Proverbs 24: Don't wish you were like bad people | Bible study
Bad people may look like they are winning, but nothing good is waiting for them. Wisdom builds a strong home and a good life. The chapter ends with a walk past a lazy man's field, all covered in weeds.
Proverbs 24:1
Don't wish you were like bad people, and don't wish you could hang around with them.
Do not burn with envy toward people of evil,
People who do wrong often seem to get ahead, and it is natural to resent it and want what they have. The command is to stop that feeling at the start.
and do not crave their company.
This goes one step further than envy. Envy of what they have turns into wanting to be one of them, and that is the real danger.
קנא · qana · burn with envy
To be hot with jealousy or zeal. The same command returns in verse 19, and also stands in 3:31 and 23:17.
אנשי רעה · anshei ra'ah · men of evil
Literally men of evil, people marked by the harm they do. Ra'ah means both wrongdoing and the damage it causes.
אוה · avah · crave, long for
A strong appetite. The form here is reflexive: do not let yourself long for it.
Proverbs 24:2
All they think about is hurting others, and all they talk about is making trouble.
For their heart keeps muttering about violence,
This is the reason for verse 1. Look inside them: what they turn over in their minds all day is how to wreck and rob. That is the inner life you would be joining.
and their lips speak of making trouble.
What is in the heart comes out of the mouth. Their conversation is about causing misery, so their company would fill your ears with it.
לב · lev · heart, mind
The heart in Hebrew is where a person thinks and decides, which is why it can be translated mind.
הגה · hagah · mutter, meditate
To murmur under the breath. It is the verb for meditating on God's law in Psalm 1:2; these people meditate on violence.
שד · shod · devastation, robbery
Violent destruction and plunder. The related verb shadad appears in verse 15.
שפה · saphah · lip, speech
The lip stands for what a person says.
עמל · amal · toil, misery
Hard labour, and so the misery one person makes for another.
Proverbs 24:3
It takes wisdom to build a good home, and good sense to make it strong.
By wisdom a house gets built,
In contrast to the violence of verse 2, here is what actually builds something. House means the building and also the household: a family and its life together. Skill at living is what puts it up.
and by understanding it is made firm.
Building is one thing, lasting is another. Good sense is what keeps a household standing over the years.
חכמה · chokmah · skill
Skill at living. The same three words of verses 3 and 4 (wisdom, understanding, knowledge) are how God made the world in 3:19-20.
בית · bayit · house, household
Both the structure and the family that lives in it, as in 'the house of David'.
בנה · banah · build
To build. The verb returns in verse 27.
תבונה · tevunah · good sense
From bin, to tell things apart. Practical discernment.
כון · kun · set firm
To be fixed and made secure. The same root is the 'prepare' of verse 27.
Proverbs 24:4
Knowing what is true fills every room with lovely, special treasures.
And by knowledge its rooms get filled
The third step after building and securing. A house can stand and still be empty; knowing how things work is what furnishes it.
with every kind of costly and lovely wealth.
The result is real prosperity, both valuable and enjoyable. Compare 1:13, where robbers promise the same 'precious wealth' by violence. Here it comes by knowledge.
דעת · da'at · knowledge
Knowledge gained by experience, from yada, to know.
חדר · cheder · inner room
An inner chamber, the private rooms and storerooms of a house.
יקר · yaqar · rare, costly
Valuable because scarce. With hon, wealth, it is the very phrase the gang uses in 1:13.
נעים · na'im · delightful
Lovely, agreeable. The related verb appears in verse 25.
Proverbs 24:5
A wise person is strong. Someone who knows a lot keeps getting stronger.
A wise man has strength,
Wisdom is a form of power. The man who knows what to do is stronger in practice than the man with muscle and no sense.
and a man of knowledge keeps adding to his power.
This takes the first line further: knowledge does not just equal strength, it makes strength grow. Verse 6 gives the example of war.
גבר חכם · gever chakam · wise strong man
Gever is a man at full strength, from a root meaning to be mighty. The wording already joins wisdom and might.
