Proverbs 26:20
Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.
Majority Standard Bible
In The King James Version
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
In Context
19so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”
21Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
Cross References
Proverbs 16:28A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
Proverbs 26:22The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 26:19-20
18 As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, 19 So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport? See here, 1. How mischievous those are that make no scruple of deceiving their neighbours; they are as madmen that cast firebrands, arrows, and death, so much hurt may they do by their deceits. They value themselves upon it as polite cunning men, but really they are as madmen. There is not a greater madness in the world than a wilful sin. It is not only the passionate furious man,… Read the whole commentary →