“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.”
My Notes
What Does Proverbs 21:6 Mean?
"The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death." Wealth acquired through lies is vapor — insubstantial, temporary, and driven by the wind. The treasures are real but the method of getting them (lying) renders them vanity. And the vanity isn't just empty — it's deadly. The people chasing wealth through lies are 'them that seek death.'
The phrase "vanity tossed to and fro" (hevel niddaph — a vapor driven about, a breath pushed by wind) describes wealth that can't be held: the treasures exist momentarily but are carried away like mist in a breeze. The lying tongue can acquire things, but it can't keep them. The wealth is as ungraspable as the method was dishonest.
The "them that seek death" (mevaqshei mavet — seekers of death) identifies the liars as people pursuing their own destruction: they think they're seeking treasure. They're actually seeking death. The lying tongue that gets the treasure is the same tongue that gets the death. The tool of acquisition is the instrument of destruction.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What have you gotten through dishonesty — and has it stayed or blown away like vapor?
- 2.How does the method (lying) contaminate the acquisition (treasure)?
- 3.What does 'seeking death' while thinking you're 'seeking treasure' teach about self-deception?
- 4.What vapor are you holding onto that was gotten through a lying tongue?
Devotional
Treasures gotten by lies are vapor in the wind — and the people chasing them are chasing death. The wealth is real for a moment. Then it's gone. Blown away like mist. The lying tongue can acquire. It can't retain. The getting and the losing happen in the same breath.
The 'lying tongue' is the method: the treasures exist. They were genuinely gotten. But the HOW — through deception, through dishonesty, through words that weren't true — makes the treasure vanity. The method contaminates the acquisition. The lies that got the wealth make the wealth ungrasable. You hold vapor. You possess wind.
The 'tossed to and fro' means the wealth is unstable: it doesn't sit still. It doesn't accumulate. It's driven around by forces outside the liar's control. The person who thought they were building a fortune is watching their fortune blow around like smoke. The treasures that seemed solid are revealed as atmospheric — present in the air but impossible to grip.
The 'them that seek death' is the proverb's devastating conclusion: you thought you were seeking treasure. You were seeking death. The lying tongue that you used as a wealth-building tool is actually a death-seeking instrument. The person who lies to get rich is a person who is, without knowing it, pursuing their own destruction. The treasure hunt was always a death march.
What treasures have you gotten — or been tempted to get — through a lying tongue? And what are they actually worth?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue,.... By telling lies in trade; by bearing false witness in a court of…
Vanity - Or, “a breath driven to and fro of those that are seeking death.” Another reading of the last words is: “of the…
This shows the folly of those that hope to enrich themselves by dishonest practices, by oppressing and over-reaching…
a vanity&c. Lit. a vapour dispersed; seekers of death. Thus in the abrupt, sententious style of the wisdom of the East…
Cross References
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