Proverbs 18:21 (DRB)

Passage

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: they that love it, shall eat the fruits thereof.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 18:19 A brother that is helped by his brother, is like a strong city: and judgments are like the bars of cities.

Proverbs 18:20 Of the fruit of a man's mouth shall his belly be satisfied: and the offspring of his lips shall fill him.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: they that love it, shall eat the fruits thereof.

Proverbs 18:22 He that hath found a good wife, hath found a good thing, and shall receive a pleasure from the Lord. He that driveth away a good wife, driveth away a good thing: but he that keepeth an adulteress, is foolish and wicked.

Proverbs 18:23 The poor will speak with supplications, and the rich will speak roughly.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "death", "life", "power", "tongue", "love", "shall", "fruits", and "thereof". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "death" and "life", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "Of the fruit of a man's mouth..." into verse 22's "He that hath found a good wife...", so "death" and "life" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "death" and "life" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.