Psalms 7:15-16

7:15 he digs a pit ¹ 

and then falls into the hole he has made. ² 

7:16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans ³ 

and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. ⁴ 

Psalms 57:6

57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me; ⁵ 

I am discouraged. ⁶ 

They have dug a pit for me. ⁷ 

They will fall ⁸  into it! (Selah)

Psalms 141:9-10

141:9 Protect me from the snare they have laid for me,

and the traps the evildoers have set. ⁹ 

141:10 Let the wicked fall ¹⁰  into their ¹¹  own nets,

while I escape. ¹² 

Proverbs 5:22

5:22 The wicked ¹³  will be captured by his ¹⁴  own iniquities, ¹⁵ 

and he will be held ¹⁶  by the cords of his own sin. ¹⁷ 

[7:15]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”

[7:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”

[57:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “for my feet.”

[57:6]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “before me.”

[57:6]  ⁸ 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.

[141:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the traps of the doers of evil.”

[141:10]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate, “the wicked will fall.”

[141:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his.”

[141:10]  ¹² tn Heb “at the same [that] I, until I pass by.” Another option is to take יַחַד (yakhad) with the preceding line, “let the wicked fall together into their own nets.”

[5:22]  ¹³ tn The suffix on the verb is the direct object suffix; “the wicked” is a second object by apposition: They capture him, the wicked. Since “the wicked” is not found in the LXX, it could be an old scribal error; or the Greek translator may have simply smoothed out the sentence. C. H. Toy suggests turning the sentence into a passive idea: “The wicked will be caught in his iniquities” (Proverbs [ICC], 117).

[5:22]  ¹⁴ tn The word is the subject of the clause, but the pronominal suffix has no clear referent. The suffix is proleptic, referring to the wicked.

[5:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his own iniquities will capture the wicked.” The translation shifts the syntax for the sake of smoothness and readability.

[5:22]  ¹⁶ sn The lack of discipline and control in the area of sexual gratification is destructive. The one who plays with this kind of sin will become ensnared by it and led to ruin.

[5:22]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically: “his own iniquities will capture the wicked, by the cords of his own sin will he be held.”