Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. DEATH AND LIFE (ARE) IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE. "Death and life," both of body and soul; both of the speakers and the hearers. AND THEY THAT LOVE IT SHALL EAT THE FRUIT THEREOF. They who delight in constantly using it, whether for good or evil, shall experience corresponding results (; ; ; )....

Verse Proverbs 18:21. _DEATH AND LIFE_ ARE _IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE_] This may apply to all men. Many have lost their lives by their tongue, and some have saved their lives by it: but it applies most forcibly to _public pleaders_; on many of their tongues hangs _life_ or _death_....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 18:1 This is a difficult verse, and has obtained various interpretations. The Authorized Version gives, THROUGH DESIRE A MAN, HAVING SEPARATED HIMSELF, SEEKETH AND INTERMEDDLETH WITH ALL WISDOM; _i.e. _a man who has an earnest desire for self-improvement will hold himself aloof from worldly entanglements, and, occupying himself wholly in this pursuit, will become conversant with all wisdom. This gives good sense, and offers a contrast to the fool in Proverbs 18:2, who "hath no delight in understanding." But the Hebrew does not rightly bear this interpretation. Its conciseness occasions ambiguity. Literally, _For his desire a man who separates himself seeks_;_ in _(or _against_) all wisdom he mingles

DEATH AND LIFE [ARE] IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE,.... Of witnesses, according to the testimony they bear; of judges, according to the sentence they pass; of teachers, according to the doctrine they preach; of all men, who, by their well or ill speaking, bring death or life to themselves and others. Some, by their tongues, by the too free use of them, or falsehood they utter, are the cause of death to themselves and others; and some, by their silence, or by their prudent speech and prevalent intercession, secure or obtain life for themselves and others; yea, judgment at the last day will proceed according to a man's words, "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned", Matthew 12:37; the tongue is the instrument either of a great deal of good, or of a great deal of evil; AND THEY THAT LOVE IT SHALL EAT THE FRUIT THEREOF; that delight to

CHAPTER 18 PROVERBS OF PERSONAL INSTRUCTION There is first a warning against separation produced by desire, that is for gratification and pleasure, and not for a righteous purpose. Such a one becomes an enemy of true wisdom and one who intermeddleth with all wisdom. This proverb finds a New Testament illustration in Alexander the coppersmith, as well as Hymenaeus and Philetus, and Diotrephes of whom John writes in his epistle. A fool foams out his own folly. This proverb in Proverbs 18:2 is illustrated by many of the critics of the Bible. They have no delight in true understanding but their own hearts are laid bare by their mad oppositions to God's Holy Word. The fool's mouth, his lips, the talebearer (whisperer), and the slothful are the themes of the proverbs in Proverbs 18:6. Then we read

PROVERBS 18:1. MT yields no satisfactory sense. The LXX reads The man who wishes to separate from his friends seeks pretexts, but is always liable to reproach. Frankenberg renders the alienated friend seeks an occasion (emending the word for - desire-'), seeks by all means to stir up strife. Proverbs 18:4. RV translates correctly, but the sense is strange. Read, perhaps, The words of the wise are deep waters, a flowing brook, a fountain of life, but this is conjecture rather than emendation. Proverbs 18:5. _cf._ Proverbs 17:26, which may have originally followed this verse....

POWER. Hebrew "hand", put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Cause), App-6, for the power put forth by it. THE TONGUE. Illustrations: the ten spies (Numbers 14:36; Numbers 14:37); Doeg (1 Samuel 22:9; 1 Samuel 22:10); Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:28; 2 Kings 18:35; 2 Kings 19:22;...

_love it_ i.e. delight in using it, as an instrument either of "death" or of "life....

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 18:13-24 1. How is it folly to him (Proverbs 18:13)? 2. How is it shame to him (Proverbs 18:13)? 3. What would a doctor get out of Proverbs 18:14? 4. Locate the parallels in Proverbs 18:15. 5. Cite Bible examples of such gifts (Proverbs 18:16). 6. What lesson should church leaders learn from the first statement (Proverbs 18:17)? 7. Why did the

1. Lit. 'One who separates himself seeks desire, quarrels with all wisdom.' This would mean that a solitary recluse follows his own wishes and opposes everything reasonable. But LXX suggests, 'The alienated friend seeks an occasion of quarrel, seeks by all means to stir up strife.'...