Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Bible in Basic English

Proverbs 28:17

One who has been the cause of a man's death will go in flight to the underworld: let no man give him help.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Homicide;   Thompson Chain Reference - Murder;   The Topic Concordance - Violence;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Greek Versions of Ot;   Proverbs, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Poor;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Small and Large Letters;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Someone burdened by bloodguiltwill be a fugitive until death.Let no one help him.
Hebrew Names Version
A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; No one will support him.
King James Version
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
English Standard Version
If one is burdened with the blood of another, he will be a fugitive until death; let no one help him.
New American Standard Bible
A person who is burdened with the guilt of human blood Will be a fugitive until death; no one is to support him!
New Century Version
Don't help those who are guilty of murder; let them run until they die.
Amplified Bible
A man who is burdened with the guilt of human blood (murder) Will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him or give him refuge.
World English Bible
A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; No one will support him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
A man that doeth violence against the blood of a person, shall flee vnto the graue, and they shall not stay him.
Legacy Standard Bible
A man oppressed with the bloodguilt of lifeWill flee until death; let no one uphold him.
Berean Standard Bible
A man burdened by bloodguilt will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him.
Contemporary English Version
Don't give help to murderers! Make them stay on the run for as long as they live.
Complete Jewish Bible
Let a man weighed down with anyone's blood flee to a pit; give him no support.
Darby Translation
A man laden with the blood of [any] person, fleeth to the pit: let no man stay him.
Easy-to-Read Version
A murderer will never have peace. Don't support such a person.
George Lamsa Translation
A man who is engaged in shedding of blood shall flee even to the jailer, and no one shall help him.
Good News Translation
Someone guilty of murder is digging his own grave as fast as he can. Don't try to stop him.
Lexham English Bible
A person who is burdened with the blood of another, until death he will flee; do not take hold of him.
Literal Translation
Any man oppressed with the blood of a soul shall flee to the pit; let them not uphold him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He that by violece sheddeth eny mans bloude, shal be a rennagate vnto his graue, and no man shal be able to sucor him.
American Standard Version
A man that is laden with the blood of any person Shall flee unto the pit; let no man stay him.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
A man that is laden with the blood of any person shall hasten his steps unto the pit; none will support him.
King James Version (1611)
A man that doth violence to the blood of any person, shall flie to the pit, let no man stay him.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He that by violence shedeth any mans blood, shalbe a runnagate vnto his graue, and no man shalbe able to succour hym.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
As he that lays hold of a dog’s tail, so is he that makes himself the champion of another’s cause.
English Revised Version
A man that is laden with the blood of any person shall flee unto the pit; let no man stay him.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
No man susteyneth a man that falsly chalengith the blood of a man, if he fleeth `til to the lake.
Update Bible Version
[A] man that is laden with the blood of any person Shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
Webster's Bible Translation
A man that doeth violence to the blood of [any] person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
New English Translation
The one who is tormented by the murder of another will flee to the pit; let no one support him.
New King James Version
A man burdened with bloodshed will flee into a pit; Let no one help him.
New Living Translation
A murderer's tormented conscience will drive him into the grave. Don't protect him!
New Life Bible
A man who is loaded down with the guilt of human blood will run in fear until death. Let no one help him.
New Revised Standard
If someone is burdened with the blood of another, let that killer be a fugitive until death; let no one offer assistance.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A man oppressed with a person's blood, unto a pit, shall flee, let them not hold him back.
Douay-Rheims Bible
A man that doth violence to the blood of a person, if he flee even to the pit, no man will stay him.
Revised Standard Version
If a man is burdened with the blood of another, let him be a fugitive until death; let no one help him.
Young's Literal Translation
A man oppressed with the blood of a soul, Unto the pit fleeth, none taketh hold on him.
THE MESSAGE
A murderer haunted by guilt is doomed—there's no helping him.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood Will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him.

Contextual Overview

17 One who has been the cause of a man's death will go in flight to the underworld: let no man give him help.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Genesis 9:6, Exodus 21:14, Numbers 35:14-34, 1 Kings 21:19, 1 Kings 21:23, 2 Kings 9:26, 2 Chronicles 24:21-25, Matthew 27:4, Matthew 27:5, Acts 28:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 42:21 - we saw Genesis 44:16 - God hath Numbers 35:20 - if he thrust Deuteronomy 19:11 - But if any Deuteronomy 21:1 - General 2 Samuel 3:30 - slew Abner 2 Samuel 13:34 - Absalom fled 1 Kings 2:6 - let 1 Kings 2:31 - that thou 2 Kings 15:13 - a full month 2 Chronicles 18:34 - he died Psalms 140:10 - into deep Proverbs 1:18 - General Jeremiah 41:15 - escaped Ezekiel 28:8 - shall bring Habakkuk 2:17 - because Matthew 2:16 - and slew 1 Timothy 1:9 - manslayers

Cross-References

Genesis 28:1
Then Isaac sent for Jacob, and blessing him, said, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;
Genesis 28:13
And he saw the Lord by his side, saying, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: I will give to you and to your seed this land on which you are sleeping.
Genesis 28:22
And this stone which I have put up for a pillar will be God's house: and of all you give me, I will give a tenth part to you.
Exodus 3:6
And he said, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses kept his face covered for fear of looking on God.
Judges 13:22
And Manoah said to his wife, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen.
2 Chronicles 5:14
So that the priests were not able to keep their places to do their work because of the cloud; for the house of God was full of the glory of the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 5:1
Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.
Matthew 17:6
And at these words the disciples went down on their faces in great fear.
Luke 2:9
And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining round about them: and fear came on them.
Luke 8:35
And they went out to see what had taken place, and they came to Jesus and saw the man out of whom the evil spirits had gone, seated, clothed and with full use of his senses, at the feet of Jesus; and fear came on them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A man that doeth violence to the blood of [any] person,.... That sheds the blood of any in a violent manner; that lays violent hands upon a club, and takes away his life, contrary to the law in Genesis 9:6. Or, "that is pressed because of the blood of any person" q; pressed in his own mind; filled with horror, and tortured in his conscience, for the innocent blood he has shed: the letter "daleth" in the word "Adam" is lesser than usual; and Vitringa, on Isaiah 34:6; observes, that it signifies a man red with blood, oppressed in his conscience, and depressed by God, which this minute letter is a symbol of; and thinks it applicable to Edom or Rome: or it signifies one pressed, pursued, and dose followed by the avenger of blood;

shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him; support or help him. When such a murderer flees, and is pursued, and unawares falls into a pit, or is like to do so, let no man warn him of it, or help him out of it; or if he flees to a pit to hide himself, let no man hold him or detain him there, or suffer him to continue in such a lurking place, but discover him or pluck him out; or, if he is a fugitive and a vagabond all his days, as Cain, the murderer of his brother, was, till he comes to the pit of the grave, let no man yield him any support or sustenance.

q עשק בדם "pressus propter sanguinem animae", Amama, Cartwright; so R. Joseph Kimchi in D. Kimchii Sepher Shorash rad. עשק.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The case of willful murder, not the lesser crime of manslaughter for which the cities of refuge were appointed. One, with that guilt on his soul, is simply hasting on to his own destruction. Those who see him must simply stand aloof, and let God’s judgments fulfill themselves.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 28:17. That doeth violence to the blood — He who either slays the innocent, or procures his destruction, may flee to hide himself: but let none give him protection. The law demands his life, because he is a murderer; and let none deprive justice of its claim. Murder is the most horrid crime in the sight of God and man; it scarcely ever goes unpunished, and is universally execrated.


 
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