Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 24:15-16

"Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous; Destroy not his resting-place: For a righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity." — Proverbs 24:15-16 (ASV)

The teaching of the proverb warns people not to attack or plot against the righteous. They will lose their labor: Though the just man falls (not into sin, but into calamities), yet he rises up. The point of this teaching is not the tendency of good people to err, but God’s providential care over them (compare related scriptural passages).

The phrase “seven times” signifies a definite for an indefinite number . In contrast with this is the fate of the evildoers, who fall utterly even in a single distress.