Proverbs 26:19

19 is the one who tricks a neighbor and then says, "I was just joking."

Proverbs 26:19 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 26:19

So [is] the man [that] deceiveth his neighbour
By telling him a lie; or by reporting false things concerning him; or by cheating him in trade and commerce; or by taking his goods privately from him; and, when caught in either of these, and saith, Am not I in sport?
do not be angry, I designed no hurt; it is all in jest, a mere joke: but, had he not been apprehended, it would have been in earnest, as he was. This is only an excuse, and as absurd an one as if a man should set fire to his neighbour's house and barns, or throw arrows at him, or strike him with any instrument of death, as the sword and then say he was only in jest, or pretend madness.

Proverbs 26:19 In-Context

17 Interfering in someone else's quarrel as you pass by is like grabbing a dog by the ears.

18 Like a madman shooting deadly, burning arrows

19 is the one who tricks a neighbor and then says, "I was just joking."

20 Without wood, a fire will go out, and without gossip, quarreling will stop.

21 Just as charcoal and wood keep a fire going, a quarrelsome person keeps an argument going.