Proverbs 21:6

6 He who gets stores of wealth by a false tongue, is going after what is only breath, and searching for death.

Proverbs 21:6 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 21:6

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
By telling lies in trade; by bearing false witness in a court of judicature; or by preaching false doctrines in the church of God: [is] a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death:
such treasures, though ever so great, are like any light thing, smoke or vapour, straw, stubble, chaff, or a feather, tossed about the wind; which is expressive of the instability uncertainty of riches ill gotten; they do not last long, but are taken away and carried off by one providence or another; and they are likewise harmful and pernicious; they issue in death: and those that seek after them, and obtain them in a bad way, are said to "seek death": not intentionally, but eventually; this they certainly find, if grace prevent not; see ( Proverbs 8:36 ) . Jarchi reads it, they are the "snares of death" to him; and so the Septuagint version.

Proverbs 21:6 In-Context

4 A high look and a heart of pride, *** of the evil-doer is sin.

5 The purposes of the man of industry have their outcome only in wealth; but one who is over-quick in acting will only come to be in need.

6 He who gets stores of wealth by a false tongue, is going after what is only breath, and searching for death.

7 By their violent acts the evil-doers will be pulled away, because they have no desire to do what is right.

8 Twisted is the way of him who is full of crime; but as for him whose heart is clean, his work is upright.