What Does Proverbs 14:5 Mean in the King James?
A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Hebrew makes the false witness’s act and output grow from the same כזב (kzb, falsehood) root, while the faithful witness rests on אמן (aman, firmness).
THE MEANING
A witness’s words expose what holds them: faithful testimony stays firm, while false testimony gives falsehood a voice. The verse speaks now wherever your account of another person’s life can preserve what is true or distort it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that a false statement is only a mistake in wording: testimony reveals the speaker’s nature, and false witness multiplies the lie in speech.
THE ROOT
אֱמוּנִים
emunim
GROWS FROM
אמן
aman: firm, steady; something that holds.
אֱמוּנִים (emunim, faithful/steady) grows from אמן (aman, firm/steady), the same seed behind trust and confirmation. The witness’s reliability is pictured as a steadiness that carries through into speech.
ALSO GROWS
emunah: trust, steadfastness
אֱמוּנָה
Trust rests on what proves steady, showing the firmness beneath the witness’s faithfulness.
amen: firm; truly; so be it
אָמֵן
Amen confirms something as firm, echoing the witness whose words hold.
יְכַזֵּב
yekhazev
GROWS FROM
כזב
kazav: lie, falsify, or prove false.
“lie / lies” in this verse is yekhazev. The repeated כזב (kzb, falsehood) seed ties the act of lying to the lies that are spoken: one root names both what the witness does and what the witness produces. English separates the verb and noun, while Hebrew makes their shared source audible.
ALSO GROWS
yekhazev: will lie
יְכַזֵּב
This is the verb in the first half: the faithful witness does not perform this act.
kezavim: lies, falsehoods
כְּזָבִים
The second half turns the same root into the witness’s spoken output.
THE PATTERN
Testimony carries the character of its source: steady words preserve truth, while false testimony gives distortion a voice.
He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.THE THREAD
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.The Hebrew word behind “sure” is נֶאֱמָנָה (ne’emanah, firm/faithful), from אמן (aman), the same root beneath “faithful” here. Psalm 19 joins that firmness to testimony itself, showing how a steady source makes its witness trustworthy.
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