Proverbs 26:24

24 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend, all the while conniving against you.

Proverbs 26:24 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 26:24

He that hateth dissembleth with his lips
He that bears a grudge in his mind, and retains hatred in his heart against any person, hides it all he can, till he has an opportunity of showing it as he would; he pretends a great deal of friendship with his lips, that his hatred might not be known; he would be thought to be a friend, when he is really an enemy; he does not choose as yet to make himself known what he is. Some render it to a sense the reverse, "the enemy", or "he that hateth, is known by his lips" F12; so the Targum, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions: if you carefully watch him, mark his words, and observe what he says, you will find out the hatred that lies in his heart; he cannot forbear saying something, at one time or another, which betrays the malignity of his mind; and layeth up deceit within him;
or, "though F13 he layeth up" hides it as much as he can, yet it will show itself in some way or another.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 (rkny) "agnoscetur", Montanus, Vatablus; "cognoscetur", Tigurine version; "cognoscitur", Amama, so Luther.
F13 (w) "quamvis", Luther. apud Gejerus, Baynus.

Proverbs 26:24 In-Context

22 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?
23 Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery.
24 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend, all the while conniving against you.
25 When he speaks warmly to you, don't believe him for a minute; he's just waiting for the chance to rip you off.
26 No matter how cunningly he conceals his malice, eventually his evil will be exposed in public.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.