Proverbs 21:28

Pro 21:28 A false witness shall perish: but the man that heareth speaketh constantly.

Ver. 28. A false witness shall perish.] {See Trapp on "Pro 19:5"} The Scythians had a law that if any man did duo peccata contorquere, bind two sins together, a lie and an oath, he was to lose his head, because this was the way to take away all faith and truth among men.

But the man that heareth speaketh constantly.] He testifieth confidently what he knoweth assuredly; he is always also in the same tale, as Paul was in the plea to the chief captain, to Felix, to Festus, and to Agrippa. Not so Bellarmine. How oft doth that loud liar forget himself, and write contradictions? As for instance, in one place he affirmeth that it can by no means be proved by Scripture that any part of Scripture is the very word of God. Sed mendax redarguit seipsum, saith Pareus. {a} But the liar confutes himself by saying elsewhere, besides other arguments to evince the divinity of the canonical Scripture, it giveth sufficient testimony to itself. {b}

{a} Paraeus in Rev 22:16.

{b} Bel de Verb. Dei, lib. i. cap. 2.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 21:28. A false witness — Hebrew, עד כזבים, A witness of lies; one who is forward to swear or speak false things, or such things as he hath neither heard nor seen, but devised in his own heart; shall perish — Shall be severely punished, either by God or men, and shall be confounded and silenced, because none will for the future regard or credit his testimony. But the man that heareth — Before he speaks, and witnesseth nothing but what he has heard or seen, and knows to be true; speaketh constantly —

Doth not contradict himself, but always affirms the same thing. Or, as most interpreters render לנצח ידבר, speaketh, or may, or shall speak for ever. He dare speak freely and boldly; and, when liars are cut off, he lives, and is in a capacity of speaking and bearing witness again and again, as occasion requires, as long as he lives, and his testimony will be received.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He may boldly testify the truth that he hath heard.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Here is, 1. The doom of a false witness. He who, for favour to one side or malice to the other, gives in a false evidence, or makes an affidavit of that which he knows to be false, or at least does not know to be true, if it be discovered, his reputation will be ruined. A man may tell a lie perhaps in his haste; but he that gives a false testimony does it with deliberation and solemnity, and it cannot but be a presumptuous sin, and a forfeiture of man's credit. But, though he should not be discovered, he himself shall be ruined; the vengeance he imprecated upon himself, when he took the false oath, will come upon him. 2. The praise of him that is conscientious: He who hears (that is, obeys) the command of God, which is to speak every man truth with his neighbour, he who testifies nothing but what he has heard and knows to be true, speaks constantly (that is, consistently with himself); he is always in the same story; he speaks in finem - to the end; people will give credit to him and hear him out; he speaks unto victory; he carries the cause, which the false witness shall lose; he shall speak to eternity. What is true is true eternally. The lip of truth is established for ever.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(Compare Pro 19:5).

that heareth--or heeds instruction, and so grows wise.

speaketh constantly--or sincerely (compare Hab 1:5), and hence is believed (Pro 12:19; Jam 1:19).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(28) But the man that heareth (carefully, and repeats accurately) speaketh constantly (his testimony will live).—Comp., “he being dead yet speaketh,” Heb_11:4.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. that heareth] Either (1) who listens to the voice of duty and of conscience (ἀνὴρ ὑπήκοος, LXX.; vir obediens, Vulg.); or (2) who simply states in evidence what he has heard, “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” (qui non nisi quæ ipse audivit testatur Maurer). Comp. ὃ ἑωράκαμεν καὶ ἀκηκόαμεν ἀπαγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν, 1Jn_1:3.

