Proverbs 14:5

14:5 A truthful witness ¹  does not lie,

but a false witness ²  breathes out lies. ³ 

Proverbs 6:9

6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?

When will you rise from your sleep? ⁴ 

Proverbs 6:19

6:19 a false witness who pours out lies, ⁵ 

and a person who spreads discord ⁶  among family members. ⁷ 

Proverbs 7:18

7:18 Come, let’s drink deeply ⁸  of lovemaking ⁹  until morning,

let’s delight ourselves ¹⁰  with sexual intercourse. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 8:26

8:26 before he made the earth and its fields, ¹² 

or the beginning ¹³  of the dust of the world.

Proverbs 14:25

14:25 A truthful witness ¹⁴  rescues lives, ¹⁵ 

but the one who breathes lies brings ¹⁶  deception. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 19:5

19:5 A false witness ¹⁸  will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out ¹⁹  lies will not escape punishment. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 19:9

19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out ²¹  lies will perish. ²² 

Proverbs 19:28

19:28 A crooked witness ²³  scorns justice,

and the mouth of the wicked devours ²⁴  iniquity.

Proverbs 21:28

21:28 A lying witness ²⁵  will perish, ²⁶ 

but the one who reports accurately speaks forever. ²⁷ 

Proverbs 24:28

24:28 Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, ²⁸ 

and do not deceive with your words. ²⁹ 

Proverbs 1:22

1:22 “How long will you simpletons ³⁰  love naiveté? ³¹ 

How long ³²  will mockers ³³  delight ³⁴  in mockery ³⁵ 

and fools ³⁶  hate knowledge?

Proverbs 4:18

4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, ³⁷ 

growing brighter and brighter ³⁸  until full day. ³⁹ 

Proverbs 6:26

6:26 for on account ⁴⁰  of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread,

but the wife of another man ⁴¹  preys on your precious life. ⁴² 

Proverbs 25:18

25:18 Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow, ⁴³ 

so is the one who testifies against ⁴⁴  his neighbor as a false witness. ⁴⁵ 

Proverbs 28:17

28:17 The one who is tormented ⁴⁶  by the murder ⁴⁷  of another will flee to the pit; ⁴⁸ 

let no one support him.

Proverbs 7:23

7:23 till an arrow pierces his liver ⁴⁹  –

like a bird hurrying into a trap,

and he does not know that it will cost him his life. ⁵⁰ 

[14:5]  ¹ tn Heb “a witness of faithfulness.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “faithful witness” (so KJV, NRSV); TEV “reliable witness.”

[14:5]  ² tn Heb “a witness of falsehood.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “false witness.”

[14:5]  ³ sn This saying addresses the problem of legal testimony: A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness does lie – naturally. The first colon uses the verb כָּזַב (kazav, “to lie”) and the second colon uses the noun כָּזָב (kazav, “lie; falsehood”).

[6:9]  ⁴ sn The use of the two rhetorical questions is designed to rebuke the lazy person in a forceful manner. The sluggard is spending too much time sleeping.

[6:19]  ⁷ sn The Lord hates perjury and a lying witness (e.g., Ps 40:4; Amos 2:4; Mic 1:4). This is a direct violation of the law (Exod 20).

[6:19]  ⁸ sn Dissension is attributed in Proverbs to contentious people (21:9; 26:21; 25:24) who have a short fuse (15:8).

[6:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “brothers,” although not limited to male siblings only. Cf. NRSV, CEV “in a family”; TEV “among friends.”

[7:18]  ¹⁰ tn The form נִרְוֶה (nirveh) is the plural cohortative; following the imperative “come” the form expresses the hortatory “let’s.” The verb means “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill,” and can at times mean “to be intoxicated with.”

[7:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “loves.” The word דּוֹד (dod) means physical love or lovemaking. It is found frequently in the Song of Solomon for the loved one, the beloved. Here the form (literally, “loves”) is used in reference to multiple acts of sexual intercourse, as the phrase “until morning” suggests.

[7:18]  ¹² tn The form is the Hitpael cohortative of עָלַס (’alas), which means “to rejoice.” Cf. NIV “let’s enjoy ourselves.”

[7:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “with love.”

[8:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “open places.”

[8:26]  ¹⁴ tn Here רֹאשׁ (ro’sh) means “beginning” with reference to time (BDB 911 s.v. 4.b).

[14:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a witness of truth”; cf. CEV “an honest witness.”

[14:25]  ¹⁷ tn The noun נְפָשׁוֹת (nÿfashot) often means “souls,” but here “lives” – it functions as a metonymy for life (BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 3.c).

