What Does Proverbs 16:29 Mean?
A violent man coaxes his neighbor and leads him onto a way that is not good.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good.THE KEY
Violence can spread through persuasion: it draws a neighbor in, then turns his steps toward harm.
THE MEANING
A violent person entices someone nearby and leads him along a harmful path. The danger lies both in the violence and in the invitation that draws another person into its course.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a familiar neighbor’s invitation must be safe dissolves here: closeness can become the means by which someone is drawn toward harm.
THE ROOT
יְפַתֶּה
yepatteh from pātâ
GROWS FROM
פתה
To persuade or entice; the root also describes being simple or readily persuaded.
“coaxes” in this verse is yepatteh from pātâ. The word belongs to the same root as פֶּתִי (peti), meaning a simple or inexperienced person. English can make enticement sound like a passing temptation, but this root connects it to gaining influence over someone who is open to persuasion, and the next words show that influence directing his steps.
ALSO GROWS
peti: A simple or inexperienced person.
פֶּתִי
This branch reveals the vulnerability enticement works through: the neighbor can be drawn in because he is open to persuasion.
pittuy: Enticement or seduction.
פִּתּוּי
This related noun makes the act of persuasion visible as the means by which violence draws another person into its course.
THE PATTERN
A destructive path often begins when persuasion draws someone into taking the first step.
My son, if those who miss the mark coax you, do not go along.Do not wander; bad company rots good habits.Flourishing is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of those who miss the mark, nor sit in the seat of the scoffers.THE THREAD
My son, if those who miss the mark coax you, do not go along.The verb “entice” in both verses comes from פתה (pātâ), meaning to persuade or entice. Proverbs 1:10 names the invitation; Proverbs 16:29 shows persuasion carrying someone onward into a harmful way.
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