Bible Strands
Proverbs 26:20
Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author addresses a general audience within a collection of wisdom sayings. The proverb is positioned between a warning about deceptive joking and a description of the quarrelsome man.
The words — The text highlights נִרְגָּן (nir.Gan) as a slanderer and יִשְׁתֹּק (yish.Tok) meaning it becomes quiet or ceases.
The thread — The connection between removing a divisive figure and ending conflict appears in Proverbs 16:28, Proverbs 22:10, and James 3:6.
Why it lands — The reader must identify and remove the fuel of contention to stop the conflict from continuing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 16:28 A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
- Proverbs 22:10 Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart; even quarreling and insults will cease.
- James 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
- Proverbs 26:22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.