[14:25]  ¹⁸ tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Also possible, “is deceitful.”

[14:25]  ¹⁹ tc Several commentators suggest emending the text from the noun מִרְמָה (mirmah, “deception”) to the participle מְרַמֶּה (mÿrameh, “destroys”). However, this revocalization is not necessary because the MT makes sense as it stands: A false witness destroys lives.

[19:5]  ¹⁹ 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.”

[19:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

[19:5]  ²¹ 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.

[19:9]  ²² tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

[19:9]  ²³ sn The verse is the same as v. 5, except that the last word changes to the verb “will perish” (cf. NCV “will die”; CEV, NLT “will be destroyed”; TEV “is doomed”).

[19:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a witness who is worthless and wicked” (עֵד בְּלִיַּעַל, ’ed beliyya’al). Cf. KJV “an ungodly witness”; NAB “an unprincipled witness”; NCV “an evil witness”; NASB “a rascally witness.”

[19:28]  ²⁶ tn The parallel line says the mouth of the wicked “gulps down” or “swallows” (יְבַלַּע, yÿvala’) iniquity. The verb does not seem to fit the line (or the proverb) very well. Some have emended the text to יַבִּיעַ (yavia’, “gushes”) as in 15:28 (cf. NAB “pours out”). Driver followed an Arabic balaga to get “enunciates,” which works well with the idea of a false witness (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 529). As it stands, however, the line indicates that in what he says the wicked person accepts evil – and that could describe a false witness.

[21:28]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a witness of lies,” an attributive genitive.

[21:28]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “will perish” (יֹאבֵד, yo’bed) could mean that the false witness will die, either by the hand of God or by the community. But it also could be taken in the sense that the false testimony will be destroyed. This would mean that “false witness” would be a metonymy of cause – what he says will perish (cf. NCV “will be forgotten”).

[21:28]  ³⁰ tn Heb “but a man who listens speaks forever.” The first part of it may mean (1) a true witness, one who reports what he actually hears. But it may also refer to (2) someone who listens to the false testimony given by the false witness. The NIV follows the suggestion of a homonym for the Hebrew word with the meaning “will perish/be destroyed”: “will be destroyed forever.” This suggests a synonymous pair of ideas rather than a contrast. Others accept antithetical parallelism. C. H. Toy suggested an idea like “be established” to contrast with “will perish” (Proverbs [ICC], 411). W. McKane suggested it meant the truthful witness “will speak to the end” without being put down (Proverbs [OTL], 556). It is simpler to interpret the words that are here in the sense of a contrast. The idea of speaking forever/to the end would then be hyperbolic.

[24:28]  ³¹ sn The legal setting of these sayings continues with this warning against being a false accuser. The “witness” in this line is one who has no basis for his testimony. “Without cause” is the adverb from חָנָן (khanan), which means “to be gracious.” The adverb means “without a cause; gratis; free.” It is also cognate to the word חֵן (“grace” or “unmerited [or, undeserved] favor.” The connotation is that the opposite is due. So the adverb would mean that there was no cause, no justification for the witness, but that the evidence seemed to lie on the other side.

[24:28]  ³² tn Heb “lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause; it means “what is said.” Here it refers to what is said in court as a false witness.

[1:22]  ³⁴ tn Wisdom addresses three types of people: simpletons (פְּתָיִם, pÿtayim), scoffers (לֵצִים, letsim) and fools (כְּסִילִים, kÿsilim). For the term “simpleton” see note on 1:4. Each of these three types of people is satisfied with the life being led and will not listen to reason. See J. A. Emerton, “A Note on the Hebrew Text of Proverbs 1:22-23,” JTS 19 (1968): 609-14.

[1:22]  ³⁵ tn Heb “simplicity” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “inanity.” The noun פֶּתִי (peti) means “simplicity; lack of wisdom” (BDB 834 s.v.; HALOT 989 s.v. II פֶּתִי). It is related to the term פְּתָיִם (pÿtayim) “simpletons” and so forms a striking wordplay. This lack of wisdom and moral simplicity is inherent in the character of the naive person.

[1:22]  ³⁶ tn The second instance of “How long?” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it is supplied in the translation for smoothness and style.

[1:22]  ³⁷ sn The term לֵצִים (leysim, “scoffers; mockers”) comes from the root לִיץ (lits, “to scorn; to mock; to speak indirectly” (BDB 539 s.v. לִיץ). They are cynical and defiant freethinkers who ridicule the righteous and all for which they stand (e.g., Ps 1:1).

