Proverbs 21:6

Proverbs 21:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
• New International Version (NIV)A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Getting treasures by a lying tongue Is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.

Context of Proverbs 21:6

4Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. 5The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. 7The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just. 8The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is upright.

Proverbs 21:6 word by word

פֹּ֣עַל א֭וֹצָרוֹת בִּלְשׁ֣וֹן שָׁ֑קֶר הֶ֥בֶל נִ֝דָּ֗ף מְבַקְשֵׁי־מָֽוֶת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The gettingפֹּ֫עַלpô‛al · workH6467
• of treasuresאוֹצָר'ôtsâr · treasureH214
• by a lyingשֶׁ֫קֶרsheqer · deceptionH8267
• tongueלָשׁוֹןlâshôn lâshôn leshônâh · tongueH3956
• a vanityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• tossed to and fro ofנָדַףnâdaph · to driveH5086
• them that seekבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194

Cross-references for Proverbs 21:6

• Proverbs 10:2Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.
• Proverbs 13:11Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
• Proverbs 20:14"Bad, bad," says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts.
• Proverbs 22:8Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.
• Proverbs 30:8Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,
• Jeremiah 17:11Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.
• 1 Timothy 6:9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
• 2 Peter 2:3And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
• Proverbs 8:36but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death."
• Ezekiel 18:31Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?

Commentaries on Proverbs 21:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Of them that seek death - Instead of מבקשי mebakshey, "them that seek," several MSS., some ancient editions, with Symmachus, the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Arabic, have מקשי mokeshey, the snares. He who gets treasures by a lying tongue, pursues vanity into the snares of death. Our common translation may be as good. But he who, by the snares of his tongue, endeavors to buy and sell to the best advantage, is pursuing what is empty in itself; and he is…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Vanity - Or, “a breath driven to and fro of those that are seeking death.” Another reading of the last words is: “of the snares of death” (compare 1 Timothy 6:9). Some commentators have suggested that the “vapor” or “mist” is the mirage of the desert, misleading those who follow it, and becoming a “net of death.”Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6Verse 6 While men seek wealth by unlawful practices, they seek death.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. The getting--or, "what is obtained" (compare Job 7:2; Jr 22:13, Hebrew). vanity ... to and fro--as fleeting as chaff or stubble in the wind (compare Pr 20:17-21; Psa 62:10). Such gettings are unsatisfactory. them ... death--act as if they did (Pr 8:36; 17:19).Read the comment

Topics related to Proverbs 21:6

• Falsehood
• Riches
• Vanity

In the dictionaries

• Mind
• Ponder
• Toss
• Death
• Get; Getting
• Proverb
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Vanity, Vanities

Commentaries on Proverbs 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings