Make a rod for one’s own back

Rod is an old Anglo-Saxon word for a stick or cane from at least the 11th century and this expression means that a problem of one’s own creation will return with adverse consequences. It is a very old proverb and dates from at least the 1500s in various forms, for example, to be beaten with one’s own rod etc, but the first citation for the exact wording ‘make a rod for one’s own back’ dates from the mid-19th century.