Bible Strands
Proverbs 4:17
For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses a student or son, contrasting the restless torment of the wicked with the progressive clarity of the righteous path. The words — The Hebrew רֶ֑שַׁע (Re.sha') denotes wickedness, while חֲמָסִ֣ים (cha.ma.Sim) specifies violent oppression. The thread — This motif of consuming evil appears in Psalms 14:4, where oppressors devour the faithful like bread, and in Proverbs 9:17 and 20:17, which describe stolen or fraudulent gain as temporarily sweet. Why it lands — The text states that the wicked consume the rewards of their sin. It demands the reader recognize that such a life is inherently destructive and must be abandoned for the righteous path.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
Cross-references
- Psalms 14:4 Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.
- Proverbs 9:17 “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
- Proverbs 20:17 Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.
- Micah 6:12 For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.
- James 5:4 Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Job 24:5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
- Jeremiah 5:26 For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
- Ezekiel 22:25 The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
- Amos 8:4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,
- Micah 3:5 This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths: