Text -- Proverbs 19:5 (NET)

19:5 A false witness will not go unpunished, and the one who spouts out lies will not escape punishment.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Pro 19:5

¹ tn Heb “a witness of lies.” This expression is an attributive genitive: “a lying witness” (cf. CEV “dishonest witnesses”). This is paralleled by “the one who pours out lies.”

² tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

³ tn Heb “will not escape” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “will not go free.” Here “punishment” is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

sn This proverb is a general statement, because on occasion there are false witnesses who go unpunished in this life (e.g., Prov 6:19; 14:5, 25; 19:9). The Talmud affirms, “False witnesses are contemptible even to those who hire them” (b. Sanhedrin 29b).