constantly] Lit. for ever, so as to endure, R.V. marg. He will live on to speak, in contrast to the false witness who will perish. This preserves the parallelism better than shall speak unchallenged, (R.V. text), i.e. shall speak on, without being interrupted by cross-questioning, or objection, because his testimony will carry conviction, and be listened to with respectful silence.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A false witness shall perish,.... As witness he shall perish in his reputation, no credit shall be given him, he shall not be admitted an evidence, or a witness in any cause, being found a false one; and as a man, he shall be punished in body or estate by the civil magistrate, and his soul shall perish eternally, unless he has true repentance for his sin: or, a witness of lies shall perish (k) it may be applied to any teacher of false doctrine; and to the man of sin, and his followers, that speak lies in hypocrisy; everyone that loves and makes a lie shall die the second death, and be excluded from eternal happiness, Rev 21:8;

but the man that heareth; before he speaks, and speaks what he hears, and does not devise things himself; but witnesses the truth, and nothing else, to the best of his knowledge:

speaketh constantly; invariably and consistently, what is all of a piece, and by which he ah, des; or "continually", as Jarchi; or "for ever"; he is made use of as a witness as long as he lives, whenever there is occasion for him; the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "he speaks victory"; his testimony, being true and valid, carries the cause: it, nay be applied to a faithful teacher, who hearkens to the word of God, and speaks according to that; such an one speaks out, he doctrine of the word constantly, boldly, with certainty, without any hesitation or staggering.

(k) "testis mendaciorum", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis, Schultens.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Speaketh constantly - His testimony abides evermore who repeats simply what he has heard, whether from the lips of men or from the voice within, in contrast with “the false witness.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Obedient. Attentive, faithful witness, shall speak with triumph, or he who obeys the law, shall gain the victory over the devil, &c. (Philippians ii. 8.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

A false witness, Heb. a witness of lies; one who is forward to swear or speak false things, or such things as he hath not heard nor learned from others, nor seen, but devised in his own heart.

Shall perish; shall be severely punished, either by God or men, and shall be confounded and silenced, because none will for the future regard or credit his testimony. The man that heareth; he who hears before he speaks, and witnesseth nothing but what he hath heard or seen, and knows to be true.

Speaketh constantly; doth not contradict himself, but always affirmeth the same thing. Or, as most other interpreters render the words, speaketh (or, may speak, dare speak freely and boldly) for ever; when liars are cut off, he lives, and is in a capacity of speaking and bearing witness again and again, as occasion requires, as long as he lives, and his testimony will be received.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. A false witness — A witness of lies; one who testifies falsely.

Shall perish — יאבד, (yobhedh.) It is possible that this verb is used here in its primitive sense, shall lose himself, namely, by wandering.

But the man that heareth — Who has heard attentively the words spoken, and testified accordingly.

Speaketh — Shall be allowed to speak freely, a privilege not conceded to the “false witness,” who, because of prevarications, is stopped. Compare Pro_12:17; Pro_19:5; Pro_19:9. “Human testimony is one of the chief agencies of society. Without it the social organization could not be sustained, nor its machinery kept in motion. Much of what must necessarily be known in conducting the affairs of life we owe to the veracity of witnesses. Hence the many precepts in this book respecting it, enforcing the obligation of a strict observance of the ninth commandment in the disclosure.” — Conant. Compare Exo_20:16.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the first hemistich, see Pro_6:19 Pro_19:5, Pro_19:9. Shall perish. His testimony is worthless, and both he and it come to nothing. The man that heareth speaketh constantly; Vulgate, vir obediens; Septuagint, Anhkoov fulassomenov lalhsei , "An obedient man will speak guardedly." "The man that heareth" is one who is attentive, who listens before he speaks, and reports only what he has heard. Such a one will speak "for continuance," so that what he says is never falsified, or silenced, or refuted. Vulgate, loquetur victoriam. And so Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, eiv nikov . Revised Version, unchallenged. The expression thus rendered is lanetsach, which means, in Hebrew at any rate, in perpetuum, "for continuance." But St. Jerome"s rendering has been much used by the Fathers, who have drawn therefrom lessons of obedience. Thus St. Augustine, "In Psalm.," 70., "Sola obedientia tenet palmam, sola inobedientia invenit poenam." St. Gregory, "Moral," 35:28, "An obedient man in truth speaketh of victories, because, when we humbly submit ourselves to the voice of another, we overcome ourselves in our heart" (Oxford transl.). See a long dissertation on obedience in the note of Corn a Lapide on this passage of Proverbs.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heareth - He witnesses nothing but what he has heard or seen. Constantly - Always affirms the same thing.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

28 A false witness shall perish;

But he who heareth shall always speak truth.

