"He who is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He hears the oath but tells nothing"
partner
chalaq is the Hebrew word which means to divide or share. The idea of partner comes out of sharing or dividing a common pot.
thief
gannab is the Hebrew word which means thief; one who takes another person's property.
hates
sane is the Hebrew word which means to hate, to despise, to detest. Solomon brings a very emotional image to light here when he says that if you want to get ahead by sharing the pot with a person who steals from others, then you detest your own life. It is an emotional realization when you come to grips with the fact that you are the one messing up your own life. In this case Solomon points out that one of the ways to destroy your own life is by becoming a partner with a person who takes other people's goods.
Most people do not actually become a partner with a burglar, which is what is brought to mind initially. But Solomon is saying something much more subtle. He is saying that if you are involved with schemes and plans that take people's property or the value of people's property, then you are in the midst of hating and destroying the potential of your life.
Most people run across some scheme which would qualify as thievery even if it is legal. You must resist this temptation even if a lot of money is at stake because the trouble you will bring to your life has spiritual, psychological, emotional, and physical ramifications.
oath
alah is the Hebrew word for oath or curse. The reference here is most likely to Leviticus 5:1 Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt.
There are two ideas here: one is that the judge puts the thief and the witness who will not confess under guilt for their lack of truthfulness when caught.
If a person who swears an oath or hears the curses of the person who was stolen from will not confess, then there will be a whole new level of guilt born by the soul.
nothing
lo is the Hebrew word which means no, nothing, not.
Do not become so committed to money that you are willing to ignore righteousness, justice, truth. If you go down the path of shady ethics and morality, it will destroy your life. There will be lots of other things that you will approve as you go along that path; some of which you would not believe if I told you today that you will approve these if you go down that road of partnering with a thief. This is whether that is homework, stealing candy out of the store, stealing from the home you babysit for, stealing from the job site or employer. You may have less, but God will make up for that.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz