“Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.”
My Notes
What Does Proverbs 26:20 Mean?
"Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth." The analogy is devastatingly simple: fire needs fuel. Remove the fuel, the fire dies. Strife needs gossip. Remove the gossip, the strife dies. The talebearer is the wood. Without them, the conflict simply stops.
The word "talebearer" (nirgan) is the same word for "whisperer" used in Proverbs 16:28. It describes someone who carries stories, shares secrets, and feeds conflict with information — or misinformation — that keeps people angry at each other.
The marginal note translates "ceaseth" as "is silent" — when the gossip stops, the strife goes quiet. The noise dies. The drama fades. The fire that seemed self-sustaining was actually being fed by a specific person, and removing that person removes the fuel.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Is there someone in your life who keeps feeding a conflict that would otherwise die?
- 2.Are you the 'wood' in someone else's strife — carrying stories that keep the fire burning?
- 3.What would happen if you simply stopped relaying information about a conflict?
- 4.How do you identify the talebearer in a group — and what do you do about it?
Devotional
No wood, no fire. No gossip, no strife. It's that simple.
Every persistent conflict in your life — every feud that won't die, every drama that keeps reigniting, every strife that seems impossible to extinguish — has a fuel source. Something is feeding it. And more often than you think, that something is a someone: the talebearer, the whisperer, the person carrying stories back and forth between the parties.
Remove the talebearer and the fire goes out. Not because the original issue is resolved, but because the ongoing fuel is cut off. Most conflicts would die natural deaths if no one kept adding wood. But the gossip, the updates, the "did you hear what they said?" keeps the fire burning long past its natural lifespan.
This proverb asks two questions. First: is someone feeding your conflicts? Is there a person in your social circle who, every time the drama starts to die down, shows up with more wood? They might present themselves as concerned, neutral, "just keeping you informed." They're the wood.
Second: are you the wood? Are you the one carrying stories, updating grievances, keeping conflicts alive that would otherwise burn out? If you stopped feeding the fire — stopped sharing the update, stopped relaying the comment — would the strife go silent?
Remove the wood. Watch the fire die.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out,.... Or "woods" (h); where there is a large quantity of wood or fuel, the…
Contention is as a fire; it heats the spirit, burns up all that is good, and puts families and societies into a flame.…
talebearer Rather, whisperer, as the word is rendered in Pro 16:28. The Vulg. has susurrohere and in Pro 26:26 below,…
Cross References
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