עז · oz · strength, might
Literally 'is in strength'.
דעת · da'at · knowledge
The knowledge that filled the rooms in verse 4 now strengthens the man.
אמץ · amats · make strong
To make firm or strong. It is the 'be courageous' of Joshua 1:6.
כח · koach · strength, capacity
The ability to get something done. It returns in verse 10, where it runs short.
The Hebrew of the first line is literally 'a wise man is in strength'. The ancient Greek version read it as a comparison, 'a wise man is better than a strong one', and some English versions follow that. The point is close either way.
Proverbs 24:6
You need good advice to win a battle. With lots of wise helpers, you can win.
For it is by skilful steering that you fight your war,
The proof of verse 5. Battles are won by strategy, not by numbers or rage. 'Your war' can be any serious struggle you have to get through.
and rescue comes through many advisers.
No one sees a whole situation alone. Several voices catch what one misses, so victory belongs to the person who asks for advice.
תחבלות · tachbulot · steering
From the word for a ship's ropes: the skill of steering. See 1:5; almost the same saying stands in 11:14 and 20:18.
מלחמה · milchamah · battle, war
War, from lacham, to fight.
יועץ · yo'ets · adviser
One who gives etsah, counsel. The Hebrew is singular used as a group: 'a multitude of adviser'.
תשועה · teshu'ah · rescue, deliverance
Deliverance, from the root of the names Joshua and Jesus. It means being brought safely through, not only winning.
Proverbs 24:7
Wisdom is too high up for a fool to reach. When people meet to decide big things, he has nothing to say.
Wisdom is too high up for a stubborn fool;
The fool cannot reach it, as if it were on a high shelf. The reason is not low intelligence. He has refused correction, so he never grew tall enough.
at the city gate he does not open his mouth.
This is the result. When the community meets to decide things, he has nothing worth saying. In verse 6 advisers bring victory; the fool cannot be one of them.
חכמות · chokmot · wisdom, in full
The plural form used for Wisdom personified in 1:20 and 9:1, expressing fullness.
רום · rum · be high
To be high, out of reach. The form here is spelled unusually; see the translation note.
אויל · evil · stubborn fool
The fool of 1:7 who despises wisdom and discipline. His problem is moral stubbornness.
פתח פה · patach peh · open the mouth
To speak up in public. Peh is mouth.
שער · sha'ar · city gate
The place of public business and judgment.
The city gate was where elders sat, cases were heard and business was witnessed (Ruth 4). To have nothing to say there meant having no part in how the town was run.
The word for 'too high' is written with an extra letter, exactly like the word for corals in Job 28:18. Some readers therefore take it as 'wisdom is corals to a fool', a luxury he cannot afford. Either way it is beyond him.
Proverbs 24:8
Someone who is always planning to do bad things gets called a troublemaker.
The one who works out how to do harm,
This is a person who puts real thought into hurting others. It is not a slip in a bad moment; it is designed.
people will call him a master of schemes.
The outcome is a reputation. He thinks he is being clever in secret, but the community sees it and gives him a name that sticks. In contrast to the wise of verses 5 to 7, his planning earns him distrust.
חשב · chashav · think out, devise
To calculate or devise. Planning itself is neutral; the aim makes it evil.
רעע · ra'a · do harm
The verb from ra, bad. To cause hurt.
בעל מזמות · ba'al mezimmot · master of schemes
Literally owner of schemes. Mezimmah is the 'discretion' of 1:4, good foresight; in the plural and in this setting it is the bad kind, plotting.
Proverbs 24:9
Making silly, bad plans is wrong. And nobody can stand a person who makes fun of everything.
What folly plans is sin,
The plans that come out of moral foolishness are not harmless stupidity. They are wrong before God. The verse moves verse 8 from reputation to guilt.
and people find the mocker disgusting.
The scoffer sneers at everything good and at anyone who corrects him. In the end ordinary people cannot stand him. The word normally used of what God detests is here used of how humans react.
