3:29

In this verse, 3:29b adds more details about the neighbor who is mentioned in 3:29a.

29a Do not devise evil against your neighbor,

29b for he trustfully dwells beside you.

3:29a–b

Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you: In this context, the word neighbor probably refers to a person who lives nearby. In some languages, it may be more natural to refer to “neighbors.” For example:

Don’t plan anything that will hurt your neighbors (Good News Translation)

for he trustfully dwells beside you: In Hebrew, this clause is more literally “and/when he is the one-living in-trust with-you.” The phrase “with you” is connected to “in-trust.” It means that the neighbor trusts the son, not that the neighbor lives with the son. For a person to plot against a neighbor who trusts him is a serious offense. It is serious because a neighbor does not suspect that a person living nearby will harm him. Other ways to translate this clause are:

they live beside you, trusting you (Good News Translation)
-or-
for those who live nearby trust you (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
when he dwells by you unsuspectingly (NET Bible)

General Comment on 3:29a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the verse parts. For example:

29b Your neighbors trust you,

29a so do not make plans to hurt them.

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