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Proverbs 26 · a question people ask

"Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it" (26:27). Does that always happen?

In the text

The saying has two halves: "Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him" (26:27) (tap pit, rolls). It doesn't say when or how, and it names no one. Proverbs is a book of sayings, and these notes don't make this one a guarantee the verse doesn't state, or explain it away. The psalms say it of particular people: "He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made" (Psalm 7:15), and "They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves" (Psalm 57:6). The notes on Psalm 7 set the Hebrew of Psalm 7:15-16 beside Proverbs 26:27. These notes don't apply the saying to anyone today.

The verses

“Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him.”
Proverbs 26:27 · World English Bible
“He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made. The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.”
Psalm 7:15-16 · World English Bible
“They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.”
Psalm 57:6 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 26

Proverbs 26: Answer a fool

The sayings about the fool (Proverbs 26:1-12) and the sayings about the sluggard (Proverbs 26:13-16) both close on the man wise in his own eyes (Proverbs 26:12, 26:16), in Hebrew the same two words each time, and the reason Proverbs 26:5 gives for answering a fool. And the saying about the dog (Proverbs 26:11) is the one Peter calls "the true proverb" (2 Peter 2:22).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions