Proverbs 1:10-19

TEXT - Proverbs 1:10-19

10.

My son, if sinners entice thee,

Consent thou not.

11.

If they say, Come with us,

Let us lay in wait for blood;
Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;

12.

Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol,

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.

Thou shalt cast thy lot among us;

We will 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 they make haste to shed blood.

17.

For in vain is the net spread

In the sight of any bird:

18.

And these 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;

It taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 1:10-19

1.

Why will sinners entice innocent people (Proverbs 1:10)?

2.

What are the three big words in Proverbs 1:10?

3.

What does lurk privily mean (Proverbs 1:11)?

4.

What does Sheol mean (Proverbs 1:12)?

5.

Is the second statement in Proverbs 1:12 different from its first, or is it a restatement of it?

6.

To what extent will selfishness go (Proverbs 1:13)?

7.

What does cast thy lot in Proverbs 1:14 mean?

8.

Proverbs 1:15 is but an enlargement of what three important words already given?

9.

What two words in Proverbs 1:16 show their eagerness to do wrong?

10.

What is the connection of Proverbs 1:17 with this section of material?

11.

Why for their own blood and lives (Proverbs 1:18)?

12.

Does sin end up the way it was planned (Proverbs 1:19)?

PARAPHRASE OF 1:10-19

10-14.

If young toughs tell you, Come and join usturn your back on them! We-'ll hide and rob and kill, they say; Good or bad, we-'ll treat them all alike! And the loot we-'ll get! All kinds of stuff! Come on, throw in your lot with us; we-'ll split with you in equal shares.

15-19.

Don-'t do it, son! Stay far from men like that, for crime is their way of life, and murder is their specialty. When a bird sees a trap being set, it stays away, but not these men; they trap themselves! They lay a booby trap for their own lives. Such is the fate of all who live by violence and murder. They will die a violent death.

COMMENTS ON 1:10-19

Proverbs 1:10. This verse breaks down into two parts: sinners-' attempt to mislead a young man and what he should do about it. Be assured that the world (sinners) will put pressure on every person to join them. Oh, the rosy picture that they can paint in the fantasies of a young person's mind! And to be different from the world would be to be out of steps, odd, and all that a young person does not really want to be. And so the invitation becomes enticement, and their urging becomes irresistible temptation. The only way a young person (or anybody else) can resist and overcome these pressures from the outside is by that which he has on the inside (parental instruction that has become personal conviction, faith in God, reverential fear, etc.). Oh, how Solomon pleads with his son, Consent thou not. What important three words they are! This is what Joseph did when urged by Potiphar's wife: he refused and said, How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (Genesis 39:8-9). Oh, for more young men with the conviction, native honesty, and courage of Joseph! Daniel did the same (Daniel 1:8); so did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 4:17-18). We, too, are commanded to abstain from the world's evil: Ephesians 5:7; Ephesians 5:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; 2 Timothy 2:19; James 1:27.

Proverbs 1:11. Often throughout the book Solomon warns against both evil men and evil women (both are mentioned in Proverbs 2:12-17). The evil men are wicked oppressors out to get ill-gotten gain, and the evil women are immoral adulteresses. This chapter 1 warning is concerning going in with evil men to become an oppressor. This verse and the ones following put the enticement of Proverbs 1:10 into words. Notice that the people to be hurt by them wouldn-'t deserve it (the innocent), nor would they expect or suspect it (Let us lay in wait...let us lurk privily).

Proverbs 1:12. Sheol is Hebrew, and Hades is Greek for the place of departed spirits. This verse employs Hebrew parallelism in which the two statements mean the same thing; that is, Sheol and pit are the same; alive and whole are the same; and swallow and go down are the same. Death is spoken of as going down into the pit in Psalms 28:1: Unto thee, O Jehovah, will I call: My rock, be not thou deaf unto me; Lest if thou be silent unto me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Sheol is pictured in Proverbs 30:15-16 as one of four things personified as never satisfied, that never says, It is enough. So, it was no small damage that these evil men planned to inflict and in which they were inviting the young man to participate.

Proverbs 1:13. This is the part that was luring them onthe hope of gain. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (see 1 Timothy 6:10). As they passed from one robbery and murder to another, all they were thinking about was themselves. The innocent (Proverbs 1:11) had worked to obtain the precious substance; the innocent had not found it amassed in one place as his robbers wanted to. They had patiently seen it grow and accumulate though hard work and saving ways; the robbers were wanting to fill their houses with it immediately.

Proverbs 1:14. Cast thy lot among us meant that he would decide to go with them, he would trust his future and his outcome to their way of doing. We will all have one purse meant that he would share equally with them. But people who do will lie and cheat and rob and kill others might be untrue to their promise to him too. This was their final appeal to him to join them. What would his decision be?

Proverbs 1:15. Oh, the concern of the father at this point! He realizes it is a decision-time for his son. Will he fall for their line, or will he go the way he has been taught from youth? He pleads, My son, walk not thou in the way with them, and restated for emphasis and additional appeal: Refrain thy foot from their path. This verse is really an enlargement upon Consent thou not in Proverbs 1:10. Other verses on this subject: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked (Psalms 1:1); Enter riot into the path of the wicked, And walk not in the way of evil men (Proverbs 4:14); 1 have refrained my feet from every evil way (Psalms 119:101).

Proverbs 1:16. A good reason for Solomon's not wanting his son to take up with such toughs. They run to evil; they make haste to shed blood. Ever notice that man is quick to get into iniquity, but he wants to take his time to get out of it? The reverse should be true. Two other passages say much the same thing: Their feet run to evil, they make haste to shed innocent blood (Isaiah 59:7); Their feet are swift to shed blood (Romans 3:15).

Proverbs 1:17. The wicked are represented as lurking privily for the innocent. It is in this way alone that they can hope to destroy them and take their substance; for if their designs were known, proper precautions would be taken against them (Clarke). In other words, Son, can-'t you see what they are doing? Don-'t get caught!

Proverbs 1:18. Their intention would be to hurt others, and they do for awhile, but in time justice catches up with them, and they pay with their lives! The father would have his son view his final outcome from the beginning, and the enticement to join up with the oppressors would not be so strong.

Proverbs 1:19. Other passages also teach the sorrows and losses to be reaped by those greedy of gain: He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house (Proverbs 15:27); ...which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:10). Instead of getting, there is losing. We note too that the important (his own life) is lost trying to gain the unimportant (material gain).

TEST QUESTIONS OVER 1:10-19

1.

What are the two parts of Proverbs 1:10?

2.

What sin usually characterized evil men of Proverbs (Proverbs 1:11)?

3.

Cite the three parallels in Proverbs 1:12.

4.

What does 1 Timothy 6:10 say about the love of money (Proverbs 1:13)?

5.

Comment on the two parts of Proverbs 1:14.

6.

Why is the father so earnest in Proverbs 1:15?

7.

What should men reverse (Proverbs 1:16)?

8.

What should the son be able to see that evil men are actually doing when they paint such a rosy picture (Proverbs 1:17)?

9.

What would keep the enticement from being so strong (Proverbs 1:18)?

10. What do oppressors get, and what do they lose (Proverbs 1:19)?