The lxx translate 28b by ἀνὴρ δὲ φυλασσόμενος λαλήσει. Cappellus supposes that they read לנצר for לנצה, which, however, cannot mean "taking care." Hitzig further imagines שׂמח for שׁמע, and brings out the meaning: "the man that rejoiceth to deliver shall speak." But where in all the world does נצר mean "to deliver"? It means, "to guard, preserve;" and to reach the meaning of "to deliver," a clause must be added with מן, as מרע. When one who speaks lies (עד כּזבים), and a man who hears (אישׁ שּׁומע, plene, and with the orthophonic Dagesh), are contrasted, the former is one who fancifully or malevolently falsifies the fact, and the latter is one who before he speaks hears in order that he may say nothing that he has not surely heard. As לב שׁמע, Kg1 3:9, means an obedient heart, so here אישׁ שּׁומע means a man who attentively hears, carefully proves. Such an one will speak לנצח, i.e., not: according to the truth, and not: for victory (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, εἰς νῖκος), i.e., so that accomplishes it (Oetinger); for the Heb. נצח has neither that Arab. nor this Aram. signification; but, with the transference of the root meaning of radiating or streaming over, to time, continuous existence (vid., Orelli, Synonyma der Zeit und Ewigkeit, pp. 96-97), thus: he will speak for continuance, i.e., either: without ever requiring to be silent, or, which we prefer: so that what he says stands; on the contrary, he who testifies mere fictions, i.e., avers that they are truth, is destroyed (28a = Pro 19:9, cf. 5): he himself comes to nothing, since his testimonies are referred to their groundlessness and falsity; for שׁקר אין לו רגלים, the lie has no feet on which it can stand, it comes to nothing sooner or later.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

The last clause of the proverb seems to fix and restrict the first. A false witness often becomes so by the culpable habit of thoughtlessly repeating, without examination or certain knowledge. A man may thus do very serious injury to his neighbor’s character or property. It proves a very loose conscience, and an utter want of that "charity, which covers," instead of exposing faults.†1 It is "rejoicing in iniquity," rather than "rejoicing in truth."†2 This false witness will certainly be punished by God;†3 and even ’by man he will be confounded and silenced. No one for the future will regard or receive his testimony.’†4 But the man that heareth — the true witness who speaketh only what he heareth, and is fully acquainted with — he speaketh constantly — to conviction. He holds to his testimony and never contradicts himself. He ’speaks the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.’ His word, even if it had been slighted at first, gains more and more credit and authority, when the false witness shall have perished. (Pro 12:19 .)

Thus "the faithful and true witness" declared for himself and his servants — "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen."†5 The Apostles, to give solid weight to their testimony, would fill up the vacancy in their body only from among those, "who had companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them" (Act 1:21-22 ); as if those only, who had heard, would speak constantly. They claimed authority to their commission, as having heard from the mouth of God, and therefore being assured of its divine warrant.†6 And indeed this constitutes the main power of testimony. A feeble and hesitating tone is spiritless and ineffective. (2Co 1:17 .) A decided accredited presentment of truth — speaking constantly — commands conviction. "We believe, and therefore we speak." (2Co 4:13 .)

Footnotes:

†1 Pro 10:12.

†2 Contrast 1Co 13:1-13 .

†3 Pro 19:5, Pro 19:9 .

†4 Poole in loco.

†5 Rev 3:14. Joh 3:11 .

†6 1Co 1:23 ; 1Co 15:3-4 . 2Pe 1:16-18 . 1Jn 1:1-3 .

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

v. 28. A false witness shall perish, Pro 19:5-9; but the man that heareth speaketh constantly, being modest and lending a ready ear to instruction, he is able to render reliable testimony, not being obliged to cease for uncertainty or a muddled condition of his mind.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

but an obedient man who obeys what is written in the Torah: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

forever Always.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.