What Does Proverbs 19:9 Mean in the King James?
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
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
The false witness and the liar meet at the same end: the false word used against another becomes the speaker’s own loss.
THE MEANING
False testimony and spoken lies do not remain outside the speaker’s life; they lead toward being lost. The verse holds both the person who bears false witness and the person who speaks lies under one verdict: neither stands beyond consequence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A lie only harms its target, leaving the person who speaks it untouched.
THE ROOT
יֹאבֵד
yōʾvēd
GROWS FROM
אבד
ʾ-b-d
To perish, be lost, or be destroyed.
“shall perish” in this verse is yōʾvēd. English “perish” can sound only like a sentence imposed from outside. אבד (abad, perish or be lost) also carries the sense of loss: the liar’s end is not only a penalty but a state of being lost.
ALSO GROWS
ʾābad: To perish or be lost.
אָבַד
This verb gives the verse’s final word: the speaker of lies perishes.
ʾăvēdāh: A lost thing or loss.
אֲבֵדָה
This branch makes the root’s connection to being lost concrete.
ʾăvaddôn: Destruction.
אֲבַדּוֹן
The root reaches beyond disappearance to destruction.
כְּזָבִים
kəzāḇîm
GROWS FROM
כזב
k-z-b
To lie, be false, or prove false.
The Hebrew uses כזב (kazav, lie) for what is spoken, while the earlier phrase uses שקר (sheqer, falsehood) for the witness. English groups both under falsehood, but the verse gives testimony and spoken lies distinct roots, and brings both to one end.
ALSO GROWS
kāzāḇ: A lie or falsehood.
כָּזָב
This noun is the singular form of the lies named in the verse.
kāzab: To lie or be false.
כָּזַב
The verb shows the action behind the false words.
עֵד שְׁקָרִים
ʿēd šəqārîm witness
GROWS FROM
שקר
š-q-r
Falsehood or deception; as a verb, to deal falsely.
“false witness” in this verse is ʿēd šəqārîm witness. The Hebrew calls him a witness of falsehoods: the falsehoods are the substance he testifies to. The next clause switches to כזב (kazav, lie), extending the warning from testimony against another to lies spoken more broadly.
ALSO GROWS
šeqer: Falsehood or a lie.
שֶׁקֶר
This noun names what the witness carries into testimony.
šāqar: To lie or deal falsely.
שָׁקַר
The verb branch connects falsehood to the act of bearing false witness.
THE PATTERN
Falsehood destabilizes life at every level: public testimony becomes unjust, lying speech cannot endure, and the speaker’s claimed walk contradicts truth.
Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:THE THREAD
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.Psalm 5:6 uses כזב (kazav, lie) for “leasing,” the same lie-root as Proverbs 19:9, and אבד (abad, perish or be lost) for “destroy,” the same loss-root behind “shall perish.” The two roots appear together there too: the falsehood is spoken, and destruction is its end.
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