A man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for the neighbor's feet.
An image borrowed from hunting appears in Proverbs 29:5: A man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his steps (v. 5). The image carries the warning.
A man who flatters his neighbor. The flatterer's smooth speech sounds like friendship. He praises the neighbor, agrees with him, finds excellent qualities everywhere. The neighbor enjoys the attention.
Is spreading a net for his steps. The flattery is not friendship; it is trapping. The flatterer is laying lines that will catch the neighbor: lines of obligation, of false confidence, of misplaced trust. The neighbor walks more boldly because the flattery has elevated his sense of himself, and walks straight into the net the flatterer prepared. The verse warns the wise man both against being a flatterer and against trusting one whose words always praise.
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Proverbs 29:5 meaning
An image borrowed from hunting appears in Proverbs 29:5: A man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his steps (v. 5). The image carries the warning.
A man who flatters his neighbor. The flatterer's smooth speech sounds like friendship. He praises the neighbor, agrees with him, finds excellent qualities everywhere. The neighbor enjoys the attention.
Is spreading a net for his steps. The flattery is not friendship; it is trapping. The flatterer is laying lines that will catch the neighbor: lines of obligation, of false confidence, of misplaced trust. The neighbor walks more boldly because the flattery has elevated his sense of himself, and walks straight into the net the flatterer prepared. The verse warns the wise man both against being a flatterer and against trusting one whose words always praise.