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a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.
Proverbs 6:19 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.
  • KJV A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
  • BSB a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
  • NKJV A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
  • NASB A false witness who declares lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

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

God hates a lying witness and anyone who stirs up conflict among brothers. False testimony and division are especially detestable.

Overview

The list climaxes with the false witness who pours out lies and the one who sows discord among kin. Sowing strife is the seventh and weightiest item, emphasizing how God values truthfulness and unity. The New Testament likewise calls believers to honest speech and peacemaking within God's family.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Prov 19:5A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free.
  • Prov 6:14in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.
  • Jas 3:18Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
  • Prov 19:9A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.
  • Ps 27:12Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.
  • Deut 19:16–20If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,
  • Prov 25:18A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.
  • Jas 3:14–16But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
  • Prov 12:17He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.
  • Prov 22:10Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.
  • Prov 26:20For lack of wood a fire goes out. Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.
  • 2 Tim 2:23But refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they generate strife.
  • Acts 6:13and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.
  • 3 Jn 1:9–10I wrote to the assembly, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, doesn’t accept what we say.
  • 1 Kgs 21:10–15Set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then carry him out, and stone him to death.”
  • Prov 16:28A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.
  • Exod 20:16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
  • Matt 26:59Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death;
  • Ps 35:11Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
  • Exod 23:1“You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
  • Matt 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 6:19YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 6:19 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.