Pro 18:21 | KD | STEP | Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And whoever loveth it shall eat its fruit. The hand, יד, is so common a metaphor for power, that as here a hand is attributed to the tongue, so e.g. , to the flame, and to Hades. Death and life is the great alternative which is placed, , before man. According as he uses his tongue, he falls under the power of death or attains to life. All interpreters attribute, 21b, ואהביה to the tongue: qui eam ( linguam ) amant vescentur (יאכל, distrib. sing., as , , etc.) fructu ejus . But “to love the tongue” is a strange and obscure expression. He loves the tongue, says Hitzig, who loves to babble. Euchel: he who guards it carefully, or: he who takes care of it, i.e. , who applies himself to right discourse. Combining both, Zöckler: who uses it much, as εὐλογῶν or κακολογῶν. The lxx translates, οἱ κρατοῦντες αὐτῆς, i.e. , אחזיה; but אחז means prehendere and tenere , not cohibere , and the tongue kept in restraint brings forth indeed no bad fruit, but it brings no fruit at all. Why thus? Does the suffix of ואהביה, perhaps like , Chethı̂b, refer to wisdom, which, it is true, is not named, but which lies everywhere before the poet’s mind? At we ventured to make חכמה the subject of 3b. Then 21b would be as a miniature of -21. Or is ואהביה a mutilation of ואהב יהוה: and he who loves Jahve ( ) enjoys its (the tongue’s) fruit?

‏ Proverbs 18:21

Pro 18:21 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And whoever loveth it shall eat its fruit.

The hand, יד, is so common a metaphor for power, that as here a hand is attributed to the tongue, so e.g., Isa 47:14 to the flame, and Psa 49:16 to Hades. Death and life is the great alternative which is placed, Deu 30:15, before man. According as he uses his tongue, he falls under the power of death or attains to life. All interpreters attribute, 21b, ואהביה to the tongue: qui eam (linguam) amant vescentur (יאכל, distrib. sing., as Pro 3:18, Pro 3:35, etc.) fructu ejus. But “to love the tongue” is a strange and obscure expression. He loves the tongue, says Hitzig, who loves to babble. Euchel: he who guards it carefully, or: he who takes care of it, i.e., who applies himself to right discourse. Combining both, Zöckler: who uses it much, as εὐλογῶν or κακολογῶν. The lxx translates, οἱ κρατοῦντες αὐτῆς, i.e., אחזיה; but אחז means prehendere and tenere, not cohibere, and the tongue kept in restraint brings forth indeed no bad fruit, but it brings no fruit at all. Why thus? Does the suffix of ואהביה, perhaps like Pro 8:17, Chethı̂b, refer to wisdom, which, it is true, is not named, but which lies everywhere before the poet’s mind? At Pro 14:3 we ventured to make חכמה the subject of 3b. Then 21b would be as a miniature of Pro 8:17-21. Or is ואהביה a mutilation of ואהב יהוה: and he who loves Jahve (Psa 97:10) enjoys its (the tongue’s) fruit?