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She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
Proverbs 23:28 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
  • BSB Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
  • NKJV She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.
  • NASB Certainly she lurks as a robber, And increases the treacherous among mankind.
  • NLT She hides and waits like a robber, eager to make more men unfaithful.

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 seductress lies in wait like a robber, multiplying unfaithfulness among men.

Overview

Sexual temptation is portrayed as predatory, ambushing the unwary and spreading betrayal. The image of a lurking robber stresses that the danger actively seeks victims. The proverb calls for watchfulness against temptation, echoing the New Testament's summons to flee sexual immorality and stay alert (1 Cor. 6:18; 1 Pet. 5:8).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Eccl 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
  • Prov 7:12Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
  • 1 Cor 10:8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
  • Hos 4:11Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
  • Rev 17:1–2And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
  • Prov 22:14The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
  • Prov 2:16–19To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
  • Prov 7:22–27He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
  • Jer 3:2Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
  • Num 25:1And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
  • Judg 16:4–22And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
  • Prov 9:18But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 23:28YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.

How Proverbs 23:28 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.