Proverbs 26:21
in Proverbs 26Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to inflame strife.
KJV
As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 26
Commentary
1 note on this verseThis 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פֶּחָ֣ם | pecham | charcoal | H6352 → | |
| לְ֭גֶחָלִים | legechalim | to burning coals | H1513 → | 18 times |
| וְעֵצִ֣ים | veetzim | and wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
| לְאֵ֑שׁ | leesh | to fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וְאִ֥ישׁ | veish | and a person of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מִ֝דְיָנִ֗ים | midonim | contentions | H4079 → | 10 times |
| לְחַרְחַר־ | lecharchar- | to kindling | H2787 → | |
| רִֽיב׃ פ | riv | strife | H7379 → | 61 times |
פֶּחָ֣םcharcoal
pechamH6352 →
לְ֭גֶחָלִיםto burning coals
legechalimH1513 →18 times
וְעֵצִ֣יםand wood<s>
veetzimH6086 →328 times
לְאֵ֑שׁto fire
leeshH784 →378 times
וְאִ֥ישׁand a person of
veishH376 →1663 times
מִ֝דְיָנִ֗יםcontentions
midonimH4079 →10 times
לְחַרְחַר־to kindling
lecharchar-H2787 →
רִֽיב׃ פstrife
rivH7379 →61 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 15:18A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
- Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
- Proverbs 29:22
An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
- Proverbs 14:29
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
- Ecclesiastes 10:4
If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.
- Proverbs 15:1
Through
Proverbs 29:22An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- Proverbs 17:19
He who loves transgression loves strife; he who builds his gate high invites destruction.
- Proverbs 15:18
Through
2 Samuel 20:1Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son.…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 12:16
When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your…
- 1 Kings 12:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.