A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.
There are two sorts of lies equally detestable: - 1. A slandering lie, which avowedly hates those it is spoken of: A lying tongue hates those that are afflicted by it; it afflicts them by calumnies and reproaches because it hates them, and can thus smite them secretly where they are without defence; and it hates them because it has afflicted them and made them its enemies.
Men hate those they injure. A lying tongue--"lips" for the persons (compare Pro 4:24; Psa 12:3). Next: Proverbs Chapter 27
Pro 26:28 28 The lying tongue hateth those whom it bruiseth; And a flattering mouth causeth ruin. The lxx, Jerome, the Targ., and Syr. render ישׂנא דכיו in the sense of non amat veritatem; they appear by דכיו to have thought of the Aram. דכיא, that which is pure; and thus they gain nothing else but an undeniable plain thought.