John Gill Commentary Proverbs 29:24

"Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul; He heareth the adjuration and uttereth nothing." — Proverbs 29:24 (ASV)

Whoso is partner with a thief that robs and steals, and raises away another man's property; which to do is sinful and contrary to the law of God, and punishable by it; and so it is to join with him in the theft, or to devise, or consent unto it; or to receive the stolen goods, or to hide and conceal them; or to hide the thief, or the theft, and not declare them; see (Psalms 50:18) (Isaiah 1:23) .

Such an one has his own soul; that is, he is not careful of it, he is not concerned for its welfare as he should be; for otherwise no man, properly speaking, hates his own flesh or body, and much less his soul; but he is negligent of the good of it, and, for the sake of the mammon of unrighteousness, runs the risk of the ruin of it; by which he shows that he loves the world more than his own soul; when the profit of the whole world is nothing to the soul of man, (Matthew 16:26) ; see (Proverbs 8:36) ;

he hears cursing, and bewrayeth [it] not; or "does not declare it" {b}; he hears the cursing of those that have lost their goods, and yet he does not declare where they are, and who is the author of the theft, though he knows; or, being suspected of being concerned in it, or, at least, of knowing who did it, he is had before a civil magistrate, and an oath is given him, which he takes, and yet he conceals the matter: which is an aggravation of his sin, and brings ruin to his soul. So the Targum, ``an oath is determined (or brought to him) and he confesses not.''

Some understand this of a distinct evil, of hearing cursing and swearing, and taking the name of God in vain, and blasphemy against him; yet, through fear of incurring the displeasure of men, and being reckoned a busy body, or through indifference and want of zeal for the glory of God, do not discover it, or inform of it, to a proper person, for the punishment of such; see (Leviticus 5:1) ; and render the words ^F3 , as "he that is partner with a thief has his own soul; [so] he that hears cursing, and betrays it not."

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FOOTNOTES:

• F3: So Gejerus.