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Proverbs

About this book
Chapter 14

1 Every wise woman has built her household, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. 2 The one who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but the one who is perverted in his ways despises him. 3 In the speech of a fool is a rod for his back, but the words of the wise protect them. 4 Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is clean, but an abundant harvest is produced by strong oxen. 5 A truthful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies. 6 The scorner sought wisdom—there was none, but understanding was easy for a discerning person. 7 Walk abreast with a foolish person, and you do not understand wise counsel. 8 The wisdom of the shrewd person is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deception. 9 Fools mock at reparation, but among the upright there is favor. 10 The heart knows its own bitterness, and with its joy no one else can share. 11 The household of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish. 12 There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way that leads to death. 13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief. 14 The backslider will be paid back from his own ways, but a good person will be rewarded for his. 15 A naive person will believe anything, but the shrewd person discerns his steps. 16 A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool throws off restraint and is overconfident. 17 A person who has a quick temper will do foolish things, and a person with crafty schemes will be hated. 18 The naive have inherited folly, but the shrewd will be crowned with knowledge. 19 Bad people have bowed before good people, and wicked people have bowed at the gates of someone righteous. 20 A poor person will be disliked even by his neighbors, but those who love the rich are many. 21 The one who despises his neighbor sins, but whoever is kind to the needy is blessed. 22 Do not those who devise evil go astray? But those who plan good exhibit faithful covenant love. 23 In all hard work there is profit, but merely talking about it only brings poverty. 24 The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools is folly. 25 A truthful witness rescues lives, but one who testifies falsely betrays them.⁠ 26 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and it will be a refuge for his children. 27 The fear of the Lord is like a life-giving fountain, to turn people from deadly snares. 28 A king’s glory is the abundance of people, but the lack of subjects is the ruin of a ruler. 29 Someone with great understanding is slow to anger, but the one who has a quick temper exalts folly. 30 A tranquil spirit revives the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones. 31 The one who oppresses the poor has insulted his Creator, but whoever honors him shows favor to the needy. 32 An evil person will be thrown down through his wickedness, but a righteous person takes refuge in his integrity. 33 Wisdom rests in the heart of the discerning; it is not known in the inner parts of fools. 34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. 35 The king shows favor to a wise servant, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 19:17 and Proverbs 14:25

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy and Proverbs reject false testimony, noting how it damages others and justice itself. Deuteronomy says a false witness should receive the same punishment they meant for their victim, and Proverbs adds that kind of deceit leads to ruin.

Passages

Deuteronomy 19:17

Hebrew Bible
15 A single witness may not testify against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 16 If a false witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime, 17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days. 18 The judges will thoroughly investigate the matter, and if the witness should prove to be false and to have given false testimony against the accused, 19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Proverbs 14:25

Hebrew Bible
23 In all hard work there is profit, but merely talking about it only brings poverty. 24 The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools is folly. 25 A truthful witness rescues lives, but one who testifies falsely betrays them. 26 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and it will be a refuge for his children. 27 The fear of the Lord is like a life-giving fountain, to turn people from deadly snares.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Proverbs

References

"... False witness before the court is the first area of use for the noun 'falsehood' (seqer). Particularly objectionable to Old Testament legal thought, the much-discussed figure appears outside the ninth commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:16; regarding the alteration to in Deuteronomy 5:20) especially in Proverbs (6:19; 12:17; 14:5; 19:5, 9; 25:18) but also in Deuteronomy 19:18 and Psalm 27:12; given that this figure can also be called according to Deuteronomy 19:16 and that according to Psalm 27:12, it becomes clear that it describes the witness as one who aggressively injures the other and as a violator of the law who “acts against the other contrary to the law” (Deuteronomy 19:18; similarly Proverbs 25:18). While this figure destroys life like “hammer and sword and sharp arrow” (Proverbs 25:18), the contrasting figure, the waπ` yñiap, “saves life” (Proverbs 14:25; compare 14:5) ..."
Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann, Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, trans. Mark E. Biddle (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997), 1737–1738.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 19:17 and Proverbs 14:25

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