Proverbs 21:6

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
getting	פֹּ֣עַל Po.'al	H6467	an act or work (concretely) · noun, common masculine singular construct
treasures	א֭וֹצָרוֹת 'o.tza.rot	H214	a depository · noun, common feminine plural absolute
lying	שָׁ֑קֶר Sha.ker	H8267	an untruth · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tongue	בִּלְשׁ֣וֹן bil.Shon	H3956	the tongue (of man or animals) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
vanity	הֶ֥בֶל He.vel	H1892	emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine singular absolute
of	נִ֝דָּ֗ף ni.Daf	H5086	to shove asunder · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
seek	מְבַקְשֵׁי me.vak.shei-	H1245	to search out (by any method · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural construct
death	מָֽוֶת Ma.vet	H4194	death (natural or violent) · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
Proverbs 10:2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Proverbs 20:21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
Jeremiah 17:11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his d…
Proverbs 8:36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
1 Timothy 6:9-10 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and per…
Proverbs 20:14 It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
Proverbs 22:8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:6

This shows the folly of those that hope to enrich themselves by dishonest practices, by oppressing and over-reaching those with whom they deal, by false-witness-bearing, or by fraudulent contracts, of those that make no scruples of lying when there is any thing to be got by it. They may perhaps heap up treasures by these means, that which they make their treasure; but, 1. They will not meet with the satisfaction they expect. It is a vanity tossed to and fro; it will be disappointment and vexation of spirit to them; they will not have the comfort of it, nor can they put any confidence in it, but will be perpetually uneasy. It will be tossed to and fro by their own consciences, and by the cens…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:6

The getting--or, "what is obtained" (compare Job 7:2; Jer 22:13, Hebrew). vanity . . . to and fro--as fleeting as chaff or stubble in the wind (compare Pro 20:17-21; Psa 62:10). Such gettings are unsatisfactory. them . . . death--act as if they did (Pro 8:36; Pro 17:19).

John Gill on Proverbs 21:6

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue,.... By telling lies in trade; by bearing false witness in a court of judicature; or by preaching false doctrines in the church of God: is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death: such treasures, though ever so great, are like any light thing, smoke or vapour, straw, stubble, chaff, or a feather, tossed about the wind; which is expressive of the instability uncertainty of riches ill gotten; they do not last long, but are taken away and carried off by one providence or another; and they are likewise harmful and pernicious; they issue in death: and those that seek after them, and obtain them in a bad way, are said to "seek death": not inte…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:6

6 The gaining of treasures by a lying tongue Is a fleeting breath of such as seek death. One may, at any rate, after the free manner of gnomic resemblances and comparisons, regard "fleeting breath" and "such as seek death" as two separated predicates: such gain is fleeting breath, so those who gain are seeking death (Caspari's Beitrge zu Jes. p. 53). But it is also syntactically admissible to interpret the words rendered "seekers of death" as gen.; for such interruptions of the st. constr., as here by נדּף [fleeting], frequently occur, e.g., Isa 28:1; Isa 32:13; Ch1 9:13; and that an idea, in spite of such interruption, may be thought of as gen., is seen from the Arab. (Note: Vid., Friedr. P…

The Church Fathers

Thou shalt not be double-minded nor double-tongued; for to be double-tongued is a snare of death. Thy speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed. Thou shalt not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil disposed, nor haughty. Thou shalt not take evil counsel against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not hate any man; but some thou shalt reprove, and concerning some thou shalt pray, and some thou shalt love more than thy own life.
— Didache, The Didache, Chapter 2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Falsehood · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Lying · Vanity of getting riches by — Vanity of getting riches by
Riches · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Vanity · Riches gotten by falsehood are — Riches gotten by falsehood are

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 21:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:6

John Gill on Proverbs 21:6

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 21:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 21:6

John Gill on Proverbs 21:6

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 21:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 21:4

Rashi on Proverbs 21:6