This verse does not have the form of a proverbial saying. According to some interpreters it is not a saying but a verse taken from a law code.

“If a man is burdened with the blood of another”: This line and the next one are literally “A man oppressed by the blood of a person flees to the pit.” The sense of “burdened with blood” or “oppressed by blood” is uncertain. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version take it to refer to someone involved in a murder. Good News Translation has “Someone guilty of murder.”

“Let him be a fugitive until death”: This is the Revised Standard Version translation of the Hebrew text that is literally “flees to the pit.” New International Version avoids the command form with “will be a fugitive till death.” “The pit,” as in 1.12, is often a metaphor for the world of the dead; see Good News Translation “is digging his own grave as fast as he can.” Revised English Bible translates literally, however: “will jump into a well.”

“Let no one help him”: This final line is clear in itself and apparently is a warning that no one should help a murderer escape. The verb rendered “help” usually means “hold,” “support,” or “keep.” Apparently its intended sense here is “protect” (New Living Translation) or “offer assistance” (New Revised Standard Version).

Neither Revised Standard Version nor Good News Translation has a footnote to explain that the Hebrew of this verse is obscure and that any translation of it is a guess. Contemporary English Version translates the verse “Don’t give help to murderers! Make them stay on the run for as long as they live.” Its footnote then says “One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 17.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .