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Proverbs 28:17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Proverbs 28:17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
17 If someone is burdened with the blood of another,
let that killer be a fugitive until death;
let no one offer assistance.(A)
Proverbs 28:17
New English Translation
Proverbs 28:17
New English Translation
17 The one who is tormented[a] by the murder[b] of another will flee to the pit;[c]
let no one support him.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 28:17 tn The form is the Qal passive participle. The verb means “to oppress; to wrong; to extort”; here the idea of being “oppressed” would refer to the burden of a guilty conscience (hence “tormented”; cf. NAB, NRSV “burdened”). Some commentators have wanted to emend the text to read “suspected,” or “charged with,” or “given to,” etc., but if the motive is religious and not legal, then “oppressed” or “tormented” is preferred.
- Proverbs 28:17 sn The text has “the blood of a life”; blood will be the metonymy of effect for the murder, the shedding of blood.
- Proverbs 28:17 tn The verse is cryptic; it simply says that he will “flee to the pit.” Some have taken the “pit” to refer to the place of detention for prisoners, but why would he flee to that place? It seems rather to refer to death. This could mean that (1) since there is no place for him to go outside of the grave, he should flee to the pit (cf. TEV, NLT), or (2) he will be a fugitive until he goes to the grave (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV). Neither one of these options is easily derived from the text. The verse seems to be saying that the one who is guilty of murder will flee, and no one should assist him. The meaning of “the pit” is unresolved.
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
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New English Translation (NET)
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