Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 10:8
He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The teacher in Ecclesiastes addresses readers within a sequence of observations on reversed social order and human vulnerability. He places this saying directly between two proverbs warning of physical hazards inherent to manual labor.
The words — חֹפֵר (cho.Fer) translates as [one who] digs, and גּוּמָּץ (gu.Matz) means a pit. The text uses these terms to describe the literal act of excavating a hidden trap.
The thread — This pattern recurs in Proverbs 26:27, Psalm 7:15, and Esther 7:10, where the creator of a pit or trap ultimately suffers from it.
Why it lands — The verse states that self-made dangers frequently rebound on their architect. It requires the reader to assess the practical risk that hidden schemes will damage the one who concealed them.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 26:27 He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
- Psalms 7:15 He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
- Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
- Amos 5:19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.
- 2 Samuel 17:23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
- Psalms 9:15 The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
- Amos 9:3 Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
- Judges 9:5 He went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.
- Judges 9:53 But a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
- 2 Samuel 18:15 And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.