A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.
Parallel Translations
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A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.
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A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
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A false witness shall not be unpunished; and he that breatheth forth lies shall perish.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Proverbs 19:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Proverbs 19:5 A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free.
- Revelation 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- Jeremiah 28:15-17 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’ ” So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
- 2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
- Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Isaiah 9:15-17 The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Jeremiah 23:25-32 “I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart? They intend to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they each tell his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?” says Yahweh. “Isn’t my word like fire?” says Yahweh; “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says Yahweh, “who each steal my words from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets,” says Yahweh, “who use their tongues, and say, ‘He says.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams,” says Yahweh, “who tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting; yet I didn’t send them or command them. They don’t profit this people at all,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 29:31-32 “Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;” therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. He will not have a man to dwell among this people. He won’t see the good that I will do to my people,” says Yahweh, “because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.” ’ ”
- Ezekiel 13:22 Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- 1 Timothy 4:1-2 But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 19:9 A false witness shall not be unpunished,…
Pro 19:9 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and [he that] speaketh lies shall perish.
Ver. 9. A false witness, &c.] See Pro 19:5.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This was said before, Pro 19:5, and seems to…
This was said before, Pro 19:5, and seems to be here repeated, either for its great use and weight in human society, and to show how much God abhors such practices; or to show the pernicious effects of this sin, and consequently of all other sins, one eminent kind being put for all the rest, and this in opposition to the good effects of wisdom or piety, which he declared in the foregoing verse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, 1. A repetition of what was said…
Here is, 1. A repetition of what was said before (Pro 19:5), for we have need to be again and again warned of the danger of the sin of lying and false-witness-bearing, since nothing is of more fatal consequence. 2. An addition to it in one word; there it was said, He that speaks lies shall not escape, and intimated that he shall be punished. Here it is said, His punishment shall be such as will be his destruction: he shall perish; the lies he forged against others will be his own ruin. It is a damning destroying sin.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain A false witness shall not be unpunished,.... See Gill…
A false witness shall not be unpunished,.... See Gill on Pro 19:5;
and he that speaketh lies shall perish; or "be lost", shall be undone for ever; he shall not enter into the holy city, but have his part in the lake of fire: they that speak lies in hypocrisy, doctrinal ones, and are given up to believe and profess them, such shall be damned, Th2 2:11.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain "A God of truth, and without iniquity; just and…
"A God of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is he — A God that cannot lie — Faithful and True." (Deu 32:4 . Tit 1:2 .) Such is the revealed character of Jehovah! We cannot wonder at the repeated denunciations against deceit. So gross a dishonor is it to his unchangeable attribute! One addition is here made to the former sentence. (Pro 19:5 .) The punishment shall not only be certain — "he that speaketh lies shall not escape" — "but it shall be utter ruin — He shall perish."†1 "Lies and desolation" are linked together. (Hos 12:1 .) "I will be a swift witness against false swearers — and them that fear not me — saith the LORD of Hosts." (Mal 3:5 .)
Footnotes:
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†1 Jer 28:15-17; Jer 29:31-32 . 2Pe 2:1-3 . Rev 22:15 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. A false witness shall not be unpunished —…
9. A false witness shall not be unpunished — This is the same as Pro_19:5, except one word, shall perish, or be lost, as in a wilderness. A vivid metaphor to represent a witness who becomes bewildered in the meshes of his falsehood under cross examination. in Pro_19:5 there is a meiosis in both members.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. shall perish] We have, shall not escape, in…
9. shall perish] We have, shall not escape, in the otherwise identical proverb of Pro_19:5 above.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A repetition of ver. 5, except that shall perish…
A repetition of ver. 5, except that shall perish is substituted for "shall not escape." Septuagint, "And whosoever shall kindle mischief shall perish by it." The Greek translators have rendered the special reference in the original to slanderers and liars by a general term, and introduced the notion of Divine retribution, which is not definitely expressed in the Hebrew.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 9. A false witness shall not be unpunished,…
v. 9. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish. Cf v. 5.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 A false witness will not go unpunished
A false witness will not go unpunished
This can be written in positive and active form. See how you translated this phrase in Proverbs 19:5. AT: "They will certainly punish a false witness" (See: Double Negatives and Active or Passive)
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breathes out lies
This figure of speech uses "breathes" to refer to lying constantly. See how you translated this phrase in Proverbs 6:19. AT: "constantly lies" (See: Idiom)
It is not fitting
"It is not right"
luxury
condition of wealth and pleasure
much less for a slave
The words "it is" and "fitting" are understood from the previous phrase. They can be repeated. AT: "it is much less fitting for a slave" or "it is even worse for a slave" (See: Ellipsis)
translationWords
corrupt witness
breath
perish
fool
servant
rule
prince
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 19:9 The reference to a false witness (see also…
19:9 The reference to a false witness (see also 19:5) reminds us of the ninth commandment (Exod 20:16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.