Amsal 6:15

6:15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;

in an instant ¹  he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

Amsal 19:9

19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished,

and the one who spouts out ²  lies will perish. ³ 

Amsal 21:28

21:28 A lying witness ⁴  will perish, ⁵ 

but the one who reports accurately speaks forever. ⁶ 

[6:15]  ¹ tn This word is a substantive that is used here as an adverbial accusative – with suddenness, at an instant.

[19:9]  ² tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”

[19:9]  ³ sn The verse is the same as v. 5, except that the last word changes to the verb “will perish” (cf. NCV “will die”; CEV, NLT “will be destroyed”; TEV “is doomed”).

[21:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “a witness of lies,” an attributive genitive.

[21:28]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb translated “will perish” (יֹאבֵד, yo’bed) could mean that the false witness will die, either by the hand of God or by the community. But it also could be taken in the sense that the false testimony will be destroyed. This would mean that “false witness” would be a metonymy of cause – what he says will perish (cf. NCV “will be forgotten”).

[21:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “but a man who listens speaks forever.” The first part of it may mean (1) a true witness, one who reports what he actually hears. But it may also refer to (2) someone who listens to the false testimony given by the false witness. The NIV follows the suggestion of a homonym for the Hebrew word with the meaning “will perish/be destroyed”: “will be destroyed forever.” This suggests a synonymous pair of ideas rather than a contrast. Others accept antithetical parallelism. C. H. Toy suggested an idea like “be established” to contrast with “will perish” (Proverbs [ICC], 411). W. McKane suggested it meant the truthful witness “will speak to the end” without being put down (Proverbs [OTL], 556). It is simpler to interpret the words that are here in the sense of a contrast. The idea of speaking forever/to the end would then be hyperbolic.