Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Proverbs 1:19

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Proverbs 1:19. Which taketh away the life — A covetous man is in effect, and in the sight of God, a murderer; he wishes to get all the gain that can accrue to any or all who are in the same business that he follows-no matter to him how many families starve in consequence. This is the very case with him who sets up shop after shop in different parts of the same town or neighbourhood, in which he carries on the same business, and endeavours to undersell others in the same trade, that he may get all into his own hand.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Heed instruction; avoid bad company (1:8-19)

Having introduced his subject, the writer now gives the first of a series of lessons on the value of wisdom. Throughout these lessons he speaks as a father to a son, drawing from his own experience to give advice and warning (8-9).
The first warning concerns bad companions, especially those who lead others astray with the tempting offer of instant wealth through robbery and violence (10-14). The writer hopes that the inexperienced youth, being forewarned, will not be caught by such temptations, just as a bird will not fall into a trap that its sees being set for it (15-17). Those who look for wealth through violence will, in the end, find that their evil plans bring about their own destruction (18-19).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

REGARDING THE AVOIDANCE OF EVIL COMPANIONS

"My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause; Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit; We shall find all precious substance; We shall fill our house with spoil; Thou shalt cast thy lot among us; We will all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird: And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; It taketh away the life of the owners thereof."

"If sinners entice thee, consent thou not" "There are two Hebrew words for `sinners,' `peccantes', i.e., `sinners' as a generic designation of the human race, in the sense that, `All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23), and `peccatores', i.e., those who sin knowingly, habitually, willfully and maliciously, who are given over entirely to iniquity, and who persuade others to follow their wicked example."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 7. It is this second word for sinners that is used here (Proverbs 1:11).

"Come with us" Here is the basic appeal that wicked gangs have always made to the young. "The appeal is to that instinctive desire to be `one of the gang.'"George DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. III, p. 151. It is the gregarious instinct, a basic ingredient in all human life. It is that `sense of belonging' that is able to create and sustain the youthful wicked gangs that flourish in every great city. It is that same instinct that aids in forging and maintaining Christian fellowship in a church; and successful churches are diligent to make sure that every member, (especially new ones), is made to feel absolutely secure as `really belonging' to the group.

"Let us swallow them up as Sheol" "This is an allusion to the fate of Korah and his company (Numbers 16:30-33),"The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 9. who were swallowed up in the earth following their rebellion.

"Cast thy lot among us; we will all have one purse" This meant, "Be a "pater conjuratus" (a sworn brother), and thou shalt have an equal share of all the spoil."Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), Vol. III, p. 703. Promises such as these effectually blind the eyes of the young and ignorant; and little do they understand that becoming a `sworn brother' of a gang of outlaws is an extremely foolish and deadly mistake. All such gangs, as the notorious Mafia, for example, enforce their control by malicious and wholesale murder. The stupid fool who consents to accept their invitation is not only signing his own death warrant; but at the same time, he is accepting for himself the most brutal and demanding discipline imaginable, with no possibility whatever of ever getting out of it, except in a coffin! Being accepted as 'one of the gang' in a fellowship like that constitutes an abject surrender to Satan himself.

"In vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird" "Even a bird can look after its own interest better than those fools who blindly enter such a fellowship with the wicked."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 707. That blindness is pointed in Proverbs 1:18.

"They lay wait for their own blood… lurk privily for their own lives" "All history confirms the truth of these words."Ibid.

The metaphor of the net spread for birds is variously interpreted, but we have followed the text as it appears here. Cook pointed out that, "Another view is that, `In vain is the net spread openly before the birds', thus teaching that the warning, open and visible as it is, is in vain. The birds still fly in! Thus the great net of God's judgment is spread out for all to see; yet the doers of evil, willfully blind, still rush in to their own destruction."Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987 reprint of the 1878 Edition), Proverbs, p. 16. Of course, either way the metaphor is interpreted, the truth is illustrated.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Not robbery only, but all forms of covetousness are destructive of true life.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Shall we turn in our Bibles tonight to Proverbs, chapter 1. The first six verses are sort of a preface to the book, as authors many times write a preface to their work.

The Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel ( Proverbs 1:1 );

When Solomon first came into the throne of his father David, the kingdom of Israel had come really to the zenith of its glory, of power. It was at that point one of the strongest kingdoms in the world. Blessed of God mightily. And when Solomon became king, God said unto Solomon, "Ask of Me what you will." And Solomon prayed unto the Lord and said, "Lord, I ask You that You would give me wisdom in governing over these Your people." And so the Lord said unto Solomon, "Inasmuch as you did not ask for fame or riches or honor, but you asked for wisdom, I will grant unto you that which you have asked, but I will also give to you that which you did not ask. I will give to you wealth and honor and glory." And so the scripture said that God gave wisdom unto Solomon.

