Proverbs 18:19

19 A brother transgressed against is as a strong city, And contentions as the bar of a palace.

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 Righteous [is] the first in his own cause, His neighbour cometh and hath searched him.

18 The lot causeth contentions to cease, And between the mighty it separateth.

19 A brother transgressed against is as a strong city, And contentions as the bar of a palace.

20 From the fruit of a man's mouth is his belly satisfied, [From the] increase of his lips he is satisfied.

21 Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue, And those loving it eat its fruit.