Proverbs 18:21

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

מָ֣וֶת וְ֭חַיִּים בְּיַד־לָשׁ֑וֹן וְ֝אֹהֲבֶ֗יהָ יֹאכַ֥ל פִּרְיָֽהּ׃

Transliteration

māweṯ and-ḥayyîm in-hand-of-lāšôn and-ʾōhăḇeyhā yōʾḵal piryāh

Grammar Details

• *māweṯ*: noun, masculine singular - death
• *ḥayyîm*: noun, masculine plural - life
• *lāšôn*: noun, feminine singular - tongue/language
• *ʾōhăḇeyhā*: verb, qal participle, masculine plural with 3rd feminine singular suffix - those who love it
• *yōʾḵal*: verb, qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - eats/consumes
• *piryāh*: noun, masculine singular with 3rd feminine singular suffix - its fruit

Word Meanings

• *māweṯ*: death/dying
• *ḥayyîm*: life/living
• *lāšôn*: tongue/language/speech
• *ʾōhăḇeyhā*: those who love it/those who desire it
• *yōʾḵal*: eats/consumes/partakes of
• *piryāh*: its fruit/its result/its outcome

Referenced Verses

• Eph 4:29 : 29 Let {G3956} no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.
• Matt 12:35-37 : 35 The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
• Col 4:6 : 6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer each one.
• Prov 10:19-21 : 19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression; But he that refraineth his lips doeth wisely. 20 The tongue of the righteous is [as] choice silver: The heart of the wicked is little worth. 21 The lips of the righteous feed many; But the foolish die for lack of understanding.
• Jas 3:6-9 : 6 And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members {G3779} is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beasts and birds, {G5037} of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind. 8 But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] a restless evil, [it is] full of deadly poison. 9 Therewith {G846} bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith {G846} curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God:
• Prov 10:31 : 31 The mouth of the righteous bringeth forth wisdom; But the perverse tongue shall be cut off.
• Prov 11:30 : 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; And he that is wise winneth souls.
• Prov 13:2-3 : 2 A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth; But the soul of the treacherous [shall eat] violence. 3 He that guardeth his mouth keepeth his life; [But] he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
• Prov 18:4-7 : 4 The words of a man's mouth are [as] deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is [as] a flowing brook. 5 To respect the person of the wicked is not good, [Nor] to turn aside the righteous in judgment. 6 A fool's lips enter into contention, And his mouth calleth for stripes. 7 A fool's mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.
• Eccl 10:12-14 : 12 The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 14 A fool also multiplieth words: [yet] man knoweth not what shall be; and that which shall be after him, who can tell him?
• Prov 12:13 : 13 In the transgression of the lips is a snare to the evil man; But the righteous shall come out of trouble.
• Isa 57:19 : 19 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near, saith Jehovah; and I will heal him.
• 2 Pet 2:18 : 18 For, uttering great swelling [words] of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;
• Titus 1:10-11 : 10 For there are many unruly men, {G2532} vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, 11 whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
• Rom 10:14-15 : 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!
• 2 Cor 2:16 : 16 to the one {G3303} a savor from death unto death; {G1161} to the other a savor from life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
• 2 Cor 11:15 : 15 It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.