Proverbs 26:19

19 so is the person who tricks his neighbor and says, "I was only 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 [Like] grabbing a dog by the ears, [so] is a bystander who gets involved in someone else's quarrel.

18 Like a madman who shoots flaming arrows, arrows, and death,

19 so is the person who tricks his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!"

20 Without wood a fire goes out, and without gossip a quarrel dies down.

21 [As] charcoal fuels burning coals and wood fuels fire, so a quarrelsome person fuels a dispute.