Does Proverbs 5:22a mean that one particular person's inquities would also cause others involved to be punished/disciplined?

Question

Proverbs 5:21-23

New American Standard Bible 1995

21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He watches all his paths. 22 His own iniquities will capture the wicked, And he will be held with the cords of his sin. 23 He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

Proverbs 5:21-23

New King James Version

21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He [a]ponders all his paths. 22 His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. 23 He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Proverbs 5:21-23

English Standard Version

21 For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders[a] all his paths. 22 The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. 23 He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.

5:21-23 The Westminster Leningrad Codex

21 כִּ֤י נֹ֨כַח׀ עֵינֵ֣י יְ֭הוָה דַּרְכֵי־אִ֑ישׁ וְֽכָל־מַעְגְּלֹתָ֥יו מְפַלֵּֽס׃

22 עַֽווֹנוֹתָ֗יו יִלְכְּדֻנ֥וֹ אֶת־הָרָשָׁ֑ע וּבְחַבְלֵ֥י חַ֝טָּאת֗וֹ יִתָּמֵֽךְ׃

23 ה֗וּא יָ֭מוּת בְּאֵ֣ין מוּסָ֑ר וּבְרֹ֖ב אִוַּלְתּ֣וֹ יִשְׁגֶּֽה׃ פ

The NASB1995 and NKJV translation of Proverbs 5:22a seems to suggest that a particular person's iniquity will discipline/punish "the wicked" in general. To elaborate by example, let's say a CEO of a major firm is involved in financial fraud, and some of his subordinates like his CFO, CTO, etc, are also involved under the auspices of the CEO.

( Side Note: As I quickly reviewed the various commentaries on biblehub, I did Not find anything that reflected the aforementioned view but I could be wrong: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/proverbs/5-22.htm )

Therefore, would Proverbs 5:22a be relevant to the aforementioned example? Could it mean that the CEO's sin in committing financial fraud would lead to his CFO, CTO, etc, being punished/disciplined due to their involvement as subordinates to the CEO?

Related question postings:

How does sin trap someone and hold them captive (Proverbs 5:22-23)?

Answer 1

Does Proverbs 5:22a mean that one particular person's inquities would also cause others involved to be punished/disciplined?

One way to look at this is from the linguistic side.

The Hebrew word for "wicked" in this verse is הָרָשָׁ֑ע hā·rā·šā‘ which is in the singular. We can compare this to Psalm 37:14 where the "wicked" in this verse is plural, רְשָׁעִים֮ rə·šā·‘îm (both words come from the root רָשְׁע rasha [Strong's H7563]).

Further clues are the surrounding text:

• "he will be held with the cords of his sin."
• "He will die for lack of instruction"
• "in the greatness of his folly he will go astray"

Each one of these phrases is in the singular in the Hebrew text. So going to your example of the CEO, he will be judged for his actions. The CFO, CTO, etc. will also be judged for their actions if they knew what the CEO was doing and were willing participants in the CEO's actions.

Answer 2

The best versions suggest a simple idea - sin contains the seeds of its own (ultimate) destruction. Note the following translations of Prov 5:22 -

• NIV: The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.
• ESV: The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
• BSB: The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
• NKJV: His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.

Now, it is a matter of common experience that sin often produces diverse consequences that adversely affects many more than the sinner; however, the focus of Prov 5:22 is about the denigrating, demoralizing and degrading affects of sin on the sinner - an evil done is easier next time until the sinful habit is difficult to break. This idea is taught many times in the Bible - see appendix below.

Note the comments of Ellicott -

(22, 23) His own iniquities . . .—The final scene in the life of the profligate is here described. He has sinned so long that he is “tied and bound,” hand and foot, with the “chain of his sins,” and cannot get free even had he the wish to do so.

MacLaran is similar:

We all know that anything once done becomes easier to do again. That is true about both good and bad actions, but ‘ill weeds grow apace,’ and it is infinitely easier to form a bad habit than a good one. The young shoot is green and flexible at first, but it soon becomes woody and grows high and strikes deep. We can all verify the statement of our text by recalling the tremors of conscience, the self-disgust, the dread of discovery which accompanied the first commission of some evil deed, and the silence of undisturbed, almost unconscious facility, that accompanied later repetitions of it. Sins of sense and animal passion afford the most conspicuous instances of this, but it is by no means confined to these. We have but to look steadily at our own lives to be aware of the working of this solemn law in them, however clear we may be of the grosser forms of evil deeds. For us all it is true that custom presses on us ‘with a weight, heavy as frost and deep almost as life,’ and that it is as hard for the Ethiopian to change his skin or the leopard his spots as for those who ‘are accustomed to do evil’ to ‘do good.’

APPENDIX - Sin ultimately recoils on the sinner

This same idea is expressed another way in some places where God allows sin and evil to reap its own consequences and cause its own downfall.

• Job 5:13 - He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
• Ps 5:10 - Declare them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own devices. Drive them out for their many transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.
• Ps 7:15 - He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
• Ps 9:16 - The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
• Ps 69:22 - Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
• Ps 141:10 - Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
• Prov 5:22 - The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
• Prov 11:6 - The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the faithless are trapped by their own desires.
• Prov 12:13 - An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
• Prov 28:10 - He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.
• Hos 11:6 - Job 5:13 - He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.