So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Solomon wrote about one thousand years before Christ very practical and needed instruction for all phases of life, including business precepts intensely helpful in everyday life to those who will use them. The word rendered owners thereof is the Hebrew nephesh in the sense of life, one of the Old Testament places where that word is translated life or lives. The saying draws a general conclusion from the sinners' schemes for gain in the preceding verses about violent plotters, presenting greed for gain as the general propensity behind the ways of sinners.
Greed for gain makes self-interest the sinner's guiding motive, and self-exaltation in seeking it opposes the Lord's ways, so apparent gain can become the loss of life. The course of everyone greedy of gain ends by taking away the life of those who pursue and possess it, so the profit sought ends in their own destruction. It is a destructive way of life on the path of wisdom and life, where refusing instruction and breaking spiritual law leads to spiritual disease and death, and rejecting reproof leaves a person to suffer the ruin of destructive choices. Like the violent plotters, the greedy bring destruction on themselves.
Greed also leads people to take away the lives of those who possess what they covet, bringing ruin upon the people they exploit without regard for others. The ways of greed take the lives of those who own or pursue the gain, ultimately bringing destruction on the greedy themselves. The wider warning applies to young people who reject their parents' counsel, where disobedience is the first step toward ruin and leaving home leads through temptation into a downward course and ultimately to guilt before a court. The practical lesson is to guard the heart and resist the company and invitations when evil companions invite one to join their revelry. Deliberately using children to create future customers for liquor illustrates this greed for profit without regard for others, which threatens their bodies and souls with ruin and loss of life.
Solomon wrote about one thousand years before Christ very practical and needed instruction for all phases of life, including business precepts intensely helpful in everyday life to those who will use them. The word rendered owners thereof is the Hebrew nephesh in the sense of life, one of the Old Testament places where that word is translated life or lives. The saying draws a general conclusion from the sinners' schemes for gain in the preceding verses about violent plotters, presenting greed for gain as the general propensity behind the ways of sinners.
Greed for gain makes self-interest the sinner's guiding motive, and self-exaltation in seeking it opposes the Lord's ways, so apparent gain can become the loss of life. The course of everyone greedy of gain ends by taking away the life of those who pursue and possess it, so the profit sought ends in their own destruction. It is a destructive way of life on the path of wisdom and life, where refusing instruction and breaking spiritual law leads to spiritual disease and death, and rejecting reproof leaves a person to suffer the ruin of destructive choices. Like the violent plotters, the greedy bring destruction on themselves.
Greed also leads people to take away the lives of those who possess what they covet, bringing ruin upon the people they exploit without regard for others. The ways of greed take the lives of those who own or pursue the gain, ultimately bringing destruction on the greedy themselves. The wider warning applies to young people who reject their parents' counsel, where disobedience is the first step toward ruin and leaving home leads through temptation into a downward course and ultimately to guilt before a court. The practical lesson is to guard the heart and resist the company and invitations when evil companions invite one to join their revelry. Deliberately using children to create future customers for liquor illustrates this greed for profit without regard for others, which threatens their bodies and souls with ruin and loss of life.