Proverbs 28:4

They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
forsake	עֹזְבֵ֣י 'o.ze.Vei	H5800	to loosen · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
law	ת֭וֹרָה To.rah	H8451	a precept or statute · noun, common feminine singular absolute
praise	יְהַֽלְל֣וּ ye.ha.Lu	H1984	to be clear (orig. of sound · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
wicked	רָשָׁ֑ע ra.Sha'	H7563	morally wrong · noun, common masculine singular absolute
keep	וְשֹׁמְרֵ֥י ve.sho.me.Rei	H8104	properly · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
law	ת֝וֹרָ֗ה to.Rah	H8451	a precept or statute · noun, common feminine singular absolute
contend	יִתְגָּ֥רוּ yit.Ga.ru	H1624	properly · verb, hithpael imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

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

Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them tha…
Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Matthew 14:4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to f…
1 Kings 18:18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and th…
Psalms 10:3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
Psalms 49:18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
1 John 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:4

Note, 1. Those that praise the wicked make it to appear that they do themselves forsake the law, and go contrary to it, for that curses and condemns the wicked. Wicked people will speak well of one another, and so strengthen one another's hands in their wicked ways, hoping thereby to silence the clamours of their own consciences and to serve the interests of the devil's kingdom, which is not done by any thing so effectually as by keeping vice in reputation. 2. Those that do indeed make conscience of the law of God themselves will, in their places, vigorously oppose sin, and bear their testimony against it, and do what they can to shame and suppress it. They will reprove the works of darkness…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 28:4

They that forsake . . . wicked--Wrongdoers encourage one another.

John Gill on Proverbs 28:4

They that forsake the law praise the wicked,.... Who are like them; who forsake and transgress the law, as they do; every like loves its like; wicked men delight in sin, the transgression of the law, and in those that do it. One covetous man will bless and praise another, whom the Lord abhors, and commend his covetousness as frugality and good husbandry: one proud man will call another happy, and praise him as a man of spirit, that will not debase himself, but keep up his authority, rank, and dignity, and not condescend to men of low estates; the workers of wickedness are set up and extolled, and tempters of God, men of atheistical and deistical principles, are not only delivered from the pu…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 28:4

4 They who forsake the law praise the godless; But they who keep the law become angry with them, viz. the godless, for רשׁע is to be thought of collectively, as at Pro 28:1. They who praise the godless turn away from the revealed word of God (Psa 73:11-15); those, on the contrary, who are true to God's word (Pro 28:18) are aroused against them (vid., regarding גרה, Pro 15:18), they are deeply moved by their conduct, they cannot remain silent and let their wickedness go unpunished; התגּרה is zeal (excitement) always expressing itself, passing over into actions (syn. התעורר, Job 17:8).

The Church Fathers

The Stoics laid down their doctrine on the basis that the goal is to live according to nature, using the word nature improperly rather than "God," since nature applies to plants, crops, trees and stones. At any rate, there is the clear statement, "Scoundrels think nothing of the law, but those who love the law set it in front of them like a wall." For "the wisdom of able men will understand the paths of wisdom, but the folly of fools goes in the wrong direction."
— Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2

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

Zeal, Religious · EXEMPLIFIE — EXEMPLIFIE

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 28:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:4

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 28:4

John Gill on Proverbs 28:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 28:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 28:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 28:4

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 28:4

John Gill on Proverbs 28:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 28:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 28:4

Rashi on Proverbs 28:3