Proverbs 26:21

21 [As] charcoal fuels burning coals and wood fuels fire, so a quarrelsome person fuels a dispute.

Proverbs 26:21 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 26:21

As coals [are] to burning coals, and wood to fire
As brands, wood half burnt, or dead coals put to live and burning ones, soon take fire and become like them, and fit and proper fuel for them, and add to their heat: so [is] a contentious man to kindle strife;
or "a man of contentions" {k}; who is given to it, is full of it; it is agreeable to his natural temper and disposition; he is in his element when at it; such a man is as fuel to the fire, as a dead coal to a living one, which increases the heat of it; so does he, he kindles and spreads the flame of contention and strife.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (Mynwdm vya) "vir contentionum", Montanus, Baynus, Piscator, Gejerus.

Proverbs 26:21 In-Context

19 so is the person who tricks his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!"
20 Without wood a fire goes out, and without gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 [As] charcoal fuels burning coals and wood fuels fire, so a quarrelsome person fuels a dispute.
22 The words of a gossip are swallowed greedily, and they go down into a person's innermost being.
23 [Like] a clay pot covered with cheap silver, [so] is smooth talk that covers up an evil heart.
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