What Does Proverbs 24:28 Mean in the King James?
Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
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
A baseless accusation and persuasive speech are joined here: the lips that make a claim convincing complete the harm to the neighbor.
THE MEANING
Your words now shape whether a neighbor is seen clearly or made the target of a claim without grounds. The verse links the accusation with the way it is delivered, exposing how persuasive speech can give falsehood its force.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a smooth accusation becomes true or harmless simply because it is presented as testimony.
THE ROOT
עֵד
ʿēd
GROWS FROM
עוּד
ʿ-w-d
The root carries the sense of repeating or affirming; עֵד means witness.
A witness is speech that stands behind a claim, not a free-floating opinion. Here, testimony without grounds and lips that entice are linked as one breach against the neighbor.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēd: Witness
עֵד
The word in the verse names someone whose claim bears weight.
ʿēdût: Testimony or witness
עֵדוּת
It shows the witness extending into the statement or record that is carried forward.
hēʿîd: Testify
הֵעִיד
The verb makes clear that witnessing is an act of asserting a claim.
וַהֲפִתִּיתָ
wa-hăpittîtā
GROWS FROM
פתה
p-t-h
To entice, persuade, or lure.
“deceive” in this verse is wa-hăpittîtā. The verb carries the shade of enticing or persuading: a lie can work by drawing the listener into it. That places the lips inside the act itself, not merely as a channel for a separate false claim.
ALSO GROWS
pātâ: Entice or persuade
פָּתָה
This is the root verb behind the verse’s warning about deceptive speech.
petî: A simple or easily persuaded person
פֶּתִי
This branch shows how enticement can draw someone into accepting what is said.
THE PATTERN
Speech protects a neighbor when claims have grounds and ordinary words are truthful.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.THE THREAD
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.The Hebrew עֵד (ʿēd, witness) links this warning directly to the command. Proverbs adds that baseless testimony can do its harm through lips that entice belief.
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