Proverbs 18:8
in Proverbs 18The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts.
KJV
The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
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This verse in Proverbs 18
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThe words of a tale-bearer - דברי נרגן dibrey nirgan, “the words of the whisperer,” the busy-body, the busy, meddling croaker. Verba bilinguis, “the words of the double-tongued.” - Vulgate. The wordes of the twisel tunge - Old MS. Bible. “The words of a slanderer.” - Coverdale. The words of a deceiver, the fair-spoken, deeply-malicious man, though they appear soft and gracious, are wounds deeply injurious. The original word is כמתלהמים kemithlahamim; they are as soft or simple, or undesigning. But Schultens gives another meaning.
This site's exposition
A fool’s lips enter into contention
on Proverbs 18:6-9
A fool's lips walk straight into a quarrel, and his mouth invites the very blows it should avoid, his own destruction and his soul's snare in one line. The talebearer's words are wounds that go down into the innermost parts, an image repeated later at 26:22 that the bench reads as the book's settled verdict on gossip's real damage. The slothful worker is named brother to a great waster, since wasted effort and wasted time spend the same coin.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The words of a talebearer are as wounds,.... Or rather they are wounds; they wound the credit and reputation of the person of whom the tale is told; they wound the person to whom it is told, and destroy his love and affection to his friend; and in the issue they wound, hurt, and ruin the talebearer himself.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
(Compare Pr 16:28). as wounds--not sustained by the Hebrew; better, as "sweet morsels," which men gladly swallow. innermost . . . belly--the mind, or heart (compare Pr 20:27-30;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דִּבְרֵ֣י | divrei | [the] words of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| נִ֭רְגָּן | nirgon | a slanderer | H7279 → | 7 times |
| כְּמִֽתְלַהֲמִ֑ים | kemitlahamim | [are] like delicacies | H3859 → | |
| וְ֝הֵ֗ם | vehem | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יָרְד֥וּ | yaredu | they go down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| חַדְרֵי־ | chadrei- | [the] chambers of | H2315 → | 38 times |
| בָֽטֶן׃ | vaten | [the] belly | H990 → | 72 times |
דִּבְרֵ֣י[the] words of
divreiH1697 →1440 times
נִ֭רְגָּןa slanderer
nirgonH7279 →7 times
כְּמִֽתְלַהֲמִ֑ים[are] like delicacies
kemitlahamimH3859 →
וְ֝הֵ֗םand they
vehemH1992 →553 times
יָרְד֥וּthey go down
yareduH3381 →381 times
חַדְרֵי־[the] chambers of
chadrei-H2315 →38 times
בָֽטֶן׃[the] belly
vatenH990 →72 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 12:18Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
- Proverbs 15:4
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- Proverbs 10:20–21
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.
- Psalms 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Proverbs 16:24
Through
Leviticus 19:16You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:1
“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.
- Exodus 23:7
Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
- Proverbs 20:19
He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
- Exodus 23:1
Through
Proverbs 16:28A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
it leads to
- Proverbs 17:9
Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends.
- Proverbs 17:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.