A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.
Parallel Translations
-
A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.
-
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
-
A man that is laden with the blood of any person shall hasten his steps unto the pit; none will support him.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Proverbs 28:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.
- Exodus 21:14 If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
- 1 Kings 21:19 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “Have you killed and also taken possession?” ’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”
- Numbers 35:14-34 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the foreigner living among them, shall these six cities be for refuge, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. “ ‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died, or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. “ ‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. “ ‘But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession. “ ‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. “ ‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies. “ ‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death. “ ‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. “ ‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, Yahweh, dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”
- 1 Kings 21:23 Yahweh also spoke of Jezebel, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
- 2 Kings 9:26 ‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,’ says Yahweh; ‘and I will repay you in this plot of ground,’ says Yahweh. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to Yahweh’s word.”
- 2 Chronicles 24:21-25 They conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of Yahweh’s house. Thus Joash the king didn’t remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, “May Yahweh look at it, and repay it.” At the end of the year, the army of the Syrians came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their plunder to the king of Damascus. For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; and Yahweh delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment on Joash. When they had departed from him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed, and he died. They buried him in David’s city, but they didn’t bury him in the tombs of the kings.
- Matthew 27:4-5 saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.” He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.
- Acts 28:4 When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not allowed to live.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain None shall be able to deliver him.
None shall be able to deliver him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 28:17 A man that doeth violence to the…
Pro 28:17 A man that doeth violence to the blood of [any] person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
Ver. 17. A man that doth violence unto the blood.] The Hebrew word Adam, here rendered man, hath one letter in the original less than the rest, {Hebrew Text Note} to show that a blood shedder is not worthy to be called man. {a}
Read full note →
Shall flee to the pit, let no man stay him,] i.e., Let him die without mercy; let no man mediate for him, lest he pay down, as Ahab did, life for life, people for people, {1Ki 20:42} lest he draw upon the land guilt of blood, {Num 35:33-34} and hinder the man slayer from repentance to salvation never to be repented of. To blame then are the Papists that open sanctuaries to such; and if a cardinal put his red hat upon the head of a murderer going to execution, he is delivered from death. See Deu 19:13. {See Trapp on "Deu 19:13"}
{a} Buxtorf.
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 A man that doeth violence to the blood of…
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person, that sheddeth any man’s blood, or taketh away his life unjustly,
shall flee to the pit; shall speedily be destroyed, being pursued by Divine vengeance, and the horrors of a guilty conscience, and the avengers of blood.
Read full note →
Let no man stay him: so it is a prohibition that no man should endeavour to save the life of a wilful murderer, either by intercession, or by offering satisfaction, or any other way; of which see Gen 9:6; Exo 21:14; Num 35:31. Or, as the ancient and many other interpreters render it, no man shall stay him; none shall desire or endeavour to save him from his deserved punishment; he shall die without pity, being an object of public hatred.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain This agrees with that ancient law, Whoso sheddeth man's…
This agrees with that ancient law, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed (Gen 9:6), and proclaims, 1. The doom of the shedder of blood. He that has committed murder, though he flees for his life, shall be continually haunted with terrors, shall himself flee to the pit, betray himself, and torment himself, like Cain, who, when he had killed his brother, became a fugitive and a vagabond, and trembled continually. 2. The duty of the avenger of blood, whether the magistrate or the next of kin, or whoever are concerned in making inquisition for blood, let them be close and vigorous in the prosecution, and let it not be bought off. Those that acquit the murderer, or do any thing to help him off, come in sharers in the guilt of blood; nor can the land be purged from blood but by the blood of him that shed it, Num 35:33.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain A man that doeth violence to the blood of…
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person,.... That sheds the blood of any in a violent manner; that lays violent hands upon a club, and takes away his life, contrary to the law in Gen 9:6. Or, "that is pressed because of the blood of any person" (q); pressed in his own mind; filled with horror, and tortured in his conscience, for the innocent blood he has shed: the letter "daleth" in the word "Adam" is lesser than usual; and Vitringa, on Isa 34:6; observes, that it signifies a man red with blood, oppressed in his conscience, and depressed by God, which this minute letter is a symbol of; and thinks it applicable to Edom or Rome: or it signifies one pressed, pursued, and dose followed by the avenger of blood;
shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him; support or help him. When such a murderer flees, and is pursued, and unawares falls into a pit, or is like to do so, let no man warn him of it, or help him out of it; or if he flees to a pit to hide himself, let no man hold him or detain him there, or suffer him to continue in such a lurking place, but discover him or pluck him out; or, if he is a fugitive and a vagabond all his days, as Cain, the murderer of his brother, was, till he comes to the pit of the grave, let no man yield him any support or sustenance.
Read full note →
(q) "pressus propter sanguinem animae", Amama, Cartwright; so R. Joseph Kimchi in D. Kimchii Sepher Shorash rad.
