Proverbs 4:16

For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm; ¹  they are robbed of sleep ²  until they make someone stumble. ³ 

Ps 36:4; Pr 1:16; Isa 57:20; Mic 2:1; Lu 22:66; Joh 18:28; 2Pe 2:14

¹ sn The verb is רָעַע (ra’a’), which means “to do evil; to harm.” The verse is using the figure of hyperbole to stress the preoccupation of some people with causing trouble. R. L. Alden says, “How sick to find peace only at the price of another man’s misfortune” (Proverbs, 47).

² sn Heb “their sleep is robbed/seized”; these expressions are metonymical for their restlessness in plotting evil.

³ sn The Hiphil imperfect (Kethib) means “cause to stumble.” This idiom (from hypocatastasis) means “bring injury/ruin to someone” (BDB 505-6 s.v. כָּשַׁל Hiph.1).