Unfortunately, in Solomon's later years, he did not really follow his own counsels and advice that he had given here to his son in the first eight chapters. It's sort of ascribed or defined, "To my son." And he did not even follow his own advice. He did not follow after wisdom and we see the tragic results of it as is reflected in his writing of the book of Ecclesiastes, a man who had everything and yet had nothing. A man who had everything in life that anybody could possibly wish for, and yet cried out against the emptiness and frustration of life, because he did not continue in wisdom. We'll get to that a little bit more as we get down to verse Proverbs 1:7 .

But Solomon was a very prolific writer. He wrote several songs. He wrote 3,000 proverbs. He wrote books on biology, zoology, and many different fields. People came from all over the world to sit and to hear his wisdom, as he would expound on plants and animals and things of this nature. So these proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel. Now the purpose of a proverb is

To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding ( Proverbs 1:2 );

For the most part, they are put in such a way as they can fasten their selves upon your memory. In little words of contrast or in such a way picturesque or compared to, so that they really fix themselves in your mind. And the purpose of the proverb is to know wisdom, to receive instruction.

To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. Now a wise man will hear, and will increase his learning; a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings ( Proverbs 1:3-6 ).

So now he begins with the proverb with this first and foremost.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: [in contrast] but fools despise wisdom and instruction ( Proverbs 1:7 ).

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning." Now, the word beginning here in Greek, or in Hebrew rather, the Hebrew here means sort of the head or the sum total. In other words, the fear of the Lord, this is knowledge all wrapped up. It's the summation of knowledge, the fear of the Lord. We come to chapter 9 and he says again there, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge or the beginning of wisdom" ( Proverbs 9:10 ). It sounds like he's saying the same thing but he's not.

In chapter 9, verse Proverbs 1:10 , the word beginning there is a different Hebrew word, which does mean more what our word beginning means, is the first steps of wisdom. So the fear of the Lord is the first step, but it is also the total.

Now, what is meant by the fear of the Lord? As you get into chapter 8, verse Proverbs 1:13 , "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil." That's what the fear of the Lord is all about, to hate evil. So this is really the beginning, the sum of real knowledge, is that of hating evil. It's the first steps towards wisdom, the hating of evil.

We live in a very tolerant age, and unfortunately, our tolerance level has become very high. We've become very tolerant of evil. What we are really lacking today is a real hatred of evil. We've been taught, you know, we're not to hate anything, and so hate has been put as one of those intolerant words and people who have hatred are put in a category, so we want to accept everybody. "Live and let live," you know, and to develop a tolerance towards evil things. Evil is always seeking to be tolerated. It always is looking for you to compromise and to accept it. The real beginning and the sum of knowledge is really a hatred of evil because God hates evil.

If I am to fellowship with God, I must also hate evil. I cannot tolerate evil in my life if I'm to have true fellowship with God. So, the fear of the Lord is the summation of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

My son ( Proverbs 1:8 ),

And he addresses this whole first part to, "My son."

hear the instruction of thy father, forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not ( Proverbs 1:8-10 ).

All of the invitations of evil that we are presented with week by week, but don't consent. If sinners entice thee, consent not.

If they say, Come with us ( Proverbs 1:11 ),

And, of course, these guys are really real robbers and all.

let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privately for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down to the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast our lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way of them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood ( Proverbs 1:11-16 ).

Now we have an interesting little proverb, and I don't know just why it's put right in this particular place. But he said,

Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird ( Proverbs 1:17 ).

Now if you're going to try and catch birds, if you set the net right out while they're watching you, it's in vain. They won't come into it. But then he goes right back to the wicked.

They lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privately for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which takes away the life of the owners thereof. Wisdom crieth without; she utters her voice in the streets: She cries in the chief place of the concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she utters her words, saying ( Proverbs 1:18-21 ),

Now wisdom at this point, from verse Proverbs 1:20 , he gets into a discourse on wisdom, and he personifies wisdom. Makes it a... actually personifies, and some see in the personification either God or Jesus Christ, but there are certain dangers in this likening it to God or Jesus Christ, as you'll discover as we get further into the personification of wisdom. But here again, the personification of wisdom. As she cries in the streets, she says,

How long, ye simple ones, will you love your simplicity? and the scorners delight in scorning, and [how long will the] fools hate knowledge? Turn at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But you have set at nought all of my counsel, and you would not heed my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you. Then shall they call unto me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD ( Proverbs 1:22-29 ):

So the scriptures speak of the calamity that will ultimately call to those who reject wisdom, which is to hate evil. Ultimately, calamity will come. God declares that when the calamity comes, then there would be no one to help you.

