Proverbs 19:28
in Proverbs 19A corrupt witness mocks justice, and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A worthless witness mocketh at justice; And the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity.
KJV
An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ungodly witness - literally, “Witness of Belial,” “worthless,” “untruthful.” Devoureth iniquity - Seizes on it eagerly, as a dainty, lives on it.
This site's exposition
He who assaults his father
on Proverbs 19:26-29
He who assaults his father or evicts his mother is named "a son who brings shame and disgrace." A corrupt witness mocks justice and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity. The chapter closes where the book often does, with judgments prepared for mockers and "beatings for the backs of fools."
This site's exposition
A corrupt witness mocks justice
Albert Barnes renders the corrupt witness as a witness of Belial, worthless and untruthful. The wicked mouth seizes iniquity eagerly, he explains, like a dainty it lives on. Such a witness mocks justice.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
An ungodly witness scorneth judgment,.... Or, "a witness of Belial" (z). A false witness is not awed by the place of judgment where he is; nor by the judge before whom he is; nor by the law, the rule of judgment, nor by the punishment of perjury; he scorns all these, and scoffs at them, and proceeds in bearing a false testimony: or he covers that which is right and just, and eludes judgment by specious and sophistic arguments and pretences.
The unbelief of man shall not make God's threatenings of no effect; those that devour iniquity swallow the hook with the bait. The civil magistrate has judgments prepared for scorners, for otherwise he would bear the sword in vain; but if he be remiss, and connive at sin, yet God's judgments slumber not; they are prepared, Matt. xxv.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
ungodly witness--(Compare Margin), one false by bad principles (compare Pr 6:12). scorneth judgment--sets at naught the dictates of justice. devoureth--literally, "swalloweth," as something delightful.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֵ֣ד | ʾed | a witness of | H5707 → | 70 times |
| בְּ֭לִיַּעַל | beliyaal | worthlessness | H1100 → | 27 times |
| יָלִ֣יץ | yalitz | he mocks | H3887 → | 28 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֑ט | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| וּפִ֥י | ufi | and [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| יְבַלַּע־ | yevala'- | it swallows up | H1104 → | 49 times |
| אָֽוֶן׃ | ʾaven | wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
עֵ֣דa witness of
ʾedH5707 →70 times
בְּ֭לִיַּעַלworthlessness
beliyaalH1100 →27 times
יָלִ֣יץhe mocks
yalitzH3887 →28 times
מִשְׁפָּ֑טjustice
mishpatH4941 →422 times
וּפִ֥יand [the] mouth of
ufiH6310 →498 times
רְ֝שָׁעִ֗יםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
יְבַלַּע־it swallows up
yevala'-H1104 →49 times
אָֽוֶן׃wickedness
ʾavenH205 →77 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 34:7What man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water?
it leads to
- Job 15:16
how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
- Deuteronomy 29:19
because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This…
- Proverbs 1:22
“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
- Job 15:16
Through
Job 15:16how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
it leads to
- Job 34:7
What man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water?
- Psalms 53:3
All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
- Titus 3:3
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Romans 3:9–19
What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.
- Job 34:7
Through
1 Kings 21:13And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 9:26
‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then,…
- 2 Kings 9:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.