זמה · zimmah · plan, plot
From the same root as the schemes of verse 8. It is often used of deliberate wickedness.
אולת · ivvelet · folly
The quality of the evil, the stubborn fool of verse 7.
חטאת · chatta't · sin, offence
From chata, to miss the mark.
לץ · lets · mocker
The one who sneers at correction and cannot be taught (9:7-8).
תועבה · to'evah · something detestable
Something that causes revulsion. In Proverbs it usually describes what the LORD detests; here it is what humanity detests.
Proverbs 24:10
If you give up when things get hard, you were not very strong to begin with.
If you go slack on the day of pressure,
Hard times are the test. The line pictures someone who lets his hands drop and gives up when things get tight.
your strength is tight.
The verdict: then you never had much. Trouble does not create weakness, it shows it. The Hebrew makes the point with a pun, since the words for pressure and small are the same root: a narrow day shows narrow strength.
רפה · raphah · go slack
To sink, to let the hands drop. The form means to show yourself slack.
צרה · tsarah · a tight place
From a root meaning narrow. Trouble is being hemmed in.
כח · koach · strength, capacity
The power that knowledge increases in verse 5.
צר · tsar · narrow, small
The adjective of the same root as tsarah. The sound link is deliberate: tsarah, tsar.
English cannot keep the pun. 'Distress' and 'meager' are tsarah and tsar, tight and tight. The verse probably leads into verses 11 and 12: the day of distress may be someone else's, and going slack means failing to help.
Proverbs 24:11
When people are being led away to die, go and save them. Hold them back!
Rescue those who are being taken off to death,
A direct command. When people are being led away to be killed, you are to step in and pull them out. The text does not say who they are, so it covers any case where a life is at stake and you can act.
and those tottering toward slaughter, do not hold back from them.
The second line repeats the scene with more urgency. They are stumbling toward the place of killing, and the one thing you must not do is spare yourself the effort.
נצל · natsal · snatch away, deliver
To pull out of danger, as prey is snatched from an animal's mouth.
מות · mavet · death
They are 'taken to death', the passive of laqach, to take.
מוט · mot · totter, slip
To sway and be about to fall.
הרג · hereg · killing
From harag, to kill.
חשך · chasak · hold back, spare
To withhold or keep back. The Hebrew phrase is literally 'if you hold back', which is why versions differ; see the translation note.
The end of the verse is literally 'if you hold back'. It can be a strong wish ('oh, hold them back!'), a command not to hold yourself back from helping, or the start of the sentence that continues in verse 12 ('if you hold back and say...'). All three make the same demand: act.
Proverbs 24:12
Don't say, we didn't know. God sees into your heart and watches over you, so He knows the truth and will pay everyone back for what they do.
If you say, 'Look, we did not know about this,'
The standard excuse for doing nothing. Notice the plural 'we': the speaker hides in the group.
does not the one who weighs hearts see through it?
The excuse may satisfy other people. God puts the heart itself on the scales and knows whether you really did not know or simply did not want to.
The one who guards your life, does he not know?
A pointed turn. God is at this moment watching over your life. You are asking the one who protects you to accept that you would not protect someone else.
And he will pay each person back according to what he has done.
The conclusion. Doing nothing is itself a deed, and it will be answered for like any other.
ידע · yada · know
The same verb is used of God in the third line. They claim not to know; he does know.
תכן · takan · weigh, measure
To measure on a balance. The same phrase, weigher of hearts, is used of the LORD in 21:2.
לב · lev · heart, mind
Plural here, libbot. What is weighed is the inner motive, not the stated excuse.
נצר · natsar · guard, keep
To watch as a guard does. It can mean protect or keep under observation; both fit.
שוב · shuv · bring back, repay
In this form, to make something return to a person. The phrase comes back in verse 29 in a human mouth.
פעל · po'al · deed
What a person has done. The principle is quoted in Psalm 62:12 and Romans 2:6.
Proverbs 24:13
My child, eat honey, because it is good. Honey straight from the honeycomb tastes so sweet.
