Proverbs 18:21
New English Translation
21 Death and life are in the power[a] of the tongue,[b]
and those who love its use[c] will eat its fruit.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 18:21 tn Heb “in the hand of.”
- Proverbs 18:21 sn What people say can lead to life or death. The Midrash on Psalms shows one way the tongue [what is said] can cause death: “The evil tongue slays three, the slanderer, the slandered, and the listener” (Midrash Tehillim 52:2). See J. G. Williams, “The Power of Form: A Study of Biblical Proverbs,” Semeia 17 (1980): 35-38.
- Proverbs 18:21 tn The referent of “it” must be the tongue, i.e., what the tongue says (= “its use”). So those who enjoy talking, indulging in it, must “eat” its fruit, whether good or bad. The expression “eating the fruit” is an implied comparison; it means accept the consequences of loving to talk (cf. TEV).
Proverbs 18:21
King James Version
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
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Proverbs 18:21
New International Version
Proverbs 18:21
New King James Version
21 (A)Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18:21
English Standard Version
21 (A)Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.
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