A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.
Parallel translations
- KJV A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.
- BSB Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
- NKJV A man who bears false witness against his neighbor Is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.
- NASB Like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow Is a person who gives false testimony against his neighbor.
- NLT Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.
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
False testimony against a neighbor is as deadly as a weapon. Lies that harm others are acts of violence.
Overview
By comparing the false witness to a club, sword, and arrow, the proverb exposes how lethal slander can be (Exod 20:16; Jas 3:6). Words have power to destroy a person's life and reputation. Such deceit stands utterly opposed to Christ, who is the truth (John 14:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 57:4My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
- Prov 12:18There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.
- Jer 9:8Their tongue is a deadly arrow. It speaks deceit. One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart, he lays wait for him.
- Jas 3:6And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.
- Jer 9:3“They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood; and they have grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know me,” says Yahweh.
- Ps 120:3–4What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue?
- Prov 24:28Don’t be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.
- Ps 140:3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips. Selah.
- Ps 52:2Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
- Ps 55:21His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 25:18 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.