20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. 21 As charcoal is to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife. 22 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.
Contention heats the spirit, and puts families and societies into a flame. And that fire is commonly kindled and kept burning by whisperers and backbiters.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 26:20-22
Commentary on Proverbs 26:20-22
(Read Proverbs 26:20-22)
Contention heats the spirit, and puts families and societies into a flame. And that fire is commonly kindled and kept burning by whisperers and backbiters.