For he is cast into a net by his own feet, And he walks into a snare.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he wanders into its mesh.
- KJV For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
- BSB For his own feet lead him into a net, and he wanders into its mesh.
- NASB “For he is thrown into the net by his own feet, And he steps on the webbing.
- NLT The wicked walk into a net. They fall into a pit.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wicked man is caught in a net by his own feet, wandering into the trap. His own steps lead him into snares.
Overview
Bildad uses hunting imagery to show the godless ensnared as he walks, entangled in a mesh of his own making. The picture conveys inescapable judgment closing in. Scripture often warns that the wicked are trapped by their own sin (Proverbs 5:22), a sober truth, though Bildad misapplies it to the innocent Job.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 9:15The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
- Ps 35:8Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.
- Job 22:10Therefore snares are around you. Sudden fear troubles you,
- Esth 6:13Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.”
- Prov 29:6An evil man is snared by his sin, but the righteous can sing and be glad.
- Ezek 32:3Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net.
- 1 Tim 6:9But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction.
- Prov 5:22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- 1 Tim 3:7Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
- 2 Tim 2:26and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
- Esth 7:5Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?”
- Esth 3:9If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 18:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.