The Meaning of Proverbs 30:10 Explained

Proverbs 30:10

KJV: Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.

YLT: Accuse not a servant unto his lord, Lest he disesteem thee, and thou be found guilty.

Darby: Speak not too much about a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be held guilty.

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

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Accuse  not a servant  unto his master,  lest he curse  thee, and thou be found guilty. 

What does Proverbs 30:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

It is unwise to meddle in the domestic affairs of other people. The case in point in this couplet is falsely accusing a slave to his master. Probably "he" ( Proverbs 30:10 b) refers to the master. The slave might never discover that someone had slandered him, but it is more likely that the master would investigate the charge and discover it false.

Context Summary

Proverbs 30:1-17 - The Advice Of A Shrewd Observer
This chapter contains a collection of sayings of one person, Agur, of whom we know nothing further. It is supposed that he lived after the return from the Exile. The opening verses of the chapter may be thus rendered: "The utterance of the man who has questioned and thought." I have wearied after God, I have wearied after God, and am faint; for I am too stupid for a man, and am without reason, and I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the All-Holy."
Agur answers his complaint in Proverbs 30:5-9. You cannot know God by your own discovery, but He will make Himself known to you through the written Word, to which no addition may be made, Proverbs 30:6. See also John 1:18, which shows our clearest revelation of Him. But there are two conditions: We must put away vanity and lies; and we must be satisfied with God's arrangement of our daily food. Notice the following quatrain, Proverbs 30:11-14, which is descriptive of four kinds of evil men: the unfilial, the self-righteous, the haughty, and the rapacious. The next quatrain, Proverbs 30:15-16, treats of "the insatiable;" and this is followed by a further description of the doom of the disobedient: strong, wise, shrewd, and sanctified sense. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 30

1  Agur's confession of his faith
7  The two points of his prayer
10  The meanest are not to be wronged
11  Four wicked generations
15  Four things insatiable
24  four things exceeding wise
29  Four things stately
32  Wrath is to be prevented

What do the individual words in Proverbs 30:10 mean?

Not do malign a servant to - his master lest he curse you and you be found guilty
אַל־ תַּלְשֵׁ֣ן עֶ֭בֶד אֶל־ [אדנו] (אֲדֹנָ֑יו) פֶּֽן־ יְקַלֶּלְךָ֥ וְאָשָֽׁמְתָּ

תַּלְשֵׁ֣ן  do  malign 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect Jussive, second person masculine singular
Root: לָשַׁן  
Sense: to use the tongue, slander.
עֶ֭בֶד  a  servant 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֶבֶד  
Sense: slave, servant.
[אדנו]  - 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
(אֲדֹנָ֑יו)  his  master 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אָדֹון  
Sense: firm, strong, lord, master.
פֶּֽן־  lest 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: פֶּן  
Sense: lest, not, beware lest adv.
יְקַלֶּלְךָ֥  he  curse  you 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine singular, second person masculine singular
Root: קָלַל  
Sense: to be slight, be swift, be trifling, be of little account, be light.
וְאָשָֽׁמְתָּ  and  you  be  found  guilty 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: אָשַׁם  
Sense: to offend, be guilty, trespass.