Day 26 Don't Be Evil | Proverbs 3:29-30

Don't be evil

v29 Your neighbour trusts you.

Do not plot against him! Do not hurt him!

v30 Do not accuse an innocent man.

He is not guilty, and he has not hurt you.

Verses 27 and 28 warned against withholding good from those to whom it was due. This, it seems, includes the idea of not delaying charity for those who are in need (Proverbs 3:27–28). The instruction of this verse continues that progression of thought. This verse condemns actively planning to harm or cause trouble for someone's neighbor. The Hebrew word translated as "plan" here has an interesting set of meanings. It mostly refers to plowing a field by digging furrows. Yet it is also used for engraving, and as a noun it can refer to a skilled artist. Used here, this suggests purposeful, premeditated evil against one's neighbor.

This is especially wicked because the neighbor is totally unsuspecting. He presumes his neighbor will treat him respectfully. Exodus 20:16 –17 defends a neighbor's right to be honored and protected. These verses command: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." To purposely plot evil against a trusting neighbor is to transgress everything these commandments stand for.

Perhaps, when writing Proverbs 3:29, Solomon recalled his father David's evil plot against his neighbor Uriah. After stealing Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, and committing adultery with her, David ordered his general Joab to place Uriah on the front line against the enemy, knowing Uriah would be killed. The plot worked, but the Lord would soon expose David's sin (2 Samuel 11:1—12:7).

A "proverb" is a general-case statement of advice. In the ancient day, as today, these are not understood as absolute guarantees. Instead, they explain the best course of action, along with the most typical result. In this case, Solomon teaches that a wise person doesn't pick fights. If a person has not grievously wronged us, we have no reason to quarrel with him. Note, however, this verse allows that some conflicts with others are justified—what's condemned is strife without a compelling reason.

In some parts of America, this is summed up with the English idiom "don't start none, won't be none," referring to trouble as something one ought not stir up without a good reason. That idiom is just a rephrasing of Romans 12:18, which instructs: "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." Common sense says that it's better not to start fights and arguments than to be constantly embroiled in them.

Those who live according to the sinful nature stir up strife and dissensions (Galatians 5:20), whereas those who walk in the Spirit manifest peace in their lives (Galatians 5:16, 22). Paul rebuked the contentious members of the Galatian churches and warned them about the consequences of their actions. He wrote: "If you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another" (Galatians 5:15).

In listing the requirements of an overseer, Paul wrote they should be "not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome" (1 Timothy 3:3). Near the end of his life, Paul called out by name Alexander the coppersmith. He charged: "Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds" (2 Timothy 4:14).

Can you imagine how much less strife and bitterness there would be in the church—let alone the world—if every believer obeyed the injunction of this verse?

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