Proverbs 24:28

28 Do not testify against your neighbor without a reason, and do not deceive with your lips.

Proverbs 24:28 Meaning and Commentary

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" F24; which is the sense of the words according to R. Judah, as Ben Melech relates.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 (Kytpvb tytyphw) "et ne atteras labiis tuis", Vatablus; "et ne comminuas eum labiis tuis", Syriac version.

Proverbs 24:28 In-Context

26 Giving a straight answer is [like] a kiss on the lips.
27 Prepare your work outside, and get things ready for yourself in the field. Afterwards, build your house.
28 Do not testify against your neighbor without a reason, and do not deceive with your lips.
29 Do not say, "I'll treat him as he treated me. I'll pay him back for what he has done to me."
30 I passed by a lazy person's field, the vineyard belonging to a person without sense.
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