Proverbs 26:21

21 A quarrelsome person in a dispute is like kerosene thrown on a fire.

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 Are worse than careless campers who walk away from smoldering campfires.
20 When you run out of wood, the fire goes out; when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.
21 A quarrelsome person in a dispute is like kerosene thrown on a fire.
22 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?
23 Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.