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.
Show all 3 translations
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For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon the toils.
A gin shall take him by the heel, and a snare shall lay hold on him.
A noose is hid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.
Cross-references (20)
- Psalms 9:15 (v8) The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
- Job 22:10 (v8) Therefore snares are around you. Sudden fear troubles you,
- Psalms 35:8 (v8) Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.
- Esther 3:9 (v8) If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who…
- Esther 6:13 (v8) Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to…
Show all 20 cross-references
- Esther 7:5 (v8) Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?”
- Esther 7:10 (v8) So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.
- Job 1:15 (v9) and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to…
- Job 1:17 (v9) While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, “The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have…
- Job 5:5 (v9) whose harvest the hungry eats up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.
- Psalms 11:6 (v10) On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
- Proverbs 5:22 (v8) The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- Proverbs 29:6 (v8) An evil man is snared by his sin, but the righteous can sing and be glad.
- Isaiah 8:14-15 (v9) He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of…
- Ezekiel 12:13 (v10) I will also spread my net on him, and he will be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will…
- Ezekiel 32:3 (v8) The Lord Yahweh says: “I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they will bring you up in my net.
- Romans 11:9 (v10) David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.
- 1 Timothy 3:7 (v8) Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
- 1 Timothy 6:9 (v8) But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and…
- 2 Timothy 2:26 (v8) and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v8 Meaning, that the wicked are in continual danger.
Meaning, that the wicked are in continual danger.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Job 18:8 For he is cast into a net…
Job 18:8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
Ver. 8. For he is cast into a net by his own feet] Wicked men are even ambitious for destruction; judgments need not go to find them out; they run to meet their bane. Divine justice and their own indiscretion undo them. He hath sent his feet into the net, so the Vulgate rendereth it. He is sent into a net by his own feet, so Mr Broughton. "His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins," Pro 5:22; these shall cast him into inextricable straits.
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And he walketh upon a snare] Upon a platted gin, saith Broughton; whereupon the more he strives to get, the more he entangleth himself. Sic laqueas fera dum iactat astringit. Sic aves viscum dum trepidantes excutiunt, plumis omnibus illinunt (Sen. de Ira, lib. iii. cap. 6): So the beast, while he tosseth the snares wherein he is taken, straiteneth them. So the birds, while they think to shake off the birdlime, besmear all their feathers with it.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8–10 By his own feet; by his own choice, and…
By his own feet; by his own choice, and design, and actions.
He walketh upon a snare; and therefore must needs be entangled and destroyed.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–10 The gin shall take him by the heel,.... And…
The gin shall take him by the heel,.... And hold him fast, so that he shall not be able to get away, especially out of such as are set by God himself; for God has his nets, and snares, and gins for wicked men, and such plenty of them, that he even is said to rain them on them; yea, he himself is a gin and a snare unto them, and out of his hands there is no escaping, wherefore it is a terrible thing to fall into them, see Eze 12:13;
and the robber shall prevail against him; either robbers literally taken, such as the Sabeans and Chaldeans, to whom Bildad may have reference, who prevailed against Job, and plundered him of his substance; and such as these, as the word signifies, are "thirsty ones" (p), who thirst after the wealth and riches of men, and after their blood for the sake thereof, bloodthirsty ones; Mr. Broughton renders it, "the savage", barbarous, wild, and uncivilized, that lived in desert places, and were like wild beasts, let their hair grow long, to make them look more terrible and formidable, which some take to be the signification of the word, and render it "horrid" (q) or terrible; see Gill on Job 5:5; or else the devil may be meant, who is like a roaring lion, terrible and frightful, and who, as he was a murderer from the beginning, so a thief and robber, that comes to kill and destroy, and whom God suffers to prevail over the children of disobedience, and in whom he works powerfully, being the strong man armed, that has possession of them and their goods, and keeps them in peace; and who has his snares, which he lays suited to the tempers and dispositions of men, and in which they are taken alive, as beasts of prey, and are detained by him at his pleasure, Ti2 2:26.
