Proverbs 21:6

6 Making a fortune through a lying tongue is a vanishing mist,^[a] a pursuit of death.^{[b] [c]}

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 The lamp that guides the wicked- haughty eyes and an arrogant heart-is sin.

5 The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit, but anyone who is reckless only becomes poor.

6 Making a fortune through a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a pursuit of death.

7 The violence of the wicked sweeps them away because they refuse to act justly.

8 A guilty man's conduct is crooked, but the behavior of the innocent is upright.

Footnotes

• [a] Or a breath blown away
• [b] Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg read a snare of death
• [c] Lit is vanity, ones seeking death