61 This cohortative נֶאֶרְבָה (ne’ervah) could denote resolve (“We will lie in wait!”) or exhortation (“Let us lie in wait!”). These sinners are either expressing their determination to carry out a violent plan or they are trying to entice the lad to participate with them.
62 The verb אָרַב (’arav, “to lie in wait”) it is used for planning murder (Deut 19:11), kidnapping (Judg 21:20), or seduction (Prov 23:28).
63 Heb “for blood.” The term דָּם (dam, “blood”) functions as a metonymy of effect for “blood shed violently” through murder ( 4).
64 Heb “lie in hiding.”
65 The term “innocent” (נָקִי, naqi) intimates that the person to be attacked is harmless.
66 Heb “without cause” (so , ); “just for fun.” The term חִנָּם (khinnam, “without cause”) emphasizes that the planned attack is completely unwarranted.
67 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.
68 The noun שְׁאוֹל (shé’ol) can mean (1) “death,” cf. ; (2) “the grave,” cf. , , (3) “Sheol” as the realm of departed spirits, cf. “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. , ). 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.”
69 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” ( 1071 תָּמִים 2). These cutthroats want to murder a person who is full of vigor.
70 Heb “find.” The use of the verb מָצָא (matsa’, “to find”) is deliberate understatement to rhetorically down-play the heinous act of thievery.
71 Heb “all wealth of preciousness.”
72 The noun שָׁלָל (shalal, “plunder”) functions as an adverbial accusative of material: “with plunder.” This term is normally used for the spoils of war (e.g., Deut 20:14; Josh 7:21; Judg 8:24, 25; 1 Sam 30:20) but here refers to “stolen goods” (so , ; e.g., Isa 10:2; Prov 16:19; 1022 3). The enticement was to join a criminal gang and adopt a life of crime to enjoy ill-gotten gain (A. Cohen, Proverbs, 4). Cf. , “booty”; “loot.”
73 Heb “Throw in your lot with us.” This is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) urging the naive to join their life of crime and divide their loot equally. The noun גּוֹרָל (goral, “lot”) can refer to (1) lot thrown for decision-making processes, e.g., choosing the scapegoat (Lev 16:8), discovering a guilty party (Jonah 1:7) or allocating property (Josh 18:6); (2) allotted portion (Josh 15:1) and (3) allotted fate or future destiny (Prov 1:14; Dan 12:13; see 174 ). Here the criminals urged the lad to share their life. The verb תַּפִּיל (tappil) is an imperfect of injunction: “Throw in …!” but might also be an imperfect of permission: “you may throw.” It functions metonymically as an invitation to join their life of crime: “share with us” ( 658 3).
74 Heb “there will be to all of us.”
75 Heb “one purse” (so , , ). The term כִּיס (kis, “purse; bag”) is a synecdoche of container (= purse) for contents (= stolen goods). The adjective אֶחָד (’ekhad, “one”) indicates that the thieves promised to share equally in what they had stolen.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;

let us ambush the innocent without reason;

like Sheol let us swallow them alive,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder;

throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”—

NIVNew International Version (2011)

If they say, “Come along with us;

let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,

let’s ambush some harmless soul;

let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

we will get all sorts of valuable things

and fill our houses with plunder;

cast lots with us;

we will all share the loot”—

CSBChristian Standard Bible

If they say—“Come with us!

Let’s set an ambush and kill someone.

Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun!

Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol,

whole, like those who go down to the Pit.

We’ll find all kinds of valuable property

and fill our houses with plunder.

Throw in your lot with us,

and we’ll all share the loot”—

NLTNew Living Translation

They may say, “Come and join us.

Let’s hide and kill someone!

Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!

Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave;

let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death.

Think of the great things we’ll get!

We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take.

Come, throw in your lot with us;

we’ll all share the loot.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

If they say,

“Come with us!

We shall lie in wait for blood;

we shall ambush the innocent without cause.

Like Sheol, we will swallow them alive

and whole, like those who descend to the pit.

We shall find all precious wealth,

we shall fill our houses with booty,

you shall throw your lot in our midst,

there will be one purse for all of us.”

KJV 1900King James Version

If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood,

Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

Let us swallow them up alive as the grave;

And whole, as those that go down into the pit:

We shall find all precious substance,

We shall fill our houses with spoil:

Cast in thy lot among us;

Let us all have one purse:

Public Domain