Amsal 14:5

14:5 A truthful witness ¹  does not lie,

but a false witness ²  breathes out lies. ³ 

Amsal 14:25

14:25 A truthful witness ⁴  rescues lives, ⁵ 

but the one who breathes lies brings ⁶  deception. ⁷ 

Amsal 14:1

14:1 Every wise woman ⁸  builds ⁹  her household, ¹⁰ 

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

1 Samuel 22:14-15

22:14 Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house! 22:15 Was it just today that I began to inquire of God on his behalf? Far be it from me! The king should not accuse ¹¹  his servant or any of my father’s house. For your servant is not aware of all this – not in whole or in part!” ¹² 

[14:5]  ¹ tn Heb “a witness of faithfulness.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “faithful witness” (so KJV, NRSV); TEV “reliable witness.”

[14:5]  ² tn Heb “a witness of falsehood.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “false witness.”

[14:5]  ³ sn This saying addresses the problem of legal testimony: A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness does lie – naturally. The first colon uses the verb כָּזַב (kazav, “to lie”) and the second colon uses the noun כָּזָב (kazav, “lie; falsehood”).

[14:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “a witness of truth”; cf. CEV “an honest witness.”

[14:25]  ⁵ tn The noun נְפָשׁוֹת (nÿfashot) often means “souls,” but here “lives” – it functions as a metonymy for life (BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 3.c).

[14:25]  sn The setting of this proverb is the courtroom. One who tells the truth “saves” (מַצִּיל [matsil, “rescues; delivers”]) the lives of those falsely accused.

[14:25]  ⁶ tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Also possible, “is deceitful.”

[14:25]  ⁷ tc Several commentators suggest emending the text from the noun מִרְמָה (mirmah, “deception”) to the participle מְרַמֶּה (mÿrameh, “destroys”). However, this revocalization is not necessary because the MT makes sense as it stands: A false witness destroys lives.

[14:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

[14:1]  ⁹ tn The perfect tense verb in the first colon functions in a gnomic sense, while the imperfect tense in the second colon is a habitual imperfect.

[14:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.” This term functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for contents (= household, family).

[22:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “set a matter against.”

[22:15]  ¹² tn Heb “small or great.”