Proverbs 28:17
The Murderer’s Torment
1. This is a proverb about murder and murderers.
2. The proverb also teaches us what our attitude ought to be towards murder and murderers.
3. We want to be sure that our minds are not conformed to the world and its views on the subject. We want our minds to be transformed and renewed so that we have God’s mind on this matter.
The Murderer and His Guilt
1. This expression describes the murderer.
2. The “blood of any person” refers to blood that was SHED by the murderer.
3. Early on in the Scriptures God mentions the sin of murder and how it was to be dealt with.
a. Gen. 9:6 – “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”
b. This passage is crystal clear. Murderers are to be put to death.
c. This command was given just after the flood to Noah as the “new world” was about to begin (start over).
d. Gen. 6:5, 11-12 – The “old world” (before the flood ended in disaster. The earth was full of violence and murder so God destroyed them all and started over.
e. As the post-flood world began, God commanded that murderers be put to death. This was the beginning of human governments – the agency God ordained to carry out the death penalty.
f. This is amplified and expounded upon in the New Testament epistles.
g. Those who oppose the death penalty today on humanitarian grounds may have good intentions, but they are misguided.
• It is misplaced mercy and pity.
• Their attempt at “mercy” actually opposes divine justice.
• Do they really think they are more merciful than God?
h. WHY did God demand the death penalty for murderers?
• Because destroying the image of God through murder is open rebellion against God Himself.
• God’s purpose was to PREVENT the world from being filled with violence again. It had to be dealt with severely.
• Murder in society was to be treated like gangrene in a body. If it isn’t cut off—it will spread and destroy the whole.
• Num. 35:33 – Another reason for the death penalty was given to Israel.
» The death penalty was necessary in Israel because murder defiles the land and is only cleansed by shedding the blood of the murderer.
» The shedding of the blood of the murderer has a cleansing effect—as well as a preventative effect.
» It was also necessary in Israel because God said that He dwelled in that land. He did not want to dwell in a land that was defiled by blood.
» One must wonder what God must think of the USA and our murder rate—and (for what in practical terms amounts to) our lack of a death penalty.
4. The expression “a man that doeth violence…”
a. While this expression clearly refers to the murderer in this proverb, the Hebrew term translated violence merits closer inspection.
• The term can mean to mistreat or cause someone to suffer… even to do violence against.
• But it can also mean (in a passive sense—and the NET Bible lists it as a passive participle) to be oppressed or to be tormented.
• That seems to be the meaning in Prov. 28:17.
• Hence, the NET Bible translated this proverb, “the one who is tormented by the murder of another…”
b. Solomon is describing a man who shed the blood of another person and is tormented with a guilty conscience.
• He is internally tormented by the innocent blood he shed.
• His conscience is performing exactly as God designed it to perform.
c. The murderer may also be tormented internally by the fear of the avenger of blood.
• Deut. 19:6, 12 – God acknowledges that the family and friends of a murdered person would seek vengeance against the murderer. Therefore, the murderer was to flee to a city of refuge where he would be sheltered and brought to trial.
• Deut. 19:11-13 – However, the cities of refuge offered no shelter to a willful murderer. They offered refuge only to one who killed without premeditation.
• Thus, a cold blooded murderer would have no shelter in a city of refuge. He would be on his own—always fearing being caught by the avenger of blood.
• This was an ongoing torment. There would be no rest or peace to the murderer.
d. The murderer might also be tormented by the nagging fear of divine retribution.
• I Kings 21:17-19; 22:38 – King Ahab was a murderer and God Himself determined to deal with that sin.
• It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God—if you are guilty.
• While a murderer might run far away into the wilderness to hide from man, there was nowhere to hide from God.
• He would live the rest of his days in fear and torment.
The Murderer’s Attempts to Hide
1. “He shall flee to the pit”
a. The term for “pit”
• The term means a deep well or a shaft in the ground.
• It sometimes was used of a dungeon or prison – which were often pits in the ground.
• But it was also used of the grave – a pit in the ground for the dead.
• Hence, it was also sometimes used as a synonym for Sheol – the place of the souls of the dead.
b. It is not entirely clear which meaning Solomon had in mind.
• He could mean that the murderer would run and try to hide in a pit or a cave to avoid the avenger of blood.
• It could also imply that the murderer would be so burdened by his guilty conscience that he would try to commit suicide—and flee for the grave to end it all.
• Either way, the proverb speaks of a man who has no rest or peace in this life.
• Gen. 4:10-14 – Cain killed his brother and became a fugitive and a vagabond.
c. The proverb serves as a good warning against murder.
• We might think that we don’t really need to be warned against murder. That is not a sin we are likely to commit.
• Matt. 5:21-22 – However, the Lord Jesus equated the sin of anger with the sin of murder.
» This is similar to the fact that Christ equated the sin of lust with the sin of adultery.
» They are in fact the same sin – not the same in degree, but the same in kind.
» Uncontrolled lust leads to adultery. It is the seed of adultery.
» Uncontrolled anger leads to murder. It is the seed of murder.
• We might not think we are capable of murder or manslaughter—but so did a lot of men in prison for murder. Their anger got the best of them; they got in a fight that ended up in someone dying.
1. This is the rare proverb that actually ends with an exhortation.
a. Most proverbs that warn against certain activities do so simply by presenting facts. The exhortation is usually obvious.
b. This proverb gives us instruction.
2. The exhortation: if someone commits murder, let no man stay him.
a. Stay: Support; make secure; uphold; assist; help; embrace.
b. Ex. 17:12 – The term was used when Moses was weary of holding up his arms, and he was “supported – assisted” by Aaron and Hur “staying up” his hands… supporting him… helping him with his burden.
c. Solomon’s exhortation to his readers is that we are not to support, help, assist, aid, or embrace a murderer.
d. Aiding a criminal IS a crime.
e. Let God’s law take its course. (C. Bridges)
f. One commentator suggested that it might also imply that if a murderer tries to commit suicide—don’t stay his hands… don’t help him… or don’t stop him.
3. Judas is a good example of Proverbs 28:17
a. He betrayed the Lord Jesus which led to His crucifixion.
b. He was tormented by his guilty conscience.
c. He knew he had no place to hide, so he committed suicide.
d. No one helped or stopped him. He fled for the grave.
4. One final note: God’s law of no mercy for the murderer is God’s law for the STATE… for the government.
a. The state is not to ignore murder. They are to deal with it harshly so that it minimizes the amount of murders.
b. But on an individual level, we as individuals (especially as Christians) should show mercy to a murderer.
c. Though the state needs to carry out its exercise of justice, on a personal level we as individuals can forgive them.
d. This is what Christ was getting at when He explained an “eye for an eye.”
• On a national level, justice is to be executed – an eye for an eye.
• But on a personal level, we are to turn the other cheek.
e. As Christians we should want the government to carry out justice.
• But we should also desire to show mercy to sinners of all stripes – including murderers.
• Murderers can be saved. It is not an unpardonable sin.