The first to speak in court sounds right— until the cross-examination begins.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who pleads his cause first seems right; until another comes and questions him.
- KJV He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
- BSB The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.
- NKJV The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him.
- NASB The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The first to argue his case sounds convincing until challenged. Hearing only one side gives a misleading impression of the truth.
Overview
This proverb warns that whoever pleads his cause first seems right until another comes to cross-examine him. It commends careful, impartial investigation before reaching a verdict, hearing all sides. The principle undergirds just judgment and guards against being swayed by a single persuasive voice, reflecting God's concern for truth and fairness in every dispute.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Prov 18:13He who gives answer before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.
- Acts 24:12–13In the temple they didn’t find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the synagogues, or in the city.
- 2 Sam 19:24–27Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither groomed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.
- 2 Sam 16:1–3When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
- Acts 24:5–6For we have found this man to be a plague, an instigator of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 18:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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