wer anderen eine Grube gräbt, fällt selbst hinein
he who digs a pit for others falls into it himself
Origin
The proverb comes from the Bible; it appears in Proverbs 26:27 ('Whoever digs a pit will into it…') and in similar form in Ecclesiastes 10:8 and Psalm 7:16. It is traditionally attributed to King Solomon.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- anderer / andere / anderes (other, another)anderer / andere / anderes (ander-)
- zwischen (between - two-way preposition)zwischen (Wo? + Dativ / Wohin? + Akkusativ)
- Connector 'während' (whereas, contrastive)Konnektor 'während' (kontrastiv)
- Adversative and restrictive connectors (elevated)Konnektoren des Gegensatzes und der Einschränkung (gehoben)
Examples
Mit seiner Intrige hat er sich geschadet — wer anderen eine gräbt, fällt .
His scheming backfired on him — he who digs a pit for others falls into it himself.