Proverbs 21:7

The violence ¹  done by the wicked ²  will drag them away because ³  they refuse to do what is right. ⁴ 

Ps 7:16; Ps 9:16; Pr 1:18,19; Pr 10:6; Pr 21:21; Pr 22:22,23; Isa 1:23,24; Jer 7:9-11,15; Eze 18:18; Eze 22:13,14; Mic 3:9-12; Zec 5:3,4; Eph 5:6

¹ tn The “violence” (שֹׁד, shod) drags away the wicked, probably either to do more sin or to their punishment. “Violence” here is either personified, or it is a metonymy of cause, meaning “the outcome of their violence” drags them away.

² tn Heb “violence of the wicked.” This is a subjective genitive: “violence which the wicked do.”

³ tn The second colon of the verse is the causal clause, explaining why they are dragged away. They are not passive victims of their circumstances or their crimes. They choose to persist in their violence and so it destroys them.

⁴ tn Heb “they refuse to do justice” (so ASV); NASB “refuse to act with justice.”