Proverbs 1:10-14 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

My son, if sinners Sinners of any description; entice thee To sin, to commit any known iniquity, or to omit any known duty; consent thou not Yield not in any degree to their advice, persuasions, or solicitations, for why shouldest thou destroy thyself to gratify them? If they say, Come with us We are numerous, and strong, and sociable. Let us lay wait for blood That is, to shed blood. He does not intend to express their words, for such words would rather affright than inveigle one that was yet a novice in wickedness, but he signifies what was the true nature, and would be the consequence of the action, in which they wished the person they addressed to join them, and what lay at the bottom of their specious pretences. Let us lurk privily for the innocent For harmless travellers, suppose, and others that, suspecting no danger, are not prepared for opposition; without cause Though they have not provoked us, nor deserved this usage from us. This Solomon adds, to discover their malignity and baseness, and so to deter the young man from associating with them. Let us swallow them up as the grave Which speedily covers and consumes dead bodies. We shall do our work quickly, easily, and without fear of discovery. We shall find all precious substance As our danger is little, so our profit will be great. Cast in thy lot among us Or, rather, Thou shalt cast thy lot among us, that is, Thou shalt have a share with us, and that equally, and by lot, although thou art but a novice, and we are veterans. Let us all have Or, we will all have; one purse One purse shall receive all our profits, and furnish us with all expenses. So we shall live with great facility, and true friendship.