Proverbs 26:19

19 is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

Proverbs 26:19 in Other Translations

19 So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?

19 is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I am only joking!"

19 is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.”

19 Are worse than careless campers who walk away from smoldering campfires.

19 so is the man who deceives 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 one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

18 Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death

19 is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

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

21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.