Bible Strands
Proverbs 22:28
Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses a student within a wisdom collection, placing this instruction between a warning against reckless debt guarantees and a promise regarding skilled laborers.
The words — The Hebrew אַל־תַּסֵּג ('al-tassek) pairs a prohibitive particle with the verb "displace," literally reading "do not move" a גְּב֣וּל עוֹלָ֑ם (boundary of antiquity) that אֲבוֹתֶֽיךָ (your ancestors) עָשׂ֣וּ (made).
The thread — This prohibition runs through Deuteronomy 19:14 and Deuteronomy 27:17, and resurfaces in Proverbs 23:10 alongside a warning against encroaching on the fields of the fatherless.
Why it lands — The text commands strict respect for established property lines and inherited rights, requiring readers to leave ancestral boundaries undisturbed rather than exploiting legal or physical loopholes.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 19:14 You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
- Deuteronomy 27:17 ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Proverbs 23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
- Job 24:2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.