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 Violence - That sheddeth any man's blood. Shall flee…
Violence - That sheddeth any man's blood. Shall flee - Shall speedily be destroyed. Shall slay - None should desire or endeavour to save him from his deserved punishment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. That doeth violence to the blood] He…
Verse 17. That doeth violence to the blood] He who either slays the innocent, or procures his destruction, may flee to hide himself: but let none give him protection. The law demands his life, because he is a murderer; and let none deprive justice of its claim. Murder is the most horrid crime in the sight of God and man; it scarcely ever goes unpunished, and is universally execrated.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 28:17. A man that doeth violence, &c. —…
Pro 28:17. A man that doeth violence, &c. — That sheds any man’s blood, or takes away his life by any unjust proceedings; shall flee to the pit — Shall speedily be destroyed, being pursued by divine vengeance, the horrors of a guilty conscience, and the avengers of blood; let no man stay him — None should desire or endeavour to save him from his deserved punishment.
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 The case of willful murder, not the lesser crime…
The case of willful murder, not the lesser crime of manslaughter for which the cities of refuge were appointed. One, with that guilt on his soul, is simply hasting on to his own destruction. Those who see him must simply stand aloof, and let God’s judgments fulfill themselves.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain The first law against the murderer must not be…
The first law against the murderer must not be broken down. Like the law of the Sabbath, it was in force from the beginning. ’It was enacted and published before him, out of whose loins the whole world after the flood was to be repeopled; to shew that it was not meant for a national or temporary ordinance, but for an universal and perpetual law.’†1 The reason given for the command confirms its universal obligation. To destroy "the image of God" must be high treason against God himself. (Gen 9:6 .) Again did God declare his mind in the Levitical law. No satisfaction must be taken for the murderer. Another reason is given — "Blood defileth the land," and only the murderer’s blood can cleanse it. (Num 35:33 .) Nay — even the Heathen judged this awful transgressor to be under the divine vengeance. (Act 28:4 .) The death therefore of the murderer is an imperative obligation. It is miscalled philanthropy, that protests against all capital punishments. Shall man pretend to be more merciful than God? Pity is misplaced here. The murderer therefore of his brother is his own murderer. He shall flee to the pit, hurried thither by his own horror of conscience,†2 by the sword of justice,†3 or by the certain judgment of God.†4 Let no man stay him. Let God’s law take its course.
Yet we must not cast off his soul. Visiting the condemned cell is a special exercise of mercy. While we bow to the stern justice of the great law-giver, joyous indeed it is to bring to the sinner under the sentence of the law, the free forgiveness of the Gospel; not as annulling his sin, but shewing the over-abounding of grace beyond the abounding of sin. (Rom 5:20 .)
Read full note →
Footnotes:
†1 Bp. Sanderson’s Sermon on Pro 24:10-12 .
†2 Deu 19:13.
†3 1Ki 2:32 . Exo 21:14 . 2Ki 11:15 .
†4 1Ki 21:19 ; 1Ki 22:38 . 2Ki 9:33-37 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain doeth violence . . . blood, &c.--or, that is…
doeth violence . . . blood, &c.--or, that is oppressed by the blood of life (Gen 9:6), which he has taken.
to the pit--the grave or destruction (Pro 1:12; Job 33:18-24; Psa 143:7).
Read full note →
stay him--sustain or deliver him.
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 17. Violence to the blood — The first part…
17. Violence to the blood — The first part of this verse is better read: A man burdened with the blood of a person shall flee to the pit — the figure of death.
Let no man stay him — Muenscher reads: “That he may not be taken.” So Conant, substantially: “He will rush on to self-destruction, rather than fall into the hands of the avenger of blood.” Our Authorized Version, however, is justifiable. He is hasting to his doom. “Let murder have its due.” Comp. Gen_9:6; Exo_21:14.
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 17. doeth violence to] Rather, is laden with, R.V.…
17. doeth violence to] Rather, is laden with, R.V. See Gen_9:6.
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 (17) A man that doeth violence to the blood…
(17) A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person.—Rather, that is burdened with his blood, has wilfully murdered any one.
Shall flee to the pit.—Fulfilling the curse of Gen_9:6.
Read full note →
Let no man stay him—i.e., attempt to rescue him from the punishment he has deserved.
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 A man that doeth violence to the blood of…
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit. This should be, a man oppressed, (Isa_38:14) burdened, with the blood of anyone. The wilful murderer, with his guilt upon his soul, flies in vain from remorse; his crime pursues him even to the grave. For inadvertent manslaughter the cities of refuge offered an asylum, but for deliberate murder there was no safe refuge, either from the stings of conscience or from the avenger of blood, but death. The homicide, like Cain, (Gen_4:14) must be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. "Pit" (bor), some take to mean any hiding place, "a cave, or well;" but it is very commonly found in the sense of sepulchre, (Psa_28:1 Isa_14:19, etc.) and is so explained here by most commentators. Let no man stay him. We had in Pro_24:11, etc., an injunction to save human life; but the case was quite different from this of wilful murder. Here it is directed that no one attempt to save him from the punishment which he has incurred, or to comfort him under the remorse which he suffers. Let him be left alone to meet the fate which he has merited. The LXX gives a different idea to the gnome, "He who becomes bail for a man charged with murder shall be banished and shall not be in safety." They add a verse which we shall meet again, almost in the same words, (Pro_29:17, Pro_29:18) "Chasten thy son, and he will love thee, and will give honour to thy soul; he shall not obey a sinful nation.
