Proverbs 1:12

We will swallow them alive ¹  like Sheol, ²  those full of vigor ³  like those going down to the Pit.

let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;

Let’s swallow them alive as the grave swallows its victims. Though they are in the prime of life, they will go down into the pit of death.

Let's pick them clean and get them ready for their funerals.

Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;

like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;

We will swallow them alive ¹  like Sheol, ²  those full of vigor ³  like those going down to the Pit.

¹ tn Heb “lives.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “lives”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “alive.” The form is a plural of state, used to describe a condition of life which encompasses a long period of time – in this case a person’s entire life. Murder cuts short a person’s life.

² tn The noun שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol) can mean (1) “death,” cf. NCV; (2) “the grave,” cf. KJV, NIV, NLT (3) “Sheol” as the realm of departed spirits, cf. NAB “the nether world,” and (4) “extreme danger.” Here it is parallel to the noun בוֹר (vor, “the Pit”) so it is the grave or more likely “Sheol” (cf. ASV, NRSV). Elsewhere Sheol is personified as having an insatiable appetite and swallowing people alive as they descend to their death (e.g., Num 16:30, 33; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5). In ancient Near Eastern literature, the grave is often personified in similar manner, e.g., in Ugaritic mythological texts Mot (= “death”) is referred to as “the great swallower.”

³ tn Heb “and whole.” The vav (ו) is asseverative or appositional (“even”); it is omitted in the translation for the sake of style and smoothness. The substantival adjective תָּמִים (tamim, “whole; perfect; blameless”) is an adverbial accusative describing the condition and state of the object. Used in parallel to חַיִּים (khayyim, “alive”), it must mean “full of health” (BDB 1071 s.v. תָּמִים 2). These cutthroats want to murder a person who is full of vigor.