Proverbs 21:6

6 ¹The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a ²fleeting ³vapor and a ⁴snare of death. ^[a]

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 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.

5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.

7 The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.

8 The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is upright.

Cross References

• 1. 21:6 ch. 20:21; See ch. 10:2
• 2. 21:6 [ch. 13:11]
• 3. 21:6 Job 13:25
• 4. 21:6 [ch. 8:36]

Footnotes

• [a] 21:6 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Latin; most Hebrew manuscripts 'vapor for those who seek death'