Ecclesiastes 10:8

One who digs a pit may ¹  fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. ² 

biblegateway Ecc 10:8

Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

biblegateway Ecc 10:8

He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.

biblegateway Ecc 10:8

When you dig a well, you may fall in. When you demolish an old wall, you could be bitten by a snake.

biblegateway Ecc 10:8

Caution: The trap you set might catch you. Warning: Your accomplice in crime might double-cross you.

SABDAweb Ecc 10:8

He who makes a hole for others will himself go into it, and for him who makes a hole through a wall the bite of a snake will be a punishment.

bibleoremus Ecc 10:8

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a snake.

biblegateway Ecc 10:8

He who digs a pit will fall into it, And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.

biblegateway Ecc 10:8

One who digs a pit may ¹  fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. ² 

¹ 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.

² 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).