PROV 19:28 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 Ὁ ἐγγυώμενος παῖδα ἄφρονα, καθυβρίσει δικαίωμα· στόμα δὲ ἀσεβῶν καταπίεται κρίσεις.
(Ho enguōmenos paida afrona, kathubrisei dikaiōma; stoma de asebōn katapietai kriseis. )

BrTr He that becomes surety for a foolish child will despise the ordinance: and the mouth of ungodly men shall drink down judgments.

ULT A witness of worthlessness mocks justice,
⇔ and the mouth of the wicked ones swallows iniquity.

UST Worthless witnesses scorn what is just,
⇔ and wicked people enjoy acting sinfully as if they were gulping down delicious food.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE A corrupt witness mocks justice,
⇔ and the mouth of the wicked gulps down iniquity.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET A crooked witness scorns justice,
⇔ and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

LSV A worthless witness scorns judgment,
And the mouth of the wicked swallows iniquity.

FBV A crooked witness makes a mockery of justice; and the wicked wolf down evil.

T4T ⇔ Worthless witnesses in court make fun of judges who try to make fair decisions,
⇔ and wicked people enjoy doing evil like they enjoy eating good food [MET].

LEB • A worthless witness will mock justice, and the mouth of the wicked will devour iniquity.

BBE A good-for-nothing witness makes sport of the judge's decision: and the mouth of evil-doers sends out evil like a stream.

Moff A rascal of a witness scoffs at justice,
⇔ and perjury pours from a scoundrel’s lips.

JPS An ungodly witness mocketh at right; and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.

ASV A worthless witness mocketh at justice;
⇔ And the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity.

DRA An unjust witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.

YLT A worthless witness scorneth judgment, And the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity.

Drby A witness of Belial scorneth judgment, and the mouth of the wicked swalloweth down iniquity.

RV A worthless witness mocketh at judgment: and the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity.
(A worthless witness mocketh at judgement: and the mouth of the wicked swalloweth iniquity. )

SLT A witness of Belial shall mock judgment: and the mouth of the unjust will swallow down iniquity.

Wbstr An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.

KJB-1769 An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.[fn]
(An ungodly witness scorneth judgement: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth/devours iniquity. )

19.28 An…: Heb. A witness of Belial

KJB-1611 [fn]An vngodly witnesse scorneth iudgement: and the mouth of the wicked deuoureth iniquitie.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above apart from footnotes)

19:28 Hebr. A witnesse of Belial.

Bshps A wicked witnesse mocketh iudgement: and the mouth of the vngodly deuoureth wickednesse.
(A wicked witness mocketh judgement: and the mouth of the ungodly devoureth/devours wickedness.)

Gnva A wicked witnes mocketh at iudgement, and the mouth of ye wicked swalloweth vp iniquitie.
(A wicked witness mocketh at judgement, and the mouth of ye/you_all wicked swalloweth up iniquity. )

Cvdl A false wytnes laugheth iudgmet to scorne, & the mouth of the vngodly eateth vp wickednes.
(A false wytnes laugheth judgement to scorn, and the mouth of the ungodly eateth/eats up wickedness.)

Wycl A wickid witnesse scorneth doom; and the mouth of vnpitouse men deuourith wickidnesse.
(A wicked witness scorneth judgement; and the mouth of impious/wicked men devoureth/devours wickedness.)

Luth Ein loser Zeuge spottet des Rechts, und der GOttlosen Mund verschlinget das Unrecht.
(A loser witness(n) scoffs the law/rights, and the/of_the godless_one(s) mouth devours the injustice.)

ClVg Testis iniquus deridet judicium, et os impiorum devorat iniquitatem.[fn]
(Testis unjust deridet judgement, and mouth of_the_wicked devours iniquity. )

19.28 Devorat. Ut famelicus cibos, iniquitatem patrare ardenter exquirit.

19.28 Devorat. As hungerlicus food, iniquity patrare ardenter exquirit.

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

19:28–29

These two proverbs are closely related by two sets of similar words:

the words “mocks” and “mockers”
the words “justice” and “judgments.” In Hebrew, these nouns are slightly different forms of the same root word.See Waltke (page 124) for more details, including the repetition of similar sounds in the Hebrew words.

