PROV 12:17 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Ἐπιδεικνυμένην πίστιν ἀπαγγέλλει δίκαιος, ὁ δὲ μάρτυς τῶν ἀδίκων δόλιος.
(Epideiknumenaʸn pistin apangellei dikaios, ho de martus tōn adikōn dolios. )

BrTr A righteous man declares the open truth; but an unjust witness is deceitful.

ULT He who breathes out faithfulness tells righteousness,
⇔ but a witness of falsehoods, deceit.

UST People who naturally say what is true speak righteously,
⇔ but witnesses who say what is false speak deceitfully.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE He who is truthful testifies honestly,
⇔ but a false witness lies.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The faithful witness tells what is right,
⇔ but a false witness speaks deceit.

LSV Whoever utters faithfulness declares righteousness,
And a false witness—deceit.

FBV Whoever tells the truth is being honest, but a false witness tells lies.

T4T ⇔ In the courtroom, honest people say what is true,
⇔ but untruthful/dishonest people tell nothing but lies.

LEB • He who will speak truth will reveal righteousness, but the witness of falsehood, deceit.

BBE The breathing out of true words gives knowledge of righteousness; but a false witness gives out deceit.

Moff A man who gives true evidence furthers justice:
⇔ dishonest witnesses further injustice.

JPS He that breatheth forth truth uttereth righteousness; but a false witness deceit.

ASV He that uttereth truth showeth forth righteousness;
⇔ But a false witness, deceit.

DRA He that speaketh that which he knoweth, sheweth forth justice: but he that lieth, is a deceitful witness.

YLT Whoso uttereth faithfulness declareth righteousness, And a false witness — deceit.

Drby He that uttereth truth sheweth forth righteousness; but a false witness deceit.

RV He that uttereth truth sheweth forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit.
(He that uttereth truth sheweth/shows forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit. )

SLT He breathing out faithfulness will announce justice: and a witness of falsehoods, deceit.

Wbstr He that speaketh truth showeth forth righteousness: but a false witness, deceit.

KJB-1769 He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
(He that speaketh/speaks truth sheweth/shows forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit. )

KJB-1611 He that speaketh trueth, sheweth foorth righteousnesse: but a false witnesse, deceit.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps A iust man wyll tell the trueth and shewe the thyng that is ryght: but a false witnesse deceaueth.
(A just man will tell the truth and show the thing that is right: but a false witness deceiveth.)

Gnva He that speaketh trueth, will shewe righteousnes: but a false witnes vseth deceite.
(He that speaketh/speaks truth, will show righteousness: but a false witness useth deceit. )

Cvdl A iust man will tell the trueth, & shewethe thinge yt is right: but a false wytnesse disceaueth.
(A just man will tell the truth, and sheweth/showse thing it is right: but a false witness deceiveth/deceives.)

Wycl He that spekith that, that he knowith, is a iuge of riytfulnesse; but he that lieth, is a gileful witnesse.
(He that speaketh/speaks that, that he knoweth/knows, is a judge of rightfulness/righteousness; but he that lieth/lies, is a guileful witness.)

Luth Wer wahrhaftig ist, der sagt frei, was recht ist; aber ein falscher Zeuge betrügt.
(Who truthfully is, the/of_the says free, what/which right is; but a false/counterfeit witness(n) cheats/deceives.)

ClVg Qui quod novit loquitur, index justitiæ est; qui autem mentitur, testis est fraudulentus.
(Who that he_knows speaks, index justice it_is; who/which however he_lies, testis it_is fraudulentus. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs. It has a very different structure from the longer poetic lectures of chapters 1–9. It consists mostly of individual couplets (two-line poems) that are each one verse in length. With the exception of the title (10:1a), paragraph breaks will not be indicated in the Notes or Display. You may of course choose to start each proverb as a separate paragraph in your translation.

In chapters 10–15, most of these one-verse couplets express a contrast between the two lines. One of the more common contrasts is between the righteous/wise and the wicked/foolish and the different consequences of their conduct.

In chapters 16:1–22:16, more topics are discussed. There is more emphasis on the role of the king and other leaders. In these chapters, there are few proverbs with contrasting lines. Some of the parallel lines are similar in meaning. More frequently, the second line adds to what the first line says or gives an example. Most of the verses have no obvious connection with the previous or following proverbs.UBS (page 214), Fox (page 509), McKane (page 413). Many scholars, including McKane, point out that there are some topical groupings as well as poetic connections. These include the repetition of certain words or sounds. This observation does not deny the individual nature of most of the proverbs in this Section.

Two of the types of proverbs in this section are not found in chapters 1–9. One type contains logical reasoning from the lesser to the greater. See 11:31 for a list of these proverbs. There are also several varieties of complex “better than” proverbs. The most common have a contrasting situation in each line (see 12:9). For other varieties, see 16:16, 19:1, and 21:9.

