12:17
Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:
17a
He who speaks the truth declares what is right,
17b but a false witness speaks deceit.
This verse contrasts the true testimony of an honest or trustworthy witness with the testimony of a person who habitually tells lies in order to deceive a judge. For other verses about a truthful or false witness, see 6:19, 14:5, 14:25, 19:5, 19:9, 21:28, 24:28, and 25:18.
12:17a
He who speaks the truth: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “He breathes out faithfulness.” It describes the trustworthy or reliable character of a person who testifies in court. He can be relied on to always tell the truth. Some versions express this in terms of honesty. For example:
An honest witness (Revised English Bible)
But the primary meaning is faithfulness, reliability, or trustworthiness. Some other ways to translate this meaning are:
The faithful witness (NET Bible)
-or-
He who testifies faithfully (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
-or-
A trustworthy witness
declares what is right: One way to understand the Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as declares what is right is that it refers to giving testimony that is truthful. For example:
Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
An honest witness comes out with the truth (Revised English Bible) This Hebrew phrase is literally “he declares rightness/justice.” Some translations bring out this further aspect of the meaning of this phrase. For example:
One who declares truth tells what is right (New American Standard Bible)
In other words, such a person testifies what will lead to justice. Other ways to translate this meaning are:
When you tell the truth, justice is done (Good News Translation)
-or-
To tell the truth is to further justice (Revised English Bible)
A suggested translation that expresses the meaning of both parts of 12:17a in this sense is:
An honest/reliable witness testifies what will lead to justice
12:17b
but a false witness: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “a witness of falsehoods.” As with the first phrase in 12:17a, this phrase describes the character or habitual behavior of a person in court. In this case, the person tells lies.
speaks deceit: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as deceit refers to words that are intended to deceive a judge. In Hebrew, there is no verb. In most English translations, a verb is supplied from the parallel context in 12:17a. For example:
a false witness speaks deceitfully (New Revised Standard Version)
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