Proverbs 18:19

19 An offended brother is more [resistant] than a strong city, and disputes are like the locked gate of a castle tower.

Proverbs 18:19 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 18:19

A brother offended [is harder to be won] than a strong city,
&c.] A fortified city may sooner be taken by an enemy, than one brother offended can be reconciled to another; their resentments against each other are keener than against another person that has offended them; and their love being turned into hatred, it is more bitter; and it is more difficult to compose differences between brethren than between enemies; wherefore such should take care that they fall not out by the way: this is true of brethren in a natural sense; as the cases of Abel and Cain, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brethren, Amnon and Absalom, and others, show; and of brethren in a spiritual sense, as Paul and Barnabas, Luther and Calvin, and others; and [their] contentions [are] like the bars of a castle:
which cannot be easily broken or cut asunder: so contentions, especially those among brethren, are with great difficulty made to cease, and their differences composed; they will stand it out against one another as long as a strong city, or a barred castle, against an enemy.

Proverbs 18:19 In-Context

17 The first to state his case seems right [until] his neighbor comes to cross-examine him.

18 Flipping a coin ends quarrels and settles [issues] between powerful people.

19 An offended brother is more [resistant] than a strong city, and disputes are like the locked gate of a castle tower.

20 A person's speaking ability provides for his stomach. His talking provides him a living.

21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love to talk will have to eat their own words.