Proverbs 25:8

8 Do not go out ¹hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor humiliates you?

Proverbs 25:8 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 25:8

Go not forth hastily to strive
To go to law with a neighbour; think well of it beforehand; consider the nature of the cause, whether right or wrong; or whether it is a matter of such moment as to go to law about; whether it will not be deemed a frivolous and vexatious suit; whether able to bear the expenses of it, and what may probably be the success of it; lest [thou know not] what to do in the end thereof;
for a livelihood, having spent all thy substance in the lawsuit, and so reduced to poverty as not to know how to live, or how and where to show thy face, through the disgrace that shall fall upon time by losing the cause; when that neighbour hath put thee to shame;
in open court, and proved himself to be in the right, and that thou art in the wrong; himself an honest man, and thee a litigious person.

Proverbs 25:8 In-Context

6 Do not claim honor in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of great men;

7 For it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen.

8 Do not go out hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor humiliates you?

9 Argue your case with your neighbor, And do not reveal the secret of another,

10 Or he who hears it will reproach you, And the evil report about you will not pass away.

Cross References

• 1. Proverbs 17:14; Matthew 5:25

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "contend"
• [b]. Lit "Lest"
• [c]. Lit "its"