Proverbs 1 · Verse 17

Proverbs 1:17

Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
Proverbs 1:17, King James Version

Proverbs 1:17 in other translations

BSBHow futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!
WEBFor the net is spread in vain in the sight of any bird;
ASVFor in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:
YLTSurely in vain is the net spread out before the eyes of any bird.
DARBYFor in vain the net is spread in the sight of anything which hath wings.
BBETruly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:
WebsterSurely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

What does Proverbs 1:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 1:10-19

10-19. A solemn warning against temptation. entice--literally, "open the way." consent ... not--Sin is in consenting or yielding to temptation, not in being tempted.

Read the full comment on Proverbs 1:10-19 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird - This is a proverb of which the wise man here makes a particular use; and the meaning does not seem as difficult as some imagine. The wicked are represented as lurking privily for the innocent. It is in this way alone that they can hope to destroy them and take their substance; for if their designs were known, proper precautions would be taken against them; for it would be vain to spread the net in the sight of those birds which men wish to ensnare. Attend therefore to my counsels, and they shall never be able to ensnare thee.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 1:10-19

Wicked people are zealous in seducing others into the paths of the destroyer: sinners love company in sin. But they have so much the more to answer for. How cautious young people should be! "Consent thou not." Do not say as they say, nor do as they do, or would have thee to do; have no fellowship with them. Who could think that it should be a pleasure to one man to destroy another! See their idea of worldly wealth…

Read the full comment on Proverbs 1:10-19 →

Proverbs 1:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
חִ֭נָּםChi.nomin vainH2600
מְזֹרָ֣הme.zo.Rah[is] spread outH2219
הָרָ֑שֶׁתha.Ra.shetthe netH7568
בְּ֝עֵינֵ֗יbe.'ei.Neiin [the] eyes ofH5869
כָל\־khol-everyH3605
בַּ֥עַלBa.'alowner ofH1167
כָּנָֽף\׃ka.Nafa wingH3671

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 1:17

  • Job 35:11

    Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?

  • Jeremiah 8:7

    Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.

  • Proverbs 7:23

    Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

  • Isaiah 1:3

    The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
in vain.
7:23; Job 35:11; Isa 1:3; Jer 8:7
sight of any bird. Heb. eyes of everything that hath a wing.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 1:16

    For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

  • Proverbs 1:17

    Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

  • Proverbs 1:18

    And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

Read all of Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque en vano se tenderá la red ante los ojos de toda ave;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car en vain le filet est étendu devant les yeux de tout ce qui a des ailes;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn vergeblich wird das Netz ausgespannt vor den Augen alles Geflügelten;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Frustra autem jacitur rete ante oculos pennatorum.