Eat honey, my son, because it is good;
A simple command that everyone agrees with. It sets up a comparison that verse 14 completes.
honey dripping from the comb is sweet on your tongue.
The teacher lingers on the taste. He wants you to remember exactly how good the best honey is, because that is what he is about to compare wisdom to.
דבש · devash · honey
The sweetest food known in ancient Israel.
טוב · tov · good
Good in every sense: pleasant, wholesome, beneficial.
נפת · nophet · dripping honey
Honey flowing straight from the comb, the freshest kind. Psalm 19:10 says God's judgments are sweeter than this.
מתוק · matoq · sweet
Sweet to the taste.
חך · chek · palate
The roof of the mouth, where taste is felt.
Proverbs 24:14
Wisdom is sweet like that for your whole life. If you find it, good things are ahead, and your hope will not be taken away.
In the same way, know that wisdom is like that for your soul.
The comparison lands. What honey is to the mouth, wisdom is to your whole self: good for you and a pleasure once you taste it. Wisdom is not bitter medicine.
If you find it, there is a future,
Honey's sweetness is gone in a moment. Wisdom goes one better: it gives you something ahead of you, a life that leads somewhere.
and your hope will not be cut off.
What you are waiting for will actually arrive. The picture is a cord that is not severed. Verse 20 says the opposite about the evil person.
חכמה · chokmah · skill
The wisdom that built the house in verse 3 now feeds the person.
נפש · nephesh · self, appetite
The whole living self. The word also means throat and appetite, which suits the honey picture.
מצא · matsa · find
To come upon or obtain. Wisdom has to be found; it is not automatic.
אחרית · acharit · what comes after
From achar, after. The outcome, the latter end. The line is almost the same as 23:18.
תקוה · tiqvah · hope, expectation
From a root meaning to wait. The same word means a cord in Joshua 2:18, which fits 'cut off'.
כרת · karat · cut
To cut down or sever.
Proverbs 24:15
You bad person, don't hide and wait to attack the home of someone who does right. Don't wreck the place where he rests.
Do not lurk, like a wicked man, near the home of the righteous;
A warning against preying on a decent person, watching his house for a chance to take it. The line may address the wicked directly or tell the student not to act like one.
do not wreck the place where he lies down.
The second line moves from watching to attacking. The home is called a resting place, a word for where a flock lies down, which shows how peaceful and defenceless the target is. Verse 16 gives the reason it will not work.
ארב · arab · lie in ambush
The verb of the gang in 1:11.
רשע · rasha · wicked, guilty
The person in the wrong, the standing opposite of the tsaddiq.
נוה · naveh · pasture, dwelling
First a shepherd's pasture, then any settled home.
צדיק · tsaddiq · in the right
The person who is in the right with God and with others.
שדד · shadad · devastate, plunder
The verb behind shod, the violence of verse 2.
רבץ · revets · place to lie down
From ravats, used of animals lying down, as in Psalm 23:2.
The Hebrew has the single word 'wicked' in the middle of the line. It can be an address ('you wicked person') or a description ('as a wicked person would'). NASB takes it as an address.
Proverbs 24:16
A person who does right may get knocked down seven times, but he gets up every time. When big trouble comes to bad people, they fall and stay down.
For a righteous person may fall seven times and get up again,
The reason for verse 15. Attacking the righteous is wasted effort, because he recovers. The falls here are blows and setbacks, not sins. Seven means as often as you like.
but the wicked are tripped up by a single disaster.
The contrast. The wicked have nothing underneath them, so when calamity comes they go down and no rising is mentioned.
שבע · sheva · seven
The number of completeness. It means again and again, not exactly seven.
נפל · naphal · fall
To fall down, here into misfortune. The verb returns in verse 17.
קום · qum · get up, stand
To rise or stand. In verse 22 it is disaster that rises.
רשע · rasha · wicked, guilty
Plural here. The attackers of verse 15 are the ones who end up on the ground.
כשל · kashal · stumble, collapse
To trip and go down.