They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of the fool shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from the fear of evil ( Proverbs 1:30-33 ).

Continuing to address to his son. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Warning against consorting with sinners 1:8-19

In this pericope, the wise way (following the moral law in general, Proverbs 1:8-9) does not have the personal appeal, or the excitement and hope of power, that the second way does (Proverbs 1:10-19). Its only reward is goodness, as opposed to acceptance by one’s peers.

"The Bible is the basic textbook in the home. It was once the basic textbook in the educational system, but even if that were still true, the Bible in the school can’t replace the Bible in the home. I note that many modern parents sacrifice time and money to help their children excel in music, sports, and social activities; I trust they’re even more concerned that their children excel in knowing and obeying the Word of God." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 104.]

Proverbs 1:19 articulates the point of the comparison. The Hebrew word translated "gains" (Proverbs 1:19) implies a money-grabbing attitude (cf. Proverbs 15:27).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

So [are] the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain,.... That is set upon getting riches in an unlawful way, by robberies and murder; his ways will end in the loss of his own blood and life, and in the loss of his immortal soul; this will be what his wicked ways and course of life will bring him to, and what will his gain profit him then? it would be of no use and service to him could he have gained the whole world;

[which] taketh away the life of the owners thereof: or who, even every one of those that are greedy of gain, and will be rich at any rate; such stick not to take away the life of the proper owners of that gain, or money they are greedy of, in order to get it into their own possession; and such wicked practices cannot fail of meeting with a just recompence of reward: or "which" covetous gain, or gain gotten in such a wicked manner, will be the cause of the life of the injurious masters and wrong possessors of it being taken away from them, either by the hand of the civil magistrate, or by God himself. These sins of robbery and murder are particularly instanced in, not only because other sins lead unto them, as sabbath breaking, drunkenness, and lewdness, and issue in temporal and eternal ruin; but because they were very common among the Jews at the time that Wisdom, or Christ, was here on earth: to which time the whole passage refers, as appears from the following verses; and that those sins were frequent then is manifest both from Scripture; see Matthew 27:38; and from the confessions of the Jews, who say z that forty years before the destruction of the temple the sanhedrim were obliged to remove from place to place, because that murderers increased, and they could not judge and condemn them, for fear of being murdered themselves; and it was because of this great increase they were obliged to stop the beheading of the red heifer a.

z T. Bab. Avodah Zarah, fol. 8. 2. a Misnah Sotah, c. 9. s. 9.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.   11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:   12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:   13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:   14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:   15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:   16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.   17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.   18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.   19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

      Here Solomon gives another general rule to young people, in order to their finding out, and keeping in, the paths of wisdom, and that is to take heed of the snare of bad company. David's psalms begin with this caution, and so do Solomon's proverbs; for nothing is more destructive, both to a lively devotion and to a regular conversation (Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 1:10): "My son, whom I love, and have a tender concern for, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." This is good advice for parents to give their children when they send them abroad into the world; it is the same that St. Peter gave to his new converts, (Acts 2:40), Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Observe, 1. How industrious wicked people are to seduce others into the paths of the destroyer: they will entice. Sinners love company in sin; the angels that fell were tempters almost as soon as they were sinners. They do not threaten or argue, but entice with flattery and fair speech; with a bait they draw the unwary young man to the hook. But they mistake if they think that by bringing others to partake with them in their guilt, and to be bound, as it were, in the bond with them, they shall have the less to pay themselves; for they will have so much the more to answer for. 2. How cautious young people should be that they be not seduced by them: "Consent thou not; and then, though they entice thee, they cannot force thee. Do not say as they say, nor do as they do or would have thee to do; have no fellowship with them." To enforce this caution,

