Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:17
This agrees with that ancient law, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed (Gen 9:6), and proclaims, 1. The doom of the shedder of blood. He that has committed murder, though he flees for his life, shall be continually haunted with terrors, shall himself flee to the pit, betray himself, and torment himself, like Cain, who, when he had killed his brother, became a fugitive and a vagabond, and trembled continually. 2. The duty of the avenger of blood, whether the magistrate or the next of kin, or whoever are concerned in making inquisition for blood, let them be close and vigorous in the prosecution, and let it not be bought off. Those that acquit the murderer, or do any thi…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 28:17
doeth violence . . . blood, &c.--or, that is oppressed by the blood of life (Gen 9:6), which he has taken.
to the pit--the grave or destruction (Pro 1:12; Job 33:18-24; Psa 143:7).
stay him--sustain or deliver him.
John Gill on Proverbs 28:17
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 dos…
Read the whole note in the consoleKeil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 28:17
17 A man burdened with the guilt of blood upon his soul
Fleeth to the pit; let no one detain him.
Luther translates: "A man that doeth violence to the blood of any one," as if he had read the word עשׁק. Lwenstein persuades himself that עשׁק may mean "having oppressed," and for this refers to לבוּשׁ, having clothed, in the Mishna נשׁוּי, רבוּב, Lat. coenatus, juratus; but none of all these cases are of the same nature, for always the conduct designated is interpreted as a suffering of that which is done, e.g., the drawing on, as a being clothed; the riding, as a being ridden, etc. Of עשׁק, in the sense of the oppression of another, there is no such part. pass. as throws the action as a condit…
