Proverbs 26:18
in Proverbs 26Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As a madman who casteth firebrands, Arrows, and death,
KJV
As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death,
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This verse in Proverbs 26
Commentary
3 notes on this verseAs a mad man, who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death. Or the instruments of death, as Aben Ezra; or the sharp arrows of death, as the Targum and Syriac version; who casts firebrands into the houses and barns of his neighbours, to consume them; or arrows at their persons and cattle, to destroy them; or any other instruments of death, which none but a mad man, or one wickedly mad, would do.
This site's exposition
taketh a dog by the ears
on Proverbs 26:17-22
The strife cluster: the passerby who meddles with a quarrel not his own has taken a dog by the ears, safe neither holding on nor letting go, and the man who deceives his neighbour and says am not I in sport is a madman scattering firebrands, arrows, and death, the joke measured by its ammunition. The talebearer proverbs give the fire its physics: where no wood is, the fire goeth out, so strife dies of starvation when no one feeds it, and the contentious man is the coal that rekindles it. Verse 22 repeats 18:8 word for word, the talebearer's words as wounds going down into the innermost parts, a doubling the collection allows and the note simply marks.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The teacher cuts off the plea which people make when they have hurt their neighbor by lies, that they “did not mean mischief,” that they were “only in fun.” Such jesting is like that of the madman flinging firebrands or arrows.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
one who grabs a dog by its ears One who passes by and becomes embroiled in a quarrel that is not his is like one who grabs a dog by his ears, who causes him to bite him for no reason.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּֽ֭מִתְלַהְלֵהַּ | kemitlahleah | like a madman | H3856 → | |
| הַיֹּרֶ֥ה | haiyoreh | who throws | H3384 → | 80 times |
| זִקִּ֗ים | zikim | burning arrows | H2131 → | |
| חִצִּ֥ים | chitzim | arrows | H2671 → | 53 times |
| וָמָֽוֶת׃ | vamavet | and death | H4194 → | 156 times |
כְּֽ֭מִתְלַהְלֵהַּlike a madman
kemitlahleahH3856 →
הַיֹּרֶ֥הwho throws
haiyorehH3384 →80 times
זִקִּ֗יםburning arrows
zikimH2131 →
חִצִּ֥יםarrows
chitzimH2671 →53 times
וָמָֽוֶת׃and death
vamavetH4194 →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
Isaiah 50:11Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:5–7
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Romans 1:21–22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- John 8:24
That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
- Romans 10:3
Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Matthew 15:6–8
he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
- Jeremiah 17:5–7
Through
Proverbs 25:18Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
it leads to
- 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.
- Psalms 57:4
Through
Genesis 49:23The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
it leads to
- Genesis 37:24
and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.
- Genesis 37:24
Through
Proverbs 7:23until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 9:12
For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
- Ecclesiastes 9:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.