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(p) "sitibundos", Montanus; "sitibundus", Tigurine version. (q) "Horridus", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v8 Feet - By his own designs and actions.
Feet - By his own designs and actions.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8–9 Verse 8. For he is cast into a net]…
Verse 8. For he is cast into a net] His own conduct will infallibly bring him to ruin. He shall be like a wild beast taken in a net; the more he flounces in order to extricate himself, the more he shall be entangled.
He walketh upon a snare.] He is continually walking on the meshes of a net, by which he must soon be entangled and overthrown.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8–9 Job 18:8. He is cast into a net by…
Job 18:8. He is cast into a net by his own feet — By his own choice, design, and actions. And he walketh upon a snare — Or, as the words may be rendered, runneth to and fro on the toils, and therefore must needs be entangled and destroyed. “The metaphor” says Heath, “is taken from a beast, which the hunters have driven into the toils. He runs hither and thither, striving to find a way out, but the net entangles him more and more, till at length it fastens upon him.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8–10 For he is cast into a net by his…
For he is cast into a net by his own feet - He is caught in his own tricks, as if he had spread a net or dug a pitfall for another, and had fallen into it himself. The meaning is, that he would bring ruin upon himself while he was plotting the rain of others; see Psa 9:16, “The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands;” compare the note at Job 5:13. The phrase “by his own feet” here means, that he walks there himself. He is not led or driven by others, but he goes himself into the net. Wild animals are sometimes driven, but he walks along of his own accord into the net, and has no one to blame but himself.
And he walketh upon a snare - Or a pitfall. This was formerly the mode of taking wild beasts. It was done by excavating a place in the earth, and covering it over with turf, leaves, etc. supported in a slender manner; so that the lion, or elephant or tiger that should tread on it, would fall through. These methods of taking wild beasts have been practiced from the earliest times, and are practiced everywhere.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv8–9 Meshes, (maculis) or holes of the net. (Menochius) ---…
Meshes, (maculis) or holes of the net. (Menochius) --- The more he strives to get out, the more he gets entangled. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8–9 he walketh upon--rather, "he lets himself go into the…
he walketh upon--rather, "he lets himself go into the net" [UMBREIT]. If the English Version be retained, then understand "snare" to be the pitfall, covered over with branches and earth, which when walked upon give way (Psa 9:15; Job 35:8).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. Walketh upon a snare — His terra firma…
8. Walketh upon a snare — His terra firma is but earth-covered “latticework” (שׂבכה) over a pitfall concealing an unfathomable abyss.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–9 8–11. All things hasten on his ruin; the moral…
8–11. All things hasten on his ruin; the moral order of the world is such that wherever he moves or touches upon it it becomes a snare to seize him. “Snares” do not mean temptations, they are hidden instruments of destruction that seize and hold the hunted creature. His “counsel,” and his own feet (Job_18:8), his evil nature and its outcome, his evil conduct, carry him into these snares—laid for wickedness in the constitution of things.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v8 (8) He is cast into a net.—Job had compared…
(8) He is cast into a net.—Job had compared himself to one hunted by the Almighty (Job_10:16), and Bildad here describes the evil man as snared in a net, but it is one for which he has no one to thank but himself. It is his own pit he falls into; the insinuation being that Job is likewise responsible for his calamities, which are the punishment of his sin. It is to be observed that in this and the following verses the speaker heaps together every word he can find descriptive of the art of snaring.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8–10 For he is cast into a net by his…
For he is cast into a net by his own feet. He walks of his own accord into a snare, not necessarily into one that he has himself set for others, as in Psa_7:15 Psa_9:15 Psa_35:8 Psa_57:6; and Pro_26:27; but either into one of his own setting, or into one laid for him by others (see ver. 10). And he walketh upon a snare. A mere repetition of the idea expressed in the preceding hemistich.
Vers. 8-10. The sinner entrapped by his own feet.
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According to Bildad"s representation, the wicked man needs no huntsman to run him to earth. His own fatuous course will lead him to ruin. his own foolish feet walk into the snare.
