Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 18:19 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city. Disputes are like the bars of a fortress. "
Proverbs 18:19
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
17 He who pleads his cause first seems right— until another comes and questions him.
18 The lot settles disputes, and keeps strong ones apart.
19 A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city. Disputes are like the bars of a fortress.
20 A man’s stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.
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Great care must be taken to prevent quarrels among relatives, and among people who are specially bound to one another. Such conflicts are especially ugly and unnatural, and they are often felt more deeply than other offenses. Wisdom and grace would make it easy for us to forgive a relative or friend who has hurt us, but our sinful nature makes that very hard. So we must be careful not to offend a brother, or anyone who has treated us like a brother, because ingratitude stirs people up strongly.
We should also work hard to settle disagreements between relatives as quickly as possible. This is difficult work, and that is part of what makes it honorable when it is done well. Esau, a brother who had been offended, seemed harder to win than a strong city, yet God changed his heart in answer to Jacob’s prayer.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 18:1
"A man who isolates himself pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment."
Proverbs 18:2
"A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion."
Proverbs 18:3
"When wickedness comes, contempt also comes, and with shame comes disgrace."
Proverbs 18:4
"The words of a man’s mouth are like deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook."
Proverbs 18:5
"To be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good, nor to deprive the innocent of justice."
Proverbs 18:6
"A fool’s lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings."
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