Proverbs 25:9

Pro 25:9 Debate thy cause with thy neighbour [himself]; and discover not a secret to another:

Ver. 9. Debate thy cause with thy neighbour, &c.] What shall I do then, may some say, if I may not right myself by law? You may, saith he, so you do it deliberately, and have first privately debated the cause out of desire of agreement, and moved for a compromise. See Mat 18:15.

And discover not the secret of another.] Merely to be revenged on him for some supposed injury. There are those who in their rage care not what they disclose to the prejudice of another. Charity chargeth the contrary. {1Co 13:1-13} It claps a plaster on the sore, and then covers it with her hand, as surgeons use to do, that the world may be never the wiser.

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.

25:9-10 See 11:13; 20:19.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(Compare Mat 5:25, Margin).

secret--that is, of your opponent, for his disadvantage, and so you be disgraced, not having discussed your difficulties with him.

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

Verse 9. Debate thy cause with thy neighbour] Take the advice of friends. Let both sides attend to their counsels; but do not tell the secret of thy business to any. After squandering your money away upon lawyers, both they and the judge will at last leave it to be settled by twelve of your fellow citizens! O the folly of going to law! O the blindness of men, and the rapacity of unprincipled lawyers!

On this subject I cannot but give the following extract from Sir John Hawkins's Life of Dr. Johnson, which he quotes from Mr. Selwin, of London: "A man who deliberates about going to law should have,

1. A good cause;

2. A good purse;

3. A good skilful attorney;

4. Good evidence;

5. Good able counsel;

6. A good upright judge;

7. A good intelligent jury; and with all these on his side, if he have not,

8. Good luck, it is odds but he miscarries in his suit." O the glorious uncertainty of the law!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) Debate thy cause with thy neighbour.—As our Lord says, “If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone” (Mat_18:15). Or it may mean, “If you must go to law with another, do not drag others into the matter by disclosing their secrets in order to help your cause.

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

9. a secret to] Rather, the secret of, A.V. marg. and R.V.

The warning would seem to be against being betrayed by a litigious spirit into dishonourable conduct, and incurring the indelible shame of betraying confidence through eagerness to win your suit.

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.

Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself,.... Between thee and him alone; lay the matter before him, and hear what he has to say for himself, by which you will better judge of the nature of the cause; try to compromise things, and make up the difference between you, which is much better than to commence a lawsuit; at least such a step should be taken first; see Mat 5:25;

and discover not a secret to another; if the thing in controversy is a secret, do not acquaint another person with it; keep it among yourselves, if the affair can be made up without bringing it into a court of judicature; besides, by communicating it to others, you may have bad counsel given, and be led to take indirect methods: or, "the secret of another", or, "another secret do not discover" (b); if you know anything scandalous and reproachful of your neighbour and his family, you are contending with, which does not concern the cause in hand, do not divulge it, as persons from a spirit of revenge are apt to do, when they are quarrelling or litigating a point with each other.

(b) "secretum alterius", Pagninus, Montanus; "arcanum alterius", Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Michaelis, Schultens, so Cocceius, Gejerus; "arcanum aliud", Munster; "alienum", Syriac version.

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

An anticipation of the highest standard of ethical refinement Mat 18:15, but with a difference. Here the motive is prudential, the risk of shame, the fear of the irretrievable infamy of the betrayer of secrets. In the teaching of Christ the precept rests upon the divine authority and the perfect example.

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

Stranger. It sometimes happens that friends fall out; but if either disclose the secret of the other, he will be deemed infamous. (Calmet) (Josephus, contra Apion 2.) --- St. Ambrose says of his brother Satyrus, "though we had all things in common, yet the secret of our friends was not so."

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).

Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; if thou hast any quarrel with him, first try to compose it by private discourse with him. Compare Mat 5:25; 18:15; Luk 12:58.

Discover not a secret; any secret. Let no heat of contention provoke thee to divulge any of his secret counsels committed to thy trust, or to reproach him with any of his secret faults, as is usual in lawsuits and other contentions. Or, the secret; any secret difference between thee and him, which therefore is fittest to be ended secretly between you, and not to be imparted to any other.

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

9, 10. Debate thy cause… neighbour — Reason with him — plead with him.

Discover not a secret — Do not suffer any angry feeling against thy neighbour, growing out of a contest, to induce thee to take vengeance on him by causelessly revealing a secret to his injury. This would be dishonourable, and get thee a bad name. “Make no third person a party to difficulties that can be settled between thee and him.” — Conant. Comp. Mat_18:15.

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

Vers. 9, 10. A tetrastich without parallelism, connected with the preceding maxim.

Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself. (Mat_18:15; see on ver. 8) If you have any quarrel with a neighbour, or are drawn into a controversy with him, deal with him privately in a friendly manner. And discover not a secret to another; rather, the secret of another. Do not bring in a third party, or make use of anything entrusted to you by another person, or of which you have become privately informed, in order to support your cause.

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

Debate - If thou hast any quarrel with him, first try to compose it by private discourse with him. Discover not - Let not heat of contention provoke thee to divulge any of his secrets committed to thy trust.

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

your case

"your disagreement"

do not disclose another's secret

"do not share your neighbor's secret with other people"

an evil report about you that cannot be silenced

Here "evil report" refers to harmful things that the person will tell others. The phrase "cannot be silenced" can be stated in active form. AT: "you will not be able to stop him from telling other people harmful things about you" or "he will tell people evil things about you and you will never have a good reputation again" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

neighbor

shame

evil

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Have your quarrel with your friend But if, perforce, you must quarrel and debate with your friend, in any event, do not divulge another’s secret Do not mention to him the disgrace of his ancestors, which not everyone knows, and you are revealing it.

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.