A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
Parallel translations
- WEB A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.
- BSB A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
- NKJV A man burdened with bloodshed will flee into a pit; Let no one help him.
- NASB A person who is burdened with the guilt of human blood Will be a fugitive until death; no one is to support him!
- NLT A murderer’s tormented conscience will drive him into the grave. Don’t protect him!
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
A person guilty of bloodshed will live as a haunted fugitive, and none should shield him from justice. It upholds the seriousness of guilt and the demands of justice.
Overview
The proverb describes a murderer fleeing in perpetual torment of conscience, warning that no one should intervene to protect him from deserved justice. It affirms the gravity of shedding innocent blood. Yet the gospel offers what the law alone cannot, for even the guiltiest who repent find refuge and cleansing in the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 9:6Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
- Exod 21:14But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.
- 1 Kgs 21:19And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
- Num 35:14–34Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.
- 2 Kgs 9:26Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.
- Matt 27:4–5Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
- 2 Chr 24:21–25And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.
- 1 Kgs 21:23And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
- Acts 28:4And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
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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 28:17 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
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