Mishle 24:28

28 Be not an ed (witness) against thy re’a without cause, and deceive not with thy sfatayim (lips).

Mishle 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (Kytpvb tytyphw) "et ne atteras labiis tuis", Vatablus; "et ne comminuas eum labiis tuis", Syriac version.

Mishle 24:28 In-Context

26 He that giveth an answer that is nakhon (right, correct), giveth a kiss on the sfatayim.

27 Set in order thy outside work, and make ready for thyself in the sadeh; then afterwards build thine bais.

28 Be not an ed (witness) against thy re’a without cause, and deceive not with thy sfatayim (lips).

29 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me, I will render to the ish according to his work.

30 I went by the sadeh of the ish atzel (sluggard, lazy one), and went past the kerem (vineyard) of the adam chasar lev (the man void of lev [of understanding]),