רעה · ra'ah · evil, calamity
The word for evil, used for the harm that comes on a person.
Proverbs 24:17
Don't cheer when someone who is mean to you falls down. Don't be glad inside when he trips.
When your enemy falls, do not be glad,
Verse 16 said the wicked go down. Now the hearer is told how to react when the one who goes down is his own enemy: no celebrating.
and when he trips, do not let your heart cheer.
The second line reaches further in. It is not enough to keep a straight face; the private thrill is forbidden too. The two verbs, fall and stumble, are the same pair as in verse 16.
שמח · samach · be glad
The ordinary word for joy.
אויב · oyev · enemy
One who is hostile to you personally.
נפל · naphal · fall
The verb of verse 16.
לב · lev · heart, mind
The inner person. The command reaches the feeling, not only the behaviour.
כשל · kashal · stumble, collapse
The verb used of the wicked in verse 16.
Proverbs 24:18
God will see you being glad, and He won't like it. Then He may stop being angry with that person.
or the LORD will see it, and it will be evil in his eyes,
The reason for verse 17. God watches your reaction as well as your enemy's fall, and gloating offends him.
and he will turn his anger away from that person.
The fall was God's anger at work. If you gloat, he may lift it. The verse does not mean you should stay quiet to keep your enemy suffering. It means judgment is God's business, and your gloating is a wrong that he will not serve.
ראה · ra'ah · see
To see. God is an observer of how you take your enemy's trouble.
רע בעיניו · ra be'einav · evil in his eyes
Literally 'it is evil in his eyes'. The Hebrew is stronger than displeased: he judges it to be wrong.
שוב · shuv · turn back
The causative form used in verse 12 for repaying. Here God makes his anger turn back.
אף · aph · nose, anger
Literally the nose, where anger shows in hard breathing.
Proverbs 24:19
Don't get upset about people who do wrong, and don't wish you had what they have.
Do not get heated over those who do evil,
The opposite temptation to gloating. When bad people succeed, do not let it burn inside you. The line is the same as Psalm 37:1.
and do not envy the wicked.
The anger of the first line usually has envy underneath it, and this line names it. It repeats the command the chapter opened with in verse 1.
חרה · charah · burn, be heated
To burn with anger. The form means to heat yourself up, to fret.
רעע · ra'a · do harm
The participle of the verb in verse 8: those who do harm.
קנא · qana · burn with envy
The verb of verse 1.
רשע · rasha · wicked, guilty
The 'evil people' of verse 1 under their usual name.
Proverbs 24:20
Bad people have nothing good ahead of them. Their light will go out like a lamp that is blown out.
For the evil person has no future;
The reason not to envy him. However well he is doing now, nothing lies ahead for him. This is the exact reverse of the promise to the wise in verse 14.
the lamp of the wicked will go out.
A picture of the same thing. A lit lamp in a house means the family is alive and carrying on. His goes dark: his life and his line end.
אחרית · acharit · what comes after
The word of verse 14. Wisdom has an afterward; evil does not.
רע · ra · bad, evil
The plain word for bad, used here of a person.
נר · ner · lamp
A small clay oil lamp. The same line stands in 13:9.
רשע · rasha · wicked, guilty
Plural here, as in verses 16 and 19.
דעך · da'ak · be extinguished
To go out, as a flame does.
A house lamp was kept burning through the night. A dark house was an abandoned one, so a lamp going out became a common picture for a family dying out (Job 18:5-6).
Proverbs 24:21
My child, respect God and respect the king. Stay away from people who want to fight against them.
Fear the LORD, my son, and the king;
Two authorities are named together, God first and then the king who rules under him. Both have the power to punish, and both are owed respect.
do not get mixed up with those who want change.
The practical side. Keep away from people who are restless against these two authorities. Joining them means sharing what happens to them, which verse 22 describes.
ירא · yare · fear, revere
The verb behind yir'ah, the fear of the LORD in 1:7.
יהוה · YHWH · God's covenant name
The personal name of Israel's God. He stands ahead of the king in the sentence.
