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Proverbs 26:20-22
New English Translation
Proverbs 26:20-22
New English Translation
20 Where there is no wood, a fire goes out,
and where there is no gossip,[a] contention ceases.[b]
21 Like charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire,
so is a contentious person[c] to kindle strife.[d]
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
and they have gone down into a person’s innermost being.[e]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 26:20 sn Gossip (that is, the one who goes around whispering and slandering) fuels contention just as wood fuels a fire. The point of the proverb is to prevent contention—if one takes away the cause, contention will cease (e.g., 18:8).
- Proverbs 26:20 tn Heb “becomes silent.”
- Proverbs 26:21 sn Heb “a man of contentions”; NCV, NRSV, NLT “a quarrelsome person.” The expression focuses on the person who is contentious by nature. His quarreling is like piling fuel on a fire that would otherwise go out. This kind of person not only starts strife, but keeps it going.
- Proverbs 26:21 tn The Pilpel infinitive construct לְחַרְחַר (lekharkhar) from חָרַר (kharar, “to be hot; to be scorched; to burn”) means “to kindle; to cause to flare up.”
- Proverbs 26:22 tn The proverb is identical to 18:8 (see notes there); it observes how appealing gossip is.
New English Translation (NET)
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