Proverbs 26:21

21 Just as charcoal and wood keep a fire going, a quarrelsome person keeps an argument going.

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 is the one who tricks a neighbor and then says, "I was just joking."
20 Without wood, a fire will go out, and without gossip, quarreling will stop.
21 Just as charcoal and wood keep a fire going, a quarrelsome person keeps an argument going.
22 The words of a gossip are like tasty bits of food; people like to gobble them up.
23 Kind words from a wicked mind are like a shiny coating on a clay pot.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.