מלך · melek · king
The human ruler. 1 Peter 2:17 echoes the pairing: fear God, honour the king.
ערב · arav · mix, mingle
To mix yourself in with a group, to share its business.
שונים · shonim · those who change
From shanah, to change or differ. The Hebrew word is 'changers'; see the translation note for why versions render it differently.
The Hebrew word is shonim, literally 'those who change'. Most versions take it as people who want to change the order, that is, rebels or those given to change. NASB's 'those of high rank' rests on a different understanding of the word. The Greek version reads the line as 'do not disobey either of them'.
Proverbs 24:22
Big trouble will hit those people all of a sudden. Who knows how hard God and the king might punish them?
For their disaster will rise up without warning,
The reason for keeping clear. Ruin comes on such people suddenly, and anyone standing with them is caught in it.
and who knows what ruin the two of them can bring?
'The two of them' most naturally means the LORD and the king of verse 21. No one can predict how severe their punishment will be, so do not put yourself in its way.
איד · eyd · calamity
Ruin that overtakes a person, as in 1:26.
קום · qum · get up, stand
The verb of verse 16. There the righteous rise; here calamity rises against the rebel.
פתאם · pit'om · in an instant
Without warning.
פיד · pid · ruin, misfortune
A rare word for disaster, found also in Job 30:24 and 31:29.
שניהם · sheneihem · the two of them
Literally 'the ruin of the two of them'. It can mean ruin sent by the two (God and king) or ruin suffered by two groups.
Proverbs 24:23
Here are more sayings from wise people. A judge should never take sides unfairly.
These too come from the wise:
A new heading. It marks verses 23 to 34 as a short appendix to the 'words of the wise' that began at 22:17.
showing favouritism in a court case is not good.
The first saying. A judge who decides by who the person is, and not by what happened, is doing wrong. 'Not good' is deliberate understatement for something that corrupts justice.
חכם · chakam · wise person
Plural: the sages, a recognised group of teachers. The same phrase heads the collection at 22:17.
הכר פנים · hakker panim · recognise faces
Literally to recognise a face: to look at who is standing there and let that decide. The same phrase is in Deuteronomy 1:17 and Proverbs 28:21.
משפט · mishpat · legal decision
A court ruling, and the justice it should deliver.
Proverbs 24:24
If a judge tells a guilty person, you did nothing wrong, people everywhere will be angry with that judge.
Whoever tells the guilty, 'You are in the right,'
This shows what favouritism looks like in practice: a judge acquitting a man who did it. The two words are courtroom verdicts, guilty and innocent.
peoples will curse him and nations will denounce him.
The consequence. A false acquittal is not a private matter. Everyone depends on honest courts, so the anger is as wide as the public.
רשע · rasha · wicked, guilty
In court, the party in the wrong.
צדיק · tsaddiq · in the right
In court, the party in the right. To call the rasha tsaddiq is to reverse the verdict (17:15).
עם · am · people
Plural. The reaction is pictured on the widest scale.
קבב · qavav · curse
To utter a curse against someone. It is the verb used repeatedly of Balaam in Numbers 23.
זעם · za'am · denounce in anger
To be indignant and say so. Stronger than scolding: outraged condemnation.
Proverbs 24:25
But things go well for those who tell guilty people they are wrong. Good things will come to them.
But for those who convict him, things will go pleasantly,
The contrast with verse 24. Judges who tell the guilty man he is guilty, whatever his rank, will have a good life and a good name.
and a blessing of good will come on them.
In place of the curses of verse 24, a blessing. People bless the honest judge, and the saying implies that God does too.
יכח · yakach · correct, convict
To prove someone wrong and say so, in court or in private. It is the verb behind tokachat, correction.
נעם · na'em · be pleasant
The verb related to 'pleasant' in verse 4. Literally 'it will be pleasant for them'.
ברכה · berakah · blessing
The opposite of the curse in verse 24.
Proverbs 24:26
An honest answer is like a kiss from a true friend.
