Proverbs 3:29
in Proverbs 3Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Devise not evil against thy neighbor, Seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
KJV
Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
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This verse in Proverbs 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseDevise not evil against thy neighbour,.... Or, "plough not evil" (i); turn not up thy heart to find evil against thy neighbour, as the earth is turned up by the plough; see Hos 10:
This site's exposition
Do not withhold good from the deserving
on Proverbs 3:27-30
“Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act” turns from inward trust to a neighbor's claim. The excuse “Come back tomorrow and I will provide” is forbidden, delay posing as future kindness when the means are at hand.
This site's exposition
Do not devise evil against your neighbor
Devise translates a verb for plowing, and John Gill pictures the heart turned over like soil to plant harm against a neighbor. Hosea 10:13 uses the same figure of plowing wickedness and reaping injustice. The neighbor lives beside you in trust.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Cursed be he that smites his neighbour secretly. It is a most base ungrateful thing, if our neighbours have a good opinion of us, that we will do them no harm, and we thence take advantage to cheat and injure them.
5 Trust in the L ORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. We are here taught to live a life of communion with God; and without controversy great is this mystery of godliness, and of great consequence to us, and, as is here shown, will be of unspeakable advantage.
The words behind it
9 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 |
| תַּחֲרֹ֣שׁ | tacharosh | you devise | H2790 → | 74 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רֵעֲךָ֣ | reakha | neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| רָעָ֑ה | raah | harm | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וְהֽוּא־ | vehu'- | and he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יוֹשֵׁ֖ב | yoshev | [is] dwelling | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| לָבֶ֣טַח | lavetach | to security | H983 → | 42 times |
| אִתָּֽךְ׃ | ʾitakh | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תַּחֲרֹ֣שׁyou devise
tacharoshH2790 →74 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רֵעֲךָ֣neighbor your
reakhaH7453 →188 times
רָעָ֑הharm
raahH7451 →662 times
וְהֽוּא־and he
vehu'-H1931 →1879 times
יוֹשֵׁ֖ב[is] dwelling
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
לָבֶ֣טַחto security
lavetachH983 →42 times
אִתָּֽךְ׃with you
ʾitakhH854 →929 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
Psalms 55:20My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.
it leads to
- Psalms 89:34
I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips.
- Psalms 7:4
if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,
- Acts 12:1
About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church.
- Psalms 89:34
Through
Psalms 35:20For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
it leads to
- Matthew 26:4
and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.
- Jeremiah 11:19
For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from…
- Matthew 26:4
Through
Proverbs 6:14With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
it leads to
- Romans 16:17
Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.
- Micah 2:1
Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Hosea 8:7
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
- Romans 16:17
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