Vers. 17-22. Judgments on transgressors.
Read full note →
I THE VIOLENT MAN. (Ver. 17) His doom, here as elsewhere, is viewed as sudden; he hastes to Hades lives not out half his days. The truth is general, reflecting the intuition of the moral order. And in accordance with that order it is that pity will be turned away from him that shows no pity. This is no argument for capital punishment, but it is an argument for such a treatment of criminals as will best deter from crime.
II THE INSECURITY OF EVIL WAYS. (Ver. 18) Integrity is alone safe; and in one or other of his crooked ways (such may be one meaning of the text) the sinner will ultimately fall. The dangerous feat is tried once too often. Our interest is attracted to "the dangerous edge of things," and we are astonished that men can stand upon it so often without falling. We do not see the result of the last and fatal attempt; or, seeing it, we do not surmise the previous successful attempts to defy the law of things. Scripture is right; but we do not know enough of events absolutely to verify its truths.
III POVERTY AS A JUDGMENT. (Ver. 19) Here, again, we have a general truth an abstract from the great broad field of life"s facts. On the whole, there is no secret of abundance but industry; nor of poverty but idleness and indulgence in pleasure and amusement as a pursuit. Repose and pleasure are the illusions from which the stern voice of God, speaking through daily experience, is ever rousing us. Hardly any disease of body or of mind, any social evil, is there which may not be traced to self-indulgence and inertia.
IV HASTE TO BE RICH. (Ver. 20) This temper is contrasted with that of the faithful man. There is a different scale of value in the two cases. The good man values things by the moral standard, the covetous man only by the standard of gold. The true way of looking at wealth is as an available means to all ends of health, wisdom, benevolence. These alone are rational ends; but they may be lost sight of in the passionate pursuit of the means. It was a thought deeply impressed on the ancient world that over-eagerness for riches must involve dishonesty. "No one quickly grows rich, being at the same time a just man," says Menander. "For he who desires to become rich desires to become rich quickly. But what reverence for the laws? what fear or shame is there ever in the covetous man who hastes to be rich?" says Juvenal. To lessen our desires rather than to increase our means is the true wisdom of life to study to give account of our little rather than to make our little more.
V RESPECT OF PERSONS IN JUDGMENT. (Vers. 21, 22) The vice springs from some mean source from fear, covetousness, or obsequiousness. Cato used to say of Caelius the tribune, that he might be hired for a piece of bread to speak or hold his peace. To prefer interest to the truth, this is the fiery temptation in one form or other of us all. And the keeping back of a part of the truth may be as injurious to others as the utterance of direct falsehood. Any meanness harboured in the soul exposes to constant danger. Timidity may fall into worse sins than those it seeks to avoid. And in other ways extremes meet. While the haster to be rich casts an evil, envious eye on the property of others, he is blind to the menace of poverty from behind. In any case, poverty of soul follows from the constant drain of thought and energy towards things that "perish in the using." How much need have all to beware of those passions which are the "thorns" that spring up and choke the good word of God in the heart! J.
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 he has shed someone's blood
he has shed someone's blood
Here "blood" represents a person's life. To "shed blood" means to murder someone. AT: "he has killed someone" or "he has murdered someone" (See: Metonymy)
Read full note →
fugitive
a person who is running away to avoid being captured
until death
"until he dies." This means for the rest of his life. AT: "all of his life" (See: Idiom)
Whoever walks with integrity will be kept safe
This can be expressed in active form. AT: "God will keep safe anyone who walks with integrity" (See: Active or Passive)
Whoever
"Anyone who"
walks with integrity
This represents a person living a life of integrity. The abstract noun "integrity" can be expressed as an adverb. AT: "walks honestly" or "lives honestly" (See: Metaphor and Abstract Nouns)
the one whose way is crooked
A dishonest person is spoken of as if he walks on crooked or twisted paths. AT: "the one who does not live honestly" (See: Metaphor)
will suddenly fall
What will happen to a dishonest person is spoken of as if he suddenly fell down. AT: "will suddenly be ruined" or "will suddenly perish" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
guilt
die
walk
integrity
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 28:17 tormented conscience: See 1 Sam 25:31; Rom 2:15;…
28:17 tormented conscience: See 1 Sam 25:31; Rom 2:15; 13:5; cp. Heb 10:22. • Don’t protect him! Murder is such a serious offense that a fine could not replace the death penalty (see Num 35:32).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.