Proverbs 16:28

A perverse person ¹  spreads dissension, and a gossip separates the closest friends. ² 

Ge 3:1-13; 1Sa 24:9; Pr 6:14,19; Pr 15:18; Pr 17:9; Pr 18:8; Pr 26:20-22; Pr 29:22; Pr 30:33; Ro 1:29; 2Co 12:20; 1Ti 6:3-5; Jas 3:14-16

¹ tn Heb “a man of perverse things”; NAB “an intriguer.” This refers to someone who destroys lives. The parallelism suggests that he is a “slanderer” or “gossip” – one who whispers and murmurs (18:8; 26:20, 22).

² tn The term אַלּוּף (’aluf) refers to a “friend” or “an intimate associate.” The word has other possible translations, including “tame” or “docile” when used of animals. Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 1040-1105, took it in the later sense of “prince,” saying that such speech alienates the Prince, namely God. But that is a forced interpretation of the line.