Proverbs 24:28

28 Don't testify against your neighbor for no good reason. Don't say things that are false.

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 An honest answer is as pleasing as a kiss on the lips.
27 First, finish your outside work and prepare your fields. After that, you can build your house.
28 Don't testify against your neighbor for no good reason. Don't say things that are false.
29 Don't say, "I'll get even; I'll do to him what he did to me."
30 I passed by a lazy person's field and by the vineyard of someone with no sense.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.