[1:22]  ³⁸ tn Heb “delight.” The verb (חָמַד, khamad) is often translated “to take pleasure; to delight” but frequently has the meaning of a selfish desire, a coveting of something. It is the term, for example, used for coveting in the Decalogue (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21) and for the covetous desire of Eve (Gen 3:6) and Achan (Josh 7:21). It is tempting to nuance it here as “illicit desire” for mockery.

[1:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “for themselves.” The ethical dative לָהֶם (lahem, “for themselves”) is normally untranslated. It is a rhetorical device emphasizing that they take delight in mockery for their own self-interests.

[1:22]  ⁴⁰ sn The term “fool” (כְּסִיל, kÿsil) refers to the morally insensitive dullard (BDB 493 s.v.).

[4:18]  ³⁷ tn Heb “like light of brightness.” This construction is an attributive genitive: “bright light.” The word “light” (אוֹר, ’or) refers to the early morning light or the dawn (BDB 21 s.v.). The point of the simile is that the course of life that the righteous follow is like the clear, bright morning light. It is illumined, clear, easy to follow, and healthy and safe – the opposite of what darkness represents.

[4:18]  ³⁸ tn The construction uses the Qal active participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) in a metaphorical sense to add the idea of continuance or continually to the participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh). Here the path was growing light, but the added participle signifies continually.

[4:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “until the day is established.” This expression refers to the coming of the full day or the time of high noon.

[6:26]  ⁴⁰ tn The word בְעַד (bÿ’ad) may be taken either as “on account of” (= by means of a) prostitute (cf. ASV, NASB), or “for the price of” a prostitute (cf. NAB). Most expositors take the first reading, though that use of the preposition is unattested, and then must supply “one is brought to.” The verse would then say that going to a prostitute can bring a man to poverty, but going to another man’s wife can lead to death. If the second view were taken, it would mean that one had a smaller price than the other. It is not indicating that one is preferable to the other; both are to be avoided.

[6:26]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the wife of a man.”

[6:26]  ⁴² tn These two lines might be an example of synthetic parallelism, that is, “A, what’s more B.” The A-line describes the detrimental moral effect of a man going to a professional prostitute; the B-line heightens this and describes the far worse effect – moral and mortal! – of a man committing adultery with another man’s wife. When a man goes to a prostitute, he lowers himself to become nothing more than a “meal ticket” to sustain the life of that woman; however, when a man commits adultery, he places his very life in jeopardy – the rage of the husband could very well kill him.

[25:18]  ⁴³ sn The first line identifies the emblem of the proverb: False witnesses are here compared to deadly weapons because they can cause the death of innocent people (e.g., Exod 20:16; Deut 5:20; and Prov 14:5).

[25:18]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) followed by the preposition בְּ (bet) with its object means “to testify against” (answer against someone). With the preposition לְ (lamed) it would mean “to testify for” someone. Here the false witness is an adversary, hence the comparison with deadly weapons.

[25:18]  ⁴⁵ tn While עֵד (’ed) could be interpreted as “evidence” (a meaning that came from a metonymy – what the witness gives in court), its normal meaning is “witness.” Here it would function as an adverbial accusative, specifying how he would answer in court.

[28:17]  ⁴⁶ tn The form is the Qal passive participle. The verb means “to oppress; to wrong; to extort”; here the idea of being “oppressed” would refer to the burden of a guilty conscience (hence “tormented”; cf. NAB, NRSV “burdened”). Some commentators have wanted to emend the text to read “suspected,” or “charged with,” or “given to,” etc., but if the motive is religious and not legal, then “oppressed” or “tormented” is preferred.

[28:17]  ⁴⁷ sn The text has “the blood of a life”; blood will be the metonymy of effect for the murder, the shedding of blood.

[28:17]  ⁴⁸ tn The verse is cryptic; it simply says that he will “flee to the pit.” Some have taken the “pit” to refer to the place of detention for prisoners, but why would he flee to that place? It seems rather to refer to death. This could mean that (1) since there is no place for him to go outside of the grave, he should flee to the pit (cf. TEV, NLT), or (2) he will be a fugitive until he goes to the grave (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV). Neither one of these options is easily derived from the text. The verse seems to be saying that the one who is guilty of murder will flee, and no one should assist him. The meaning of “the pit” is unresolved.

[7:23]  ⁴⁹ sn The figure of an arrow piercing the liver (an implied comparison) may refer to the pangs of a guilty conscience that the guilty must reap along with the spiritual and physical ruin that follows (see on these expressions H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament).

[7:23]  ⁵⁰ tn The expression that it is “for/about/over his life” means that it could cost him his life (e.g., Num 16:38). Alternatively, the line could refer to moral corruption and social disgrace rather than physical death – but this would not rule out physical death too.