      I. He represents the fallacious reasonings which sinners use in their enticements, and the arts of wheedling which they have for the beguiling of unstable souls. He specifies highwaymen, who do what they can to draw others into their gang, Proverbs 1:11-14; Proverbs 1:11-14. See here what they would have the young man to do: "Come with us (Proverbs 1:11; Proverbs 1:11); let us have thy company." At first they pretend to ask no more; but the courtship rises higher (Proverbs 1:14; Proverbs 1:14): "Cast in thy lot among us; come in partner with us, join thy force to ours, and let us resolve to live and die together: thou shalt fare as we fare; and let us all have one purse, that what we get together we may spend merrily together," for that is it they aim at. Two unreasonable insatiable lusts they propose to themselves the gratification of, and therewith entice their pray into the snare:-- 1. Their cruelty. They thirst after blood, and hate those that are innocent and never gave them any provocation, because by their honesty and industry they shame and condemn them: "Let us therefore lay wait for their blood, and lurk privily for them; they are conscious to themselves of no crime and consequently apprehensive of no danger, but travel unarmed; therefore we shall make the more easy prey of them. And, O how sweet it will be to swallow them up alive!" Proverbs 1:12; Proverbs 1:12. 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! 2. Their covetousness. They hope to get a good booty by it (Proverbs 1:13; Proverbs 1:13): "We shall find all precious substance by following this trade. What though we venture our necks by it? we shall fill our houses with spoil." See here, (1.) The idea they have of worldly wealth. They call it precious substance; whereas it is neither substance nor precious; it is a shadow; it is vanity, especially that which is got by robbery, Psalms 62:10. It is as that which is not, which will give a man no solid satisfaction. It is cheap, it is common, yet, in their account, it is precious, and therefore they will hazard their lives, and perhaps their souls, in pursuit of it. It is the ruining mistake of thousands that they over-value the wealth of this world and look on it as precious substance. (2.) The abundance of it which they promise themselves: We shall fill our houses with it. Those who trade with sin promise themselves mighty bargains, and that it will turn to a vast account (All this will I give thee, says the tempter); but they only dream that they eat; the housefuls dwindle into scarcely a handful, like the grass on the house-tops.

      II. He shows the perniciousness of these ways, as a reason why we should dread them (Proverbs 1:15; Proverbs 1:15): "My son, walk not thou in the way with them; do not associate with them; get, and keep, as far off from them as thou canst; refrain thy foot from their path; do not take example by them, not do as they do." Such is the corruption of our nature that our foot is very prone to step into the path of sin, so that we must use necessary violence upon ourselves to refrain our foot from it, and check ourselves if at any time we take the least step towards it. Consider, 1. How pernicious their way is in its own nature (Proverbs 1:16; Proverbs 1:16): 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. They said they would proceed leisurely (Let us lay wait for blood,Proverbs 1:11; Proverbs 1:11), but thou wilt find they are all in haste, so much has Satan filled their hearts. 2. How pernicious the consequences of it will be. They are plainly told that this wicked way will certainly end in their own destruction, and yet they persist in it. Herein, (1.) They are like the silly bird, that sees the net spread to take her, and yet it is in vain; she is decoyed into it by the bait, and will not take the warning which her own eyes gave her, Proverbs 1:17; Proverbs 1:17. But we think ourselves of more value than many sparrows, and therefore should have more wit, and act with more caution. God has made us wiser than the fowls of heaven (Job 35:11), and shall we then be as stupid as they? (2.) They are worse than the birds, and have not the sense which we sometimes perceive them to have; for the fowler knows it is in vain to lay his snare in the sight of the bird, and therefore he has arts to conceal it. But the sinner sees ruin at the end of his way; the murderer, the thief, see the jail and the gallows before them, nay, they may see hell before them; their watchmen tell them they shall surely die, but it is to no purpose; they rush into sin, and rush on in it, like the horse into the battle. For really the stone they roll will turn upon themselves, Proverbs 1:18; Proverbs 1:19. They lay wait, and lurk privily, for the blood and lives of others, but it will prove, contrary to their intention, to be for their own blood, their own lives; they will come, at length, to a shameful end; and, if they escape the sword of the magistrate, yet there is a divine Nemesis that pursues them. Vengeance suffers them not to live. Their greediness of gain hurries them upon those practices which will not suffer them to live out half their days, but will cut off the number of their months in the midst. They have little reason to be proud of their property in that which takes away the life of the owners and then passes to other masters; and what is a man profited, though he gain the world, if he lose his life? For then he can enjoy the world no longer; much less if he lose his soul, and that be drowned in destruction and perdition, as multitudes are by the love of money.

      Now, though Solomon specifies only the temptation to rob on the highway, yet he intends hereby to warn us against all other evils which sinners entice men to. Such are the ways of the drunkards and unclean; they are indulging themselves in those pleasures which tend to their ruin both here and for ever; and therefore consent not to them.