Proverbs 25:8

Do not go out hastily to litigation, ¹  or ²  what will you do afterward when your neighbor puts you to shame?

2Sa 2:14-16,26; 2Ki 14:8-12; Pr 14:12; Pr 17:14; Pr 18:6; Pr 30:33; Jer 5:31; Mt 5:25; Lu 14:31,32

¹ tn Heb “do not go out hastily to strive”; the verb “to strive” means dispute in the legal context. The last clause of v. 7, “what your eyes have seen,” does fit very well with the initial clause of v. 8. It would then say: What you see, do not take hastily to court, but if the case was not valid, he would end up in disgrace.

sn The Hebrew verb רִיב (riv) is often used in legal contexts; here the warning is not to go to court hastily lest it turn out badly.

² tn The clause begins with פֶּן (pen, “lest”) which seems a bit out of place in this line. C. H. Toy suggests changing it to כִּי (ki, “for”) to make a better connection, instead of supplying an ellipsis: “lest it be said what…” (Proverbs [ICC], 461).