I THE READY SNARE. "The snare is laid for him in the ground.
1. Its author. It is laid for him. He does not make and set it; he does not know where it is. If he knew, of course he would avoid it. He does not even think of its existence. Were he to do so, he would be on his guard. Another has laid the snare. Man has a great enemy, watching to pounce on him a robber of souls, who sets traps and gins for the unwary. Let us be on our guard. Like the Pilgrim, we are on the enchanter"s ground; this earth has become our foe"s territory.
2. Its character. A snare is a hidden device. The net is set among the bushes, the wires are hidden by the grass. Men are deluded into ruin. Deceitful appearances lure them to destruction.
3. Its condition. The snare is already laid. If we are not ready to meet our foe, he is ready for us. No one can accuse Satan of dilatoriness. He is beforehand with his schemes. He was prepared to entrap the first man. The snare was ready almost as soon as Eden was planted.
4. Its position. "In the way.
(1) The bad man"s way. This is its most usual place. The snares are most numerous on the broad road.
(2) The common way. The snares are also to be found on the narrow way that leads to life. The Christian is not out of danger. Bunyan"s enchanted ground lay right in the road to the Celestial City. We do not escape the dangers of temptation by becoming Christians.
II THE UNWARY FEET. The wicked man walks straight into the snare. Here is the difference between this man and the good man. There are snares about the path of the man of God; but a Divine light reveals them, and a Divine hand draws him back from his great peril. It is otherwise with the godless man. Note the reasons why his feet go straight for the snare.
1. Darkness. His light is put out (ver. 5). If he started with a lantern, the foul atmosphere through which he has travelled has extinguished it. Now that he needs it in the place of peril, it is but a useless impediment.
2. Desertion of God. We are too blind to see all the snares that are set for our feet, but we may have the help of an unerring Guide. The sinner rejects the heavenly Guide. In proud independence he prefers to go alone.
3. Proneness to coil. The sinner sees a fascination in the region of the snare. Perhaps it is set in a bed of flowers, or in an orchard of fruit. It may be that some pleasant shady dell conceals it, or possibly it is hidden by a mossy couch that invites repose. At all events, it is most deceptive and powerful where sin most abounds.
4. Destiny. A sort of fatality dogs the footsteps of the sinner. Start how he may, he is sure to direct his feet at last straight for the snare. He is like one mesmerized. He can but walk into the net. The hideous explanation of his fascination for ruin is that he is no longer his own master. He has made himself the slave of Satan. Yet even he may find safety in the mighty deliverance of the Christ who came to destroy the works of the devil. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 General Information:
General Information:
Bildad continues to speak and uses three parallel images to describe how suddenly the wicked person will experience disaster. (See: Parallelism)
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A trap will take him ... a snare will ... A noose is ... and a trap for him in the way
These four phrases speak of the wicked man experiencing disaster as if he were caught in a trap. AT: "It will be as though a trap will take him ... a snare will ... A noose is ... and a trap for him in the way" (See: Metaphor)
A trap
People used this kind of trap to catch birds. The trap snapped shut and held on to the foot of the bird.
will take him by the heel
Here the "heel" refers to the whole foot. AT: "will take hold of his foot" (See: Synecdoche)
A noose is hidden for him on the ground
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Someone has hidden a noose on the ground in order to catch him" (See: Active or Passive)
A noose
a rope with a loop that grabs hold of an animal's leg when the animal steps in the middle of the loop
a trap for him
The understood verbal phrase "is hidden" may be supplied. AT: "a trap is hidden on the path to catch him" or "someone will hide a trap to catch him in the way" (See: Ellipsis)
Terrors will make him afraid on every side
"Terrors all around will make him afraid"
they will chase him at his heels
This speaks of the things that terrify the wicked person as if they were enemies who chased him. AT: "it will be as if the terrors will chase him all around" (See: Personification)
translationWords
snare
terror
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 18:8-10 A series of hunting devices illustrates the biblical…
18:8-10 A series of hunting devices illustrates the biblical principle of retribution (see study note on 34:11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.