משלי, פרק ט״ז, פסוק כ״ט

A life of crime and corruption is rarely an isolated journey. A person who chooses an evil path is almost never satisfied with his own actions alone; he actively strives to drag others into the same destructive cycle. The violent individual does not operate in isolation but will deliberately entice even his closest friends. This seduction is carried out with intense cunning, relying on smooth and persuasive speech [רלב״ג, אלשיך]. The manipulation is so effective that the victim may actually believe his friend is offering valuable advice [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The driving motive behind this behavior is the wrongdoer's desire to find a partner for his dark pursuits [מצודת דוד]. Since he has already shown no pity for his own soul and robbed himself of goodness, he certainly will not hesitate to ruin the life of another. The act of inciting others is viewed as the greatest of all sins, because the instigator's guilt multiplies endlessly with every bad deed committed by those who learned from him [עמנואל הרומי]. He successfully molds his companion to commit the same injustices, guiding him down a deeply harmful path [אבן עזרא].

This entrapment is so sophisticated that the victim walks innocently into the snare without noticing. By the time he begins to suspect deception and feel regret, it is already too late, and he is completely caught in the trap [אלשיך]. Through these calculated methods, violent individuals become a profoundly corrupting and damaging force to all of society [מלבי״ם].