Proverbs 24:28

Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
witness	עֵד 'ed-	H5707	concretely · noun, common masculine singular absolute
neighbour	בְּרֵעֶ֑ךָ be.re.'E.kha	H7453	an associate (more or less close) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
cause	חִנָּ֣ם chi.Nam	H2600	gratis · adverb
deceive	וַ֝הֲפִתִּ֗יתָ va.ha.fi.Ti.ta	H6601	to open · conjunction + interrogative particle + verb, piel perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
lips	בִּשְׂפָתֶֽיךָ bis.fa.Tei.kha	H8193	the lip (as a natural boundary) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
1 Kings 21:9-13 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
Proverbs 25:18 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.
Matthew 26:59-60 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus 23:1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
1 Samuel 22:9-10 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the so…
Job 2:3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, o…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:28-29

We are here forbidden to be in any thing injurious to our neighbour, particularly in and by the forms of law, either, 1. As a witness: "Never bear a testimony against any man without cause, unless what thou sayest thou knowest to be punctually true and thou hast a clear call to testify it. Never bear a false testimony against any one;" for it follows, "Deceive not with thy lips; deceive not the judge and jury, deceive not those whom thou conversest with, into an ill opinion of thy neighbour. When thou speakest of thy neighbour do not only speak that which is true, but take heed lest, in the manner of thy speaking, thou insinuate any thing that is otherwise and so shouldst deceive by innuendo…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:28

Do not speak even truth needlessly against any, and never falsehood.

John Gill on Proverbs 24:28

Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause,.... Unless forced unto it, except there is some urgent reason for it; not upon any trivial account, or in any frivolous matter; never appear forward and eager to bear witness against him, and, whenever obliged to it, be not a false witness, but speak truth, whether thy neighbour be a friend or a foe; and deceive not with thy lips; by bearing a false testimony, the judge, thy neighbour and thyself; for though men may be deceived, God cannot: or, shouldest thou do so, "thou wouldest break" and cut him to pieces "with thy lips" (x); which is the sense of the words according to R. Judah, as Ben Melech relates. (x) "et ne atteras labiis tui…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:28

Warning against unnecessary witnessing to the disadvantage of another: Never be a causeless witness against thy neighbour; And shouldest thou use deceit with thy lips? The phrase עד־חנּם does not mean a witness who appears against his neighbour without knowledge of the facts of the case, but one who has no substantial reason for his giving of testimony; חנּם means groundless, with reference to the occasion and motive, Pro 3:30; Pro 23:29; Pro 26:2. Other designations stood for false witnesses (lxx, Syr., Targ.). Rightly Jerome, the Venet., and Luther, without, however, rendering the gen. connection עד־חנם, as it might have been by the adj. In 28b, Chajg derives והפתּית from פּתת, to break in…

The Church Fathers

Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor, etc. This also pertains to the cultivation of our field, that is, to the pursuit of good action, namely, not to harm an innocent neighbor with false testimony, not to give any sinner the confidence of sinning further by flattery; not to return evil for evil; for in this way, when you have first well composed outward actions, you will then reach to the cultivation of the purity of the inner man as well, and, as after the exercise of the field, you will begin to adorn and establish the habitation of the mind with pious thoughts. Because the reprobate neglect to do this, it is rightly added: I passed by the field of the lazy man, etc. To pass by the field and vineyard of the lazy and foolish is to see the life of any negligent person, which nettles or thorns fill, because in the heart of the negligent sprout itching earthly desires and the stings of vices. As it is written: Every slothful person is in desires. And the stone wall in the vineyard or field of the fool is broken down, when the beginnings of the defenses of virtues, deceived either by the wickedness of evil men or by the clever persuasion of unclean spirits, any negligent person loses.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs, Book of — A collection of moral and philosophical maxims of a wide range of subjects presented in a poetic form. This book sets forth the “philosophy of practical life. It is the sign to us that the Bible does…
Deceit · Forbid — Forbid
Evidence · 35:30; — 35:30;
False Teachers · FALSE WITNESS — FALSE WITNESS
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 24:28

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:28-29

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:28

John Gill on Proverbs 24:28

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:28

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 24:28

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:28-29

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:28

John Gill on Proverbs 24:28

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:28

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 24:28-29

Rashi on Proverbs 24:28