Mishle 4:16

16 For they sleep not, unless they have done evil; and their sheynah (sleep) is robbed, unless they cause some to fall.

Mishle 4:16 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 4:16

For they sleep not, except they have done mischief
Or they cannot sleep, as Jarchi and Gersom interpret it. Oftentimes they cannot sleep on their beds for devising mischief, their thoughts are so intensely set on contriving wicked schemes; and when they have so done, they cannot sleep until they have executed them; they are continually restless and uneasy day and night, like the troubled sea, constantly casting up mire and dirt. Who would keep such company as these? and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause [some] to fall;
into the snares and traps they lay for them, or into sin and calamity by it; the former of which they endeavour by all means to draw men into, and the latter is the unavoidable consequence of it. They imitate their father the devil, both delight in sin, and in the ruin of their fellow creatures; it is a sport to thereto do mischief, and they have no pleasure without it; see ( Proverbs 11:23 ) . What company are such!

Mishle 4:16 In-Context

14 Enter not into the orach resha’im, and go not on the derech ra’im (road of the wicked).
15 Avoid it, travel al (not) on it, turn from it, and pass on.
16 For they sleep not, unless they have done evil; and their sheynah (sleep) is robbed, unless they cause some to fall.
17 For they eat the lechem of resha, and drink the yayin of chamasim (violences).
18 But the orach tzaddikim (path of the righteous) is as the bright light, that shineth brighter and brighter unto the full day.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.