Bible Strands
Proverbs 28:17
A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom instruction addresses a community concerned with leadership accountability, positioned between warnings about oppressive rulers and promises for the upright. It functions as a standalone judicial principle within a larger discourse on governance and moral conduct.
The words — עָשֻׁק ('a.Shuk) translates literally as "oppressed," and בּוֹר (Bor) means "pit." These terms anchor the verse's warning about the consequences of violent wrongdoing.
The thread — The theme of bloodguilt and divine justice appears in Genesis 9:6, which mandates capital punishment for murder, Exodus 21:14, which commands removing a willful murderer from sanctuary, and 1 Kings 21:19, where the prophet confronts a king for seizing land by killing its owner.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that violent oppression triggers inevitable ruin and severs communal protection. It requires readers to reject the presumption that guilt can be shielded or ignored.
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
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
Cross-references
- Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.
- Exodus 21:14 But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.
- 1 Kings 21:19 Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
- Numbers 35:14 Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.
- 1 Kings 21:23 And the LORD also speaks concerning Jezebel: ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
- 2 Kings 9:26 ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.”
- 2 Chronicles 24:21 But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.
- Matthew 27:4 “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”
- Acts 28:4 When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”