Proverbs 30:10

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Slander not a servant unto his master, Lest he curse thee, and thou be held guilty.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

אַל־תַּלְשֵׁ֣ן עֶ֭בֶד אֶל־*אדנו **אֲדֹנָ֑יו פֶּֽן־יְקַלֶּלְךָ֥ וְאָשָֽׁמְתָּ׃

Transliteration

ʾal-talšēn ʿebed ʾel-ʾădōnāyw pen-yeqallelḵā weʾāšāmtā

Grammar Details

• *ʾal*: negative particle for prohibitions - do not
• *talšēn*: hiphil imperfect, second masculine singular jussive - slander/accuse
• *ʿebed*: masculine singular noun - servant/slave
• *ʾel*: preposition - to/unto
• *ʾădōnāyw*: masculine plural noun + third person masculine singular suffix - his master/lord
• *pen*: conjunction - lest
• *yeqallelḵā*: piel imperfect, third masculine singular + second person masculine singular suffix - he will curse you
• *weʾāšāmtā*: conjunction + qal perfect, second masculine singular - and you will be guilty/bear guilt

Word Meanings

• *talšēn*: slander/accuse/inform against
• *ʾădōnāyw*: his master/his lord (plural form with singular meaning, plural of majesty)
• *weʾāšāmtā*: and you will be guilty/bear guilt/become liable

Referenced Verses

• Deut 15:9 : 9 Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
• Deut 23:15 : 15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master a servant that is escaped from his master unto thee:
• 1 Sam 22:9-9 : 9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10 And he inquired of Jehovah for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
• 1 Sam 24:9 : 9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearkenest thou to men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?
• 1 Sam 26:19 : 19 Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it be Jehovah that hath stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if it be the children of men, cursed be they before Jehovah: for they have driven me out this day that I should not cleave unto the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods.
• 1 Sam 30:15 : 15 And David said to him, Wilt thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.
• 2 Sam 16:1-4 : 1 And when David was a little past the top [of the ascent], behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. 2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink. 3 And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; for he said, To-day will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. 4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine is all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I do obeisance; let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, O king.
• 2 Sam 19:26-27 : 26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go with the king; because thy servant is lame. 27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.
• 2 Chr 24:22-24 : 22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, Jehovah look upon it, and require it. 23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the army of the Syrians came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus. 24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; and Jehovah delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment upon Joash.
• Prov 11:26 : 26 He that withholdeth grain, the people shall curse him; But blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.
• Prov 24:23-24 : 23 These also are [sayings] of the wise. To have respect of persons in judgment is not good. 24 He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; Peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him:
• Eccl 7:21 : 21 Also take not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee;
• Dan 3:8-9 : 8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews. 9 They answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live for ever. 10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image; 11 and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said unto them, Is it of purpose, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that ye serve not my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well]: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
• Dan 6:13 : 13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the interdict that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.
• Dan 6:24 : 24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men that had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.
• Rom 14:4 : 4 Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand.
• Prov 28:27 : 27 He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack; But he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.