Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 1:17

"For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:" — Proverbs 1:17 (ASV)

Strictly speaking, this is the first proverb (that is, comparison) in the book; a proverb which has received a variety of interpretations.

The true meaning seems to be as follows: For in vain, to no purpose, is the net spread out openly. Clear as the warning is, it is in vain. The birds still fly in. The great net of God’s judgments is spread out, open to the eyes of all, and yet the doers of evil, willfully blind, still rush into it.

Others take the words as pointing to the failure of the plans of the evildoers against the innocent (the bird). Still others interpret the proverb as concerning the young man who thinks that he, at least, will not fall into the snares laid for him, and so goes blindly into them.