Proverbs 25:8

8 do not hastily bring into court; for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?

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 put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great;

7 for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen

8 do not hastily bring into court; for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?

9 Argue your case with your neighbor directly, and do not disclose another's secret;

10 or else someone who hears you will bring shame upon you, and your ill repute will have no end.

Footnotes

• [a]. Cn: Heb [or else]