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The Enticement of Sinners

Proverbs 1:10 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.

While the Hebrew word for sinners (חַטָּא chatta) generally refers to one who is not in harmony with God’s standards or his will and purposes, which can be in word (Job 2:10; Ps 39:1), in deed Lev. 20:20; 2 Cor. 12:21] or failing to do what should be done, Num. 9:13; Jam 4:17), or in mind or heart attitude, Pro. 21:4; See Rom. 3:9-18; 2Pe 2:12-15), here it refers to wicked ones who have evil moral character. In the Scriptures, “sinners” is generally used in a more specific way, that is, referring to those willfully living in sin, practicing sin, or having a reputation of sinning.[1] The Hebrew verb (פָּתָה pathah) for entice refers to one who easily deceives others through temptation that is alluring, which eventually leads the other(s) astray. To provoke someone to do something through deception and persuasion. One who is easily deceived, enticed, be simple, i.e., be in a state of holding a wrong view about a situation, implying the one misled bears some responsibility as a kind of self-deception. “Do not consent” is saying, do not do it.

The enticement clearly is a selfish pursuit. The “sinner” never has his mind thinking about working for his gain. Instead, he is looking for the easiest and quickest way to make a profit, even if it involves violence, to which he seeks to seduce the young mind of others to join his scheming ways. Just as Sheol ‘will swallow the innocent alive’ (1:12), so to the sinner will bring the inexperienced ones ‘down into the pit,’ robbing him of his innocence and the life he could have had in service to Jehovah. These sinners are looking, not for a career as a construction worker, a doctor, a lawyer, or a teacher, but as a career criminal, to which they hope to ‘fill their houses with money or valuables seized or stolen.’ (1:13) The older criminal preys on, the younger one, seeking to get him to ‘throw in his lot’ (1:14), making this life of crime look like a romantic adventure. This is undoubtedly a wake-up call for all of us who have children in this gang-ridden world of crime, drugs, and alcohol. These young ones see gang leaders driving around in hundred-thousand-dollar cars, wearing expensive jewelry, and living life to its fullest, or so it appears. These thugs recruit young ones to do their dirty work of selling drugs on street corners or kill rival gangs in drive-by-shootings. This showy display of quick wealth recruits these young minds into the den of this underworld. Science has shown that the part of a person’s brain that evaluates the differences between right and wrong is not fully developed until the age of twenty-five.

Everyone “who are greedy for unjust gain” (15:27) may succeed for a moment but will end in disaster. It may be a life of being paralyzed from a drive-by-shooting, assassinated in an alley, life behind bars, drug overdose, or even sitting on death row awaiting execution. Yes, these ones that prey on others will receive their just rewards in the end, even if that end is the loss of the chance they could have had, everlasting life. Truly wicked ones will not change their ways, as they are beyond repentance and are blinded by the god of this wicked age. (2 Cor. 4:3-4) However, we can rescue the young one, who may fall prey to their seductive ways.

[1] Matt. 9:10; Mark 2:15; Luke 5:30; 7:37-39; John 9:16; Rom. 3:7; Gal. 2:15; 1 Tim. 1:15; Heb. 7:26; Jam. 4:8; 1 Pet 4:18; Jude 1:15.