Proverbs 28:10

28:10 The one who leads the upright astray in an evil way

will himself fall into his own pit, ¹ 

but the blameless will inherit what is good. ² 

Esther 7:10

7:10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

Psalms 7:15-16

7:15 he digs a pit ³ 

and then falls into the hole he has made. ⁴ 

7:16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans ⁵ 

and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. ⁶ 

Psalms 9:15

9:15 The nations fell ⁷  into the pit they had made;

their feet were caught in the net they had hidden. ⁸ 

Psalms 10:2

10:2 The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed; ⁹ 

the oppressed are trapped ¹⁰  by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up. ¹¹ 

Psalms 57:6

57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me; ¹² 

I am discouraged. ¹³ 

They have dug a pit for me. ¹⁴ 

They will fall ¹⁵  into it! (Selah)

Ecclesiastes 10:8

Wisdom is Needed to Avert Dangers in Everyday Life

10:8 One who digs a pit may ¹⁶  fall into it,

and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. ¹⁷ 

[28:10]  ¹ sn The image of falling into a pit (a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis, involving implied comparison) is meant to say that the evil to which he guides people will ultimately destroy him.

[28:10]  ² sn This proverb is teaching that those who corrupt others will be destroyed, usually by their own devices, but those who manage to avoid being corrupted will be rewarded. According to this proverb the righteous can be led astray (e.g., 26:27).

[7:15]  ³ tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.

[7:15]  ⁴ tn The verb forms in vv. 15-16 describe the typical behavior and destiny of those who attempt to destroy others. The image of the evildoer falling into the very trap he set for his intended victim emphasizes the appropriate nature of God’s judgment.

[7:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”

[7:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”

[9:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “sank down.”

[9:15]  ⁸ sn The hostility of the nations against God’s people is their downfall, for it prompts God to intervene and destroy them. See also Ps 7:15-16.

[10:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “because of the pride of [the] wicked he burns [i.e. hotly pursues] [the] oppressed.” The singular forms רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) and עָנִי (’aniy, “oppressed”) are collective and representative, as indicated in the next line, which uses plural verb forms to describe the actions of both.

[10:2]  ¹⁰ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 2 describe either what typically happens (from the psalmist’s perspective) or what the psalmist was experiencing at the time he offered this prayer.

[10:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they are trapped in the schemes which they have thought up.” The referents of the two pronominal suffixes on the verbs have been specified in the translation for clarity. The referent of the first suffix (“they”) is taken as the oppressed, while the referent of the second (“they”) is taken to be the wicked (cf. NIV, which renders “wicked” in the previous line as a collective singular). Others take the referent of both occurrences of “they” in the line to be the wicked (cf. NRSV, “let them be caught in the schemes they have devised”).

[57:6]  ¹² tn Heb “for my feet.”

[57:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “my life bends low.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[57:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before me.”

[57:6]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect form is used rhetorically here to express the psalmist’s certitude. The demise of the enemies is so certain that he can speak of it as already accomplished.

[10:8]  ¹⁶ tn The four imperfect verbs in vv. 8-9 may be nuanced as indicatives (“will…”) or in a modal sense denoting possibility (“may…”). The LXX rendered them with indicatives, as do many English translations (KJV, RSV, NRSV, ASV, MLB, YLT, NJPS). However, it is better to take them in a modal sense (NEB, NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT). One who digs a pit does not necessarily fall into it, but he may under the right conditions.

[10:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a serpent will bite him.” The clause “he who breaks through a wall” (וּפֹרֵץ גָּדֵר, uforets gader) is a nominative absolute – the casus pendens is picked up by the resumptive pronoun in the following clause “a serpent will bite him” (יִשְּׁכֶנּוּ נָחָשׁ, yishÿkhennu nakhash). This construction is used for rhetorical emphasis (see IBHS 76-77 §4.7c).