Whoever answers with straight words
After honest verdicts, honest answers in general. The words are 'straight': direct and truthful, with nothing bent to please the hearer.
gives a kiss on the lips.
The comparison. A kiss was the sign of real affection and loyalty. Telling someone the truth plainly is what a true friend does, even if flattery would feel warmer at the moment.
שוב · shuv · return (words)
Literally 'one who returns words'. It is the same causative form of shuv that means repay in verses 12 and 29.
נכח · nakoach · straight, honest
What lies straight in front: direct, upright, honest.
נשק · nashaq · kiss
To kiss, a sign of affection or loyalty between family and friends.
שפה · saphah · lip, speech
The lips that speak honestly are compared to lips that kiss.
A kiss was a normal greeting between relatives and close friends and a sign of loyalty. This is the only place in the Old Testament that speaks of a kiss on the lips.
Proverbs 24:27
First do your work outside and get your fields ready. After that, build your house.
Get your outdoor work in order,
Start with what produces income. In a farming society that was the land outside the village.
and make things ready for yourself in the field;
The same point said again with more detail: ploughing, planting, the things that will feed you. Have these running first.
after that, build your house.
Only then comes the house, which can also mean starting a family. The saying is about order: secure your livelihood before you spend on comfort or take on a household.
כון · kun · set firm, make ready
The verb of verse 3, where the house is 'established'. Here the work is set on a firm footing first.
מלאכה · mela'kah · work, business
One's occupation or business, the word used for work in the Sabbath command.
עתד · atad · make ready
A rare verb meaning to get something prepared.
שדה · sadeh · open field
Farmland outside the settlement. The lazy man's field appears in verse 30.
בנה · banah · build
The verb of verse 3. To build a house can also mean to found a family (Ruth 4:11).
בית · bayit · house, household
Building and household, as in verse 3.
Proverbs 24:28
Don't say bad things about your neighbour when there is no reason to. Don't tell lies about him.
Do not be a witness against your neighbour without cause,
Back to the courtroom. Do not give evidence against someone when there is no real ground for it, whether from spite or to gain something.
and do not mislead with your lips.
The second line names what such testimony does. It leads the court astray. The Hebrew is phrased as a question: would you really deceive with your lips?
עד · ed · witness
One who testifies in a case.
רע · rea · neighbour, fellow
Anyone you live alongside, the fellow citizen of the ninth commandment.
חנם · chinnam · for nothing
Without cause, the word used of the gang's attack in 1:11.
פתה · patah · mislead, entice
To make someone open and so lead them wrong. The root of peti, the naive person.
שפה · saphah · lip, speech
The lips that kiss with honesty in verse 26 here mislead.
Proverbs 24:29
Don't say, I will do to him just what he did to me. I will pay him back.
Do not say, 'What he did to me I will do to him;
This may be the motive behind the false witness of verse 28: he wronged me, so I will wrong him back in the same way. The saying forbids it.
I will pay the man back for what he has done.'
These are almost the exact words used of God in verse 12. The speaker is claiming God's role for himself. Repaying deeds belongs to the one who weighs hearts.
עשה · asah · do, make
The ordinary verb to do. It is used twice in the line: as he did, so I will do.
שוב · shuv · bring back, repay
The same form as in verse 12. There God is the subject; here a man puts himself in that place. Compare 20:22.
פעל · po'al · deed
The phrase 'according to his deed' is word for word from verse 12.
Proverbs 24:30
I walked past the field of a lazy man. I walked past the grapevines of someone with no sense.
I walked past the field of a lazy man,
The teacher tells a story from his own experience. The lesson that follows comes from looking at a real place.
past the vineyard of someone with no sense.
The owner is described a second time. Laziness is called a lack of heart, meaning a lack of judgment. He owns good land, so his problem is not poverty or bad luck.
עבר · avar · pass by, cross
To pass along. He was only walking by, and still he learned.
שדה · sadeh · open field
The field that verse 27 said must be made ready first.
