Proverbs 25:8

8 Go not forth hastily to contend, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof when thy neighbor hath put thee 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 Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men;

7 for better it is that it be said unto thee, "Come up hither," than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

8 Go not forth hastily to contend, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof when thy neighbor hath put thee to shame.

9 Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, and disclose not a secret to another,

10 lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.