Proverbs 29:24

24 The accomplices of thieves are their own enemies; they are put under oath and dare not testify.

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Proverbs 29:24 in Other Translations

KJV

24 Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.

ESV

24 The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing.

NLT

24 If you assist a thief, you only hurt yourself. You are sworn to tell the truth, but you dare not testify.

MSG

24 Befriend an outlaw and become an enemy to yourself. When the victims cry out, you'll be included in their curses if you're a coward to their cause in court.

CSB

24 To be a thief's partner is to hate oneself; he hears the curse but will not testify.

Proverbs 29:24 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 29:24

Whoso is partner with a thief
That robs and steals, and raises away another man's property; which to do is sinful and contrary to the law of God, and punishable by it; and so it is to join with him in the theft, or to devise, or consent unto it; or to receive the stolen goods, or to hide and conceal them; or to hide the thief, or the theft, and not declare them; see ( Psalms 50:18 ) ( Isaiah 1:23 ) . Such an one hateth his own soul;
that is, he is not careful of it, he is not concerned for its welfare as he should be; for otherwise no man, properly speaking, hates his own flesh or body, and much less his soul; but he is negligent of the good of it, and, for the sake of the mammon of unrighteousness, runs the risk of the ruin of it; by which he shows that he loves the world more than his own soul; when the profit of the whole world is nothing to the soul of man, ( Matthew 16:26 ) ; see ( Proverbs 8:36 ) ; he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth [it] not;
or "does not declare it" {b}; he heareth the cursing of those that have lost their goods, and yet he does not declare where they are, and who is the author of the theft, though he knows; or, being suspected of being concerned in it, or, at least, of knowing who did it, be is had before a civil magistrate, and an oath is given him, which he takes, and yet he conceals the matter: which is an aggravation of his sin, and brings ruin to his soul. So the Targum,

``an oath is determined (or brought to him) and he confesseth not.''

Some understand this of a distinct evil, of hearing cursing and swearing, and taking the name of God in vain, and blasphemy against him; yet, through fear of incurring the displeasure of men, and being reckoned a busy body, or through indifference and want of zeal for the glory of God, do not discover it, or inform of it, to a proper person, for the punishment of such; see ( Leviticus 5:1 ) ; and render the words ^F3, as "he that is partner with a thief hateth his own soul; [so] he that heareth cursing, and betrayeth it not."

FOOTNOTES:

F2 (dygy alw) "et non indicat", Junius & Tremellius, Mercerus, Cocceius, Schultens, Michaelis.
F3 So Gejerus.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible