Proverbs 24:28
WEB
Don’t be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.
BSB
Do not testify against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.
KJV
Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
Matthew Henry
Hebrew interlinear
H408
adv — not, nothing
Derivation: a negative particle (akin to 3808);
not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing
KJV: nay, neither, + never, no, nor, not, nothing (worth), rather than.
adv. of negation — not
אַל adv. of negation, denying however, not objectively as a fact, but subjectively as a wish, expressing therefore a deprecation or prohibition
H1961
v — exist, be, become, come to pass
Derivation: a primitive root (compare 1933);
to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)
KJV: beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.
vb — fall out
הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be
Qal
I.
1.
a. Fall out, happen
b. occur, take place, come about, come to pass
2. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass
a.
(1). וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)
(2). rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה
b. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)
II. Come into being, become
1.
a. abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come
b. sq. prep.
2. become
a. sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)
b. sq. pred. adj.
c. become like
d. sq. pred. לְ pers.
e. sq. לְ pred.
f. oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.
g. with עַל and לְ
h. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of
III. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)
1. exist, be in existence
2. abide, remain, continue
3. with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie
4. as copula, joining subj. & pred.
5. periphrastic conjug.
Niph.
1. either be done, be brought about, or occur, come to pass
2. be done, finished, gone
H5707
n-m — witness, testimony, recorder, prince
Derivation: contracted from 5749;
concretely, a witness; abstractly, testimony; specifically, a recorder, i.e. prince
KJV: witness.
n.m — witness
עֵד 69 n.m. witness (prob. fr. reiterating, hence emphatically affirming)
1. witness, testimony, evidence, of things
2. witness, a person
H2600
adv — gratis
Derivation: from 2580;
gratis, i.e. devoid of cost, reason or advantage
KJV: without a cause (cost, wages), causeless, to cost nothing, free(-ly), innocent, for nothing (nought, in vain.
subst — out of favour
חִנָּם subst., used chiefly in the accus. as adv.—lit. out of favour; i.e.
a. gratis, gratuitously, for nothing
b. for no purpose, in vain
c. gratuitously, without cause, undeservedly
H7453
n-m — associate
Derivation: or רֵיעַ; from 7462;
an associate (more or less close)
KJV: brother, companion, fellow, friend, husband, lover, neighbour, × (an-) other.
n.m — friend
רֵעַ 187 n.m. friend, companion, fellow
H6601
v — open, be, make, roomy, be, make, simple, delude
Derivation: a primitive root;
to open, i.e. be (causatively, make) roomy; usually figuratively (in a mental or moral sense) to be (causatively, make) simple or (in a sinister way) delude
KJV: allure, deceive, enlarge, entice, flatter, persuade, silly (one).
vb — be spacious
[פָּתָה] vb. be spacious, wide, open
Qal poss. one open as to lips
Hiph. may God make wide for Japhet (give him an extensive inheritance)
vb. denom — be simple
[פָּתָה] vb. denom. be simple
Qal
1. be open-minded (?), simple
2. be enticed, deceived
Niph. be deceived
Piel
1. persuade, woman, seduce, virgin; entice, husband; a man to sin
2. deceive
Pual
1. be persuaded
2. be deceived
H8193
n-f — lip, language, margin
Derivation: or (in dual and plural) שֶׂפֶת; probably from 5595 or 8192 through the idea of termination (compare 5490);
the lip (as a natural boundary); by implication, language; by analogy, a margin (of a vessel, water, cloth, etc.)
KJV: band, bank, binding, border, brim, brink, edge, language, lip, prating, (sea-)shore, side, speech, talk, (vain) words.
n.f — lip
שָׂפָה 176 n.f. lip, speech, edge
1. lip
2. language
3. edge: shore of sea; bank of river
Bible49 app
Get translation compare, commentary, and interlinear study — offline, on iPhone and Mac.
See Bible49
Verses 28–29
Proverbs 24:28–29
We are here forbidden to be in any thing injurious to our neighbour, particularly in and by the forms of law, either, 1. As a witness: "Never bear a testimony against any man without cause, unless what thou sayest thou knowest to be punctually true and thou hast a clear call to testify it. Never bear a false testimony against any one;" for it follows, "Deceive not with thy lips; deceive not the judge and jury, deceive not those whom thou conversest with, into an ill opinion of thy neighbour. When thou speakest of thy neighbour do not only speak that which is true, but take heed lest, in the manner of thy speaking, thou insinuate any thing that is otherwise and so shouldst deceive by innuendos or hyperboles." Or, 2. As a plaintiff or prosecutor. If there be occasion to bring an action or information against thy neighbour, let it not be from a spirit of revenge. "Say not, I am resolved I will be even with him: I will do so to him as he had done to me." Even a righteous cause becomes unrighteous when it is thus prosecuted with malice. Say not, I will render to the man according to his work, and make him pay dearly for it; for it is God's prerogative to do so, and we must leave it to him, and not step into his throne, or take his work out of his hands. If we will needs be our own carvers, and judges in our own cause, we forfeit the benefit of an appeal to God's tribunal; therefore we must not avenge ourselves, because he has said, Vengeance is mine.