Proverbs 24:28

28 Be thou not a witness without reasonable cause against thy neighbour; neither flatter thou any man with thy lips.

Proverbs 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.

Proverbs 24:28 In-Context

26 He that answereth (with) rightful words, shall kiss lips. (Lips shall kiss him, who answereth with upright words.)

27 Make ready thy work withoutforth, and work thy field diligently, that thou build thine house afterward. (Do all thy work outside, and work thy field diligently, and then afterward, thou shalt build thy house.)

28 Be thou not a witness without reasonable cause against thy neighbour; neither flatter thou any man with thy lips.

29 Say thou not, As he did to me, so I shall do to him, and I shall yield to each man after his work.

30 I passed by the field of a slow man, and by the vinery of a fond man; (I passed by a lazy man's field, and by a foolish person's vineyard;)