Bible Strands
Proverbs 24:15
Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous; do not destroy his resting place.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author addresses a wicked individual directly, forbidding predatory action near a righteous person's home. This warning is positioned between a promise about the future hope found in wisdom and a contrast between the resilience of the righteous and the downfall of the wicked.
The words — תֶּאֱרֹ֣ב (te.'e.Ro) means "you lie in wait" and תְּשַׁדֵּ֥ד (te.sha.Ded) means "you devastate." These imperatives command the cessation of both surveillance and physical destruction against the righteous person's dwelling and resting place.
The thread — The text's warning against hostile plotting runs through Jeremiah 11:19, where enemies conspire to destroy the righteous, and Acts 9:24, where conspirators watch gates to kill Saul. These passages parallel the prohibition against ambushing and destroying those aligned with righteousness.
Why it lands — The text explicitly commands the wicked to stop lying in wait and destroying the righteous. It requires the reader to accept that malicious surveillance and violence against the righteous are forbidden and that their dwelling is under protective boundary.
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
Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 11:19 For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
- Acts 9:24 but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.
- 1 Samuel 9:11 And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”
- 1 Samuel 22:18 So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
- 1 Samuel 23:20 Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.”
- Psalms 140:5 The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah
- Isaiah 32:18 Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest.
- Matthew 26:4 and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.
- Psalms 37:32 Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
- Psalms 56:6 They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps while they wait to take my life.