Proverbs 21:6
in Proverbs 21Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a deadly pursuit.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue Is a vapor driven to and fro by them that seek death.
KJV
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
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This verse in Proverbs 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThou shalt not be double-minded nor double-tongued; for to be double-tongued is a snare of death. Thy speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed. Thou shalt not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil disposed, nor haughty. Thou shalt not take evil counsel against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not hate any man; but some thou shalt reprove, and concerning some thou shalt pray, and some thou shalt love more than thy own life.
This site's exposition
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness
on Proverbs 21:5-7
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness sets patience against haste, the hasty man's plans running only to want. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue names the fastest wrong shortcut, a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death, wealth that does not even benefit the man who lied for it. The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them closes the triplet on the same ground, because they refuse to do judgment, the same justice named at verse 3 now working as the standard a man's own dishonest gain is measured against and found short.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
) is no better than downright robbery. Cheating is stealing; you might as well pick a man's pocket as impose upon him by a lie in making a bargain, which he had no fence against but by not believing you; and it will be no excuse from the guilt of robbery to say that he might choose whether he would believe you, for that is a debt we should owe to all men.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue,....
Thus when Achan was stoned he was a ransom for the camp of righteous Israel; and the seven sons of Saul, when they were hanged, were a ransom for the kingdom of righteous David. What is often done by the providence of God: The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked comes in his stead, and so seems as if he were a ransom for him, ch. xi.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Of them that seek death - Instead of מבקשי mebakshey, “them that seek,” several MSS., some ancient editions, with Symmachus, the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Arabic, have מקשי mokeshey, the snares. He who gets treasures by a lying tongue, pursues vanity into the snares of death. Our common translation may be as good. But he who, by the snares of his tongue, endeavors to buy and sell to the best advantage, is pursuing what is empty in itself; and he is ensnared by death, while he is attempting to ensnare others.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The getting--or, "what is obtained" (compare Job 7:2; Jer 22:13, Hebrew). vanity . . . to and fro--as fleeting as chaff or stubble in the wind (compare Pr 20:17-21; Such gettings are unsatisfactory. them . . . death--act as if they did (Pr 8:36;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Vanity - Or, “a breath driven to and fro of those that are seeking death.” Another reading of the last words is: “of the snares of death” (compare 1Ti 6:9). Some commentators have suggested that the “vapor” or “mist” is the mirage of the desert, misleading those who follow it, and becoming a “net of death.”
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פֹּ֣עַל | poal | [the] acquisition of | H6467 → | 37 times |
| א֭וֹצָרוֹת | ʾotzarot | treasures | H214 → | 79 times |
| בִּלְשׁ֣וֹן | bilshon | by a tongue of | H3956 → | 117 times |
| שָׁ֑קֶר | shaker | falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
| הֶ֥בֶל | hevel | [is] a breath | H1892 → | 73 times |
| נִ֝דָּ֗ף | nidaf | driven about | H5086 → | |
| מְבַקְשֵׁי־ | mevakshei- | seekers of | H1245 → | 225 times |
| מָֽוֶת׃ | mavet | death | H4194 → | 156 times |
פֹּ֣עַל[the] acquisition of
poalH6467 →37 times
א֭וֹצָרוֹתtreasures
ʾotzarotH214 →79 times
בִּלְשׁ֣וֹןby a tongue of
bilshonH3956 →117 times
שָׁ֑קֶרfalsehood
shakerH8267 →113 times
הֶ֥בֶל[is] a breath
hevelH1892 →73 times
נִ֝דָּ֗ףdriven about
nidafH5086 →
מְבַקְשֵׁי־seekers of
mevakshei-H1245 →225 times
מָֽוֶת׃death
mavetH4194 →156 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 13:11Dishonest wealth will dwindle, but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:8
He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 20:21
An inheritance gained quickly will not be blessed in the end.
- Proverbs 10:2
Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Proverbs 28:8
Through
Jeremiah 17:11Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will…
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:20
A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 28:20
Through
Proverbs 8:36But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:32
He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
- Proverbs 1:31
So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- John 15:23–24
Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.
- Proverbs 15:32
Through
Proverbs 10:2Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:4
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Proverbs 11:4
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Didache, The Didache, Chapter 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.