עצל · atsel · sluggard
The sluggard, a stock figure in Proverbs (6:6-11; 26:13-16).
כרם · kerem · vineyard
A vineyard needs constant work: pruning, weeding, keeping the wall up.
חסר לב · chasar lev · lacking heart
Literally lacking heart. Since the heart is the seat of thinking, it means without judgment.
Proverbs 24:31
Weeds were growing all over it. Prickly plants covered the ground, and the stone wall had fallen down.
and look, thistles had come up all over it,
What he saw first. Nobody planted the thistles. Neglect is enough; land left alone does not stay neutral.
nettles covered its surface,
The same sight in other words. The ground itself can no longer be seen, so nothing useful can grow.
and its stone wall was torn down.
The last detail. The wall kept animals and thieves out. With it down, even what might have grown is unprotected. No one knocked it down; it was simply never repaired.
קמוש · qimmos · thistles, nettles
A prickly weed of waste ground. The same plant marks ruined places in Isaiah 34:13 and Hosea 9:6.
כסה · kasah · cover
To cover over, to hide from sight.
חרול · charul · nettles, wild growth
A second, different weed word, also in Job 30:7 and Zephaniah 2:9. English uses one word for both.
גדר אבנים · gader avanim · wall of stones
Gader is a boundary wall; even, plural avanim, is stone.
הרס · haras · tear down
To pull down or demolish. Wisdom builds (verse 3); neglect tears down.
Vineyards were enclosed by a dry-stone wall, built from stones cleared off the plot, to keep out grazing animals and foxes (Isaiah 5:2, 5). Such a wall needs regular repair, especially after winter rain.
Proverbs 24:32
I looked at it and thought hard about it. What I saw taught me a lesson.
I looked at it and took it to heart;
He did not just notice and walk on. He stopped and thought about what the sight meant. This is how wisdom is gained from ordinary life.
I saw, and I accepted the lesson.
The second line gives the result. He let another man's ruin correct him, which is cheaper than learning from his own.
חזה · chazah · gaze, perceive
To look with attention. It is the verb used for a prophet seeing a vision.
שית לב · shit lev · set the heart
Literally 'I set my heart'. The field's owner lacked heart (verse 30); the observer applies his.
ראה · ra'ah · see
The ordinary verb to see.
לקח · laqach · take, grasp
To take hold of. The same verb with musar is in 1:3.
מוסר · musar · discipline, correction
Correction. Here it is delivered by a field of weeds, not by a teacher.
Proverbs 24:33
A little more sleep, a little nap, a little rest with your hands folded.
A little sleep, a little dozing,
The lesson he drew. These may be the lazy man's own words. The key word is 'little': he never decided to ruin his vineyard, he only asked for a few more minutes.
a little folding of the hands to lie down,
Folded hands are hands that are not working. The third 'little' shows how the small delays pile up into a way of life.
מעט · me'at · a little
Said three times. The ruin is made of small amounts.
שנה · shenah · sleep
Sleep. Plural here: sleeps, one after another.
תנומה · tenumah · dozing
Light sleep, drowsiness.
חבק · chibbuq · clasping, embracing
From the verb to embrace. He hugs his own hands to himself when they should be at work.
שכב · shakav · lie down
To lie down.
Proverbs 24:34
Then being poor will walk up to your door like a stranger on the road. Having nothing will hit you like a robber you can't fight off.
and your poverty will come walking in,
The result of verse 33. Poverty is pictured as a person on the road who keeps coming and one day is at the door. It arrives by steps, just as the sleep came by littles.
and your want like a man with a shield.
The second picture is stronger. When need finally arrives it is like an armed man: you cannot argue with it or push it out. Verses 33 and 34 repeat 6:10-11 almost word for word.
ריש · resh · poverty
The noun related to rash, a poor person.
הלך · halak · walk, go about
The form means one who walks about. Some take it as a vagrant or highwayman, others simply as 'comes marching'.
מחסור · machsor · lack, want
From chaser, to lack, the root of the man 'lacking' heart in verse 30.