19:28

Notice the parallelism. The word “wicked” in the second line refers to the same person as the “corrupt witness” in the first line.

^28aA corrupt witness mocks justice,

^28band a wicked mouth swallows iniquity.

This wicked person is described as using his mouth in two ways. He uses his mouth (implied) to tell lies in court. He also figuratively uses his mouth to gulp down evil.

19:28a

A corrupt witness mocks justice,

People who tell lies when they testify scoff/mock at justice.
A wicked and worthless witness shows that he despises/mocks the right of another person for a fair trial.

A corrupt witness: This phrase describes a witness who is both wicked and worthless. It is clearly implied that this kind of witness tells lies in court. See the note on 16:27a. In that verse, the Hebrew word for corrupt was translated as “worthless man” due to the different context.

mocks justice: By giving false testimony, this witness shows that he considers the rights of other people to be of no value. He treats with scorn and contempt the idea of justice and the legal system by which it is carried out.Hubbard (page 181).

Some other ways to translate 19:28a are:

A lying witness makes a mockery of justice (REB)

A worthless witness mocks justice (GW)

In some languages, there may be a figure of speech that effectively expresses the meaning of mocking justice. Two figures of speech that would be appropriate in English are:

treats the legal system like dirt

tramples justice under his feet

19:28b

and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity.

Wicked people like these enjoy evil like they enjoy devouring their food.
For such a person/witness, evil deeds are like delicious food.

and a wicked mouth swallows iniquity: This clause is a metaphor. In this metaphor, the reaction of a wicked person to evil deeds is compared to the way that people react to food. The similarity is enjoyment. A wicked person enjoys seeing or doing evil as much as people enjoy eating.

In some languages, a literal translation of this metaphor may be difficult to understand. Some other ways to translate it are:

Use a metaphor and make the similarity explicit. For example:
Wicked people love the taste of evil. (GNT)
and criminals think crime is really delicious (CEV)
Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:
and a wicked person enjoys evil as much as people enjoy eating
If a figure of speech is not clear or natural, translate the meaning without using figurative language. For example:
and wicked people love what is evil (NCV)

Figures of speech help to make a proverb more vivid or easy to remember. So this option should be used only if the other options are not effective.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

עֵ֣ד בְּ֭לִיַּעַל & וּ⁠פִ֥י רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים יְבַלַּע

witness_of worthless & and_[the],mouth_of wicked devours

A witness of worthlessness and the mouth here refer to this type of people and mouths in general, not a specific witness or mouth. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use more natural expressions. Alternate translation: “Any witness of worthlessness … and the mouths of the wicked ones swallow”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

עֵ֣ד בְּ֭לִיַּעַל

witness_of worthless

Here Solomon is using the possessive form to describe a witness who is characterized by worthlessness. If your language would not use the possessive form for this, you could use a different expression. Alternate translation: “a worthless witness”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

בְּ֭לִיַּעַל & מִשְׁפָּ֑ט & אָֽוֶן

worthless & justice & iniquity

See how you translated the abstract nouns worthlessness and iniquity in [6:12](../06/12.md) and justice in [1:3](../01/03.md).

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וּ⁠פִ֥י רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים יְבַלַּע־אָֽוֶן

and_[the],mouth_of wicked devours iniquity

Here Solomon speaks of the wicked ones enjoying doing iniquity as if iniquity were delicious food that they could swallow with their mouths. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly or use a simile. Alternate translation: “the wicked ones enjoy iniquity” or “the wicked enjoy doing iniquity as much as they enjoy eating delicious food”

Parallel PROV 19:28

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

19:28–29

19:28

19:28a

19:28b