Proverbs 25:8
in Proverbs 25do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Go not forth hastily to strive, Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, When thy neighbor hath put thee to shame.
KJV
Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
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This verse in Proverbs 25
Commentary
7 notes on this verseGo not forth hastily to strive - לרב lerib, to enter into a lawsuit. Keep from this pit or the bottomless deep, unless urged by the direst necessity.
This site's exposition
do not bring hastily to court
on Proverbs 25:8-10
The command "do not bring hastily to court" warns against rushing into a dispute before knowing how it will end. "Argue your case with your neighbor" keeps the quarrel between the two parties. A secret told to a third person can bring infamy that will "never go away."
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
What your eyes have seen, do not quickly bring forth in a quarrel, etc. And in the Gospel, the Lord: If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him between you and him alone, etc. (Matt. XVIII)
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Go not forth hastily to strive,....
We must not be greedy of that any more than of pleasure, because, for men to search their own glory, to court applause and covet to make themselves popular, is not their glory, but their shame; every one will laugh at them for it; and the glory which is so courted is not glory when it is got, for it is really no true honour to a man.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(Compare Pr 3:30). lest . . . shame--lest you do what you ought not, when shamed by defeat, or "lest thou art shut out from doing any thing." 9, 10. (Compare Mt 5:25, Margin). secret--that is, of your opponent, for his disadvantage, and so you be disgraced, not having discussed your difficulties with him.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The general meaning is: It is dangerous to plunge into litigation. At all times, there is the risk of failure, and, if we fail, of being at the mercy of an irritated adversary. Without the italics, the clause may be rendered, “lest thou do something (i. e., something humiliating and vexatious) at the end thereof.”
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תֵּצֵ֥א | tetze' | you go forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לָרִ֗ב | lariv | to contest a lawsuit | H7378 → | 67 times |
| מַ֫הֵ֥ר | maher | quickly | H4118 → | |
| פֶּ֣ן | pen | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תַּ֭עֲשֶׂה | taaseh | will you do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בְּאַחֲרִיתָ֑הּ | beacharitah | at end its | H319 → | 61 times |
| בְּהַכְלִ֖ים | behakhlim | when puts to shame | H3637 → | |
| אֹתְךָ֣ | ʾotekha | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֵעֶֽךָ׃ | reekha | neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תֵּצֵ֥אyou go forth
tetze'H3318 →1067 times
לָרִ֗בto contest a lawsuit
larivH7378 →67 times
מַ֫הֵ֥רquickly
maherH4118 →
פֶּ֣ןlest
penH6435 →133 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
תַּ֭עֲשֶׂהwill you do
taasehH6213 →2628 times
בְּאַחֲרִיתָ֑הּat end its
beacharitahH319 →61 times
בְּהַכְלִ֖יםwhen puts to shame
behakhlimH3637 →
אֹתְךָ֣<obj.> you
ʾotekhaH853 →10935 times
רֵעֶֽךָ׃neighbor your
reekhaH7453 →188 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
Proverbs 14:12There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
- Matthew 7:13–14
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
- Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel.
- Galatians 6:3
If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
- Luke 13:24
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.
- Proverbs 16:25
Through
Matthew 5:25Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and…
it leads to
- Luke 12:58–59
Make every effort to reconcile with your adversary while you are on your way to the magistrate. Otherwise, he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to…
- Hebrews 3:13
But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
- Luke 14:31–32
Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
- Luke 12:58–59
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; 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.