Many of the proverbs in this section refer to categories of people who share a common trait. For example, they refer to the righteous, the wise, the poor, and the lazy. In Hebrew, some verses use singular forms to refer to these groups of people. Other verses use plural forms. Still others use a combination of singular and plural. See the note on 10:30a–b for one example. For most of these verses, the Notes will not comment on the difference between singular and plural forms. Use a natural way in your language to refer to one or more people who are in the same category.

Many of the proverbs in this section express a general principle in abstract terms. They are not addressed specifically to the readers. For example, 10:2a–b says:

Ill-gotten treasures are of no value,

but righteousness delivers from death.

However, the author intended his readers to understand these proverbs as advice that they should follow. In some languages, authors or speakers give advice more directly, using pronouns such as you^(sing), you^(plur), we^(dual), or we^(incl). See the note on 10:2 for translation suggestions.

Some other headings for this section are:

Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

The Wise Words of Solomon (NCV)

Here are many wise things that Solomon said

12:17

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

^17a He who speaks the truth declares what is right,

^17bbut a false witness speaks deceit.

This verse contrasts the true testimony of an honest or trustworthy witness with the testimony of a person who habitually tells lies in order to deceive a judge. For other verses about a truthful or false witness, see 6:19, 14:5, 14:25, 19:5, 19:9, 21:28, 24:28, and 25:18.

12:17a

He who speaks the truth declares what is right,

The true words that a trustworthy/reliable witness speaks in court will result in justice.
When a person who faithfully/habitually tells the truth testifies, his words will cause the judge to give a correct verdict.

He who speaks the truth: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “He breathes out faithfulness.” It describes the trustworthy or reliable character of a person who testifies in court. He can be relied on to always tell the truth. Some versions express this in terms of honesty. For example:

An honest witness (REB)

But the primary meaning is faithfulness, reliability, or trustworthiness. Some other ways to translate this meaning are:

The faithful witness (NET)

He who testifies faithfully (NJPS)

A trustworthy witness

declares what is right: One way to understand the Hebrew phrase that the BSB translates as declares what is right is that it refers to giving testimony that is truthful. For example:

Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence (NRSV)

An honest witness comes out with the truth (REB) This Hebrew phrase is literally “he declares rightness/justice.” Some translations bring out this further aspect of the meaning of this phrase. For example:

One who declares truth tells what is right (NASB)

In other words, such a person testifies what will lead to justice.Logically, truthful/honest testimony will result in justice (Hebrew: ṣedeq), but ṣedeq itself is not defined in the lexicons as “truth.” The normal meaning is righteousness/justice/rightness—that which conforms to a standard (BDB #6664, TWOT #1879a, HALOT #7884). Waltke (p. 535) understands ṣedeq to be “metonymy for words that best serve the interests of justice.” Murphy, McKane, Toy, and Cook all support a meaning such as “justice.” That is the reason why these Notes have focused on that aspect. Other ways to translate this meaning are:

When you tell the truth, justice is done (GNT)

To tell the truth is to further justice (REB)

A suggested translation that expresses the meaning of both parts of 12:17a in this sense is:

An honest/reliable witness testifies what will lead to justice

12:17b

but a false witness speaks deceit.

But a witness who is a liar tries to deceive others with his words.
But a habitual liar gives testimony that is intended to deceive him/the judge.

but a false witness: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “a witness of falsehoods.” As with the first phrase in 12:17a, this phrase describes the character or habitual behavior of a person in court. In this case, the person tells lies.

speaks deceit: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates literally as deceit refers to words that are intended to deceive a judge. In Hebrew, there is no verb. In most English translations, a verb is supplied from the parallel context in 12:17a. For example:

a false witness speaks deceitfully (NRSV)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

יָפִ֣יחַ

speaks

Although the term He is masculine, Solomon is using the word in a generic sense that includes both men and women. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a phrase that makes this clear. Alternate translation: “A person who breathes out”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

יָפִ֣יחַ

speaks

See how you translated the same use of breathes out in [6:19](../06/19.md). Here Solomon speaks of someone who easily and habitually tells the truth as if that person breathes out faithfulness. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “who easily speaks”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

אֱ֭מוּנָה יַגִּ֣יד צֶ֑דֶק & שְׁקָרִ֣ים מִרְמָֽה

truth gives_~_evidence honest & false deceit

If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of faithfulness and righteousness, falsehoods, and deceit, you could express the same ideas in other ways. Alternate translation: “what is faithful tells what is righteous … false things, what is deceitful”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

וְ⁠עֵ֖ד שְׁקָרִ֣ים מִרְמָֽה

and,a_witness_of false deceit

Solomon is leaving out a word in this clause that in many languages a clause would need in order to be complete. You could supply this word from the previous clause if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “but a witness of falsehoods tells deceit”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

וְ⁠עֵ֖ד שְׁקָרִ֣ים

and,a_witness_of false

Althougha witness here is singular, it refers to any witness of falsehoods in general. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different form. Alternate translation: “but any witness of falsehoods”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / possession