A man laden with bloodguilt becomes a lifelong fugitive, and the community should not lighten his burden.
The guilt described as a burden in Proverbs 28:17 names the particular weight bloodguilt produces: A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood will be a fugitive until death, let no one support him (v. 17).
The image of guilt as a weight he carries is striking: A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood. The murderer's interior bears the killing wherever he goes.
Will be a fugitive until death, let no one support him. His life becomes flight. He runs from human pursuers and from the judgment of God. The verse counsels the community not to prop him up in his flight, not to make his fugitive life comfortable. The LORD's hand on him should not be lightened by human sympathy. Genesis 4:14 captures the same pattern with Cain. The seriousness of murder is reinforced by the rest of his life under its weight.
Proverbs 28:17
17 A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood
Will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him.
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Proverbs 28:17 meaning
The guilt described as a burden in Proverbs 28:17 names the particular weight bloodguilt produces: A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood will be a fugitive until death, let no one support him (v. 17).
The image of guilt as a weight he carries is striking: A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood. The murderer's interior bears the killing wherever he goes.
Will be a fugitive until death, let no one support him. His life becomes flight. He runs from human pursuers and from the judgment of God. The verse counsels the community not to prop him up in his flight, not to make his fugitive life comfortable. The LORD's hand on him should not be lightened by human sympathy. Genesis 4:14 captures the same pattern with Cain. The seriousness of murder is reinforced by the rest of his life under its weight.