Proverbs 26:18
New International Version
Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death

New Living Translation
Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon

English Standard Version
Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death

Berean Standard Bible
Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,

King James Bible
As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death,

New King James Version
Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death,

New American Standard Bible
Like a maniac who shoots Flaming arrows, arrows, and death,

NASB 1995
Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows and death,

NASB 1977
Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows and death,

Legacy Standard Bible
Like a madman who shoots Firebrands, arrows, and death,

Amplified Bible
Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows, and death,

Christian Standard Bible
Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows,

American Standard Version
As a madman who casteth firebrands, Arrows, and death,

Contemporary English Version
It's no crazier to shoot sharp and flaming arrows

English Revised Version
As a madman who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Like a madman who shoots flaming arrows, arrows, and death,

International Standard Version
Like the maniac who shoots fiery darts and deadly arrows—

Majority Standard Bible
Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,

NET Bible
Like a madman who shoots firebrands and deadly arrows,

New Heart English Bible
Like a madman who shoots firebrands, arrows, and death,

Webster's Bible Translation
As a mad man who casteth fire-brands, arrows, and death,

World English Bible
Like a madman who shoots torches, arrows, and death,
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
As [one] pretending to be feeble, "" Who is casting sparks, arrows, and death,

Young's Literal Translation
As one pretending to be feeble, Who is casting sparks, arrows, and death,

Smith's Literal Translation
As a madman casting fiery darts, arrows and death,
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
As he is guilty that shooteth arrows, and lances unto death :

Catholic Public Domain Version
Just as he is guilty who let loose the arrows and the lances unto death,

New American Bible
Like a crazed archer scattering firebrands and deadly arrows,

New Revised Standard Version
Like a maniac who shoots deadly firebrands and arrows,
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Like haughty men who utter words sharp and deadly as arrows,

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Just as a braggart casts words like sharp arrows of death
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
As a madman who casteth firebrands, Arrows, and death;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
As those who need correction put forth fair words to men, and he that first falls in with the proposal will be overthrown;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Similitudes and Instructions
17Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own. 18Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows, 19so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”…

Cross References
Ephesians 5:4
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

Matthew 12:36-37
But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. / For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

James 3:5-6
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. / The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Colossians 3:8
But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

1 Peter 3:10
For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

Romans 1:29-30
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, / slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.

Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; / idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, / and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, / nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

2 Timothy 3:2-4
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, / unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, / traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

Matthew 5:22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.

Psalm 52:2-4
Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit. / You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah / You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.

Psalm 64:3-4
who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows, / ambushing the innocent in seclusion, shooting suddenly, without fear.

Psalm 10:7
His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

Psalm 34:13
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.

Psalm 120:2-3
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue. / What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?


Treasury of Scripture

As a mad man who casts firebrands, arrows, and death,

firebrands is flames or sparks

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Arrows Casteth Casting Deadly Death Feeble Firebrands Fire-Brands Flaming Head Mad Madman Pretending Sends Shooting Shoots Sparks Sticks Throws
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Arrows Casteth Casting Deadly Death Feeble Firebrands Fire-Brands Flaming Head Mad Madman Pretending Sends Shooting Shoots Sparks Sticks Throws
Proverbs 26
1. observations about fools
13. about sluggards
17. and about contentious busybodies














Like a madman
The Hebrew word for "madman" is "מִתְלַהְלֵהַּ" (mithlahleah), which conveys a sense of someone who is out of control or acting irrationally. In the ancient Near Eastern context, madness was often associated with divine judgment or a loss of divine favor. This phrase sets the tone for the verse, illustrating the chaotic and dangerous nature of the actions being described. The imagery of a madman evokes a sense of unpredictability and recklessness, reminding us of the importance of self-control and wisdom in our actions.

shooting firebrands
The term "firebrands" refers to burning pieces of wood or torches. In ancient warfare, firebrands were used to set enemy structures ablaze, causing destruction and chaos. The Hebrew word "זִקִּים" (ziqqim) suggests a deliberate act of causing harm and destruction. This imagery highlights the destructive potential of careless or malicious words and actions. In a spiritual sense, it serves as a warning against the dangers of spreading discord and strife, urging believers to be peacemakers and to use their words to build up rather than tear down.

and deadly arrows
The phrase "deadly arrows" further emphasizes the lethal consequences of the actions being described. Arrows in ancient times were weapons of war, designed to kill or maim from a distance. The Hebrew word "חִצִּים" (chitzim) underscores the precision and intent behind such actions. This imagery serves as a powerful reminder of the impact our words and actions can have on others. In a broader biblical context, it calls believers to be mindful of the power of their speech and to strive for righteousness and integrity in all their dealings.

(18) Firebrands.--Arrows to which some blazing material was attached, in order that they might set on fire whatever they touched.

Verses 18, 19 - A tetrastich, but without parallelisms. As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death. The word rendered "madman" is an ἅπαξ λεγόμενον, and has been variously explained; but the Authorized Version is probably correct. "Firebrands" are darts with some blazing material attached to them. "Death "forms a climax with the other dangers mentioned, which the madman deals forth recklessly and indiscriminately. So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport? When a man has injured his neighbour by lies or malice, the plea that he was only in joke is not allowed; the injury is not less real because he excuses it by alleging it was done not seriously, but playfully; no more than the fatal effects of the use of murderous weapons are lessened by their being employed by the hands of a maniac. Practical joking is often a most serious matter. A mediaeval adage says wisely -

"Cum jocus est verus, jocus est malus atque severus," Septuagint, "Even as those who are under medical treatment (ἱώμενοι) throw words at men, and he who first meets the word will be overthrown; so are all they that lay wait for their own friends, and when they are seen, say, I did it in jest." As insane persons who abuse and ill treat their physicians are excused by reason of their infirmity, so those who injure friends in secret try to excuse themselves when found out by alleging that they were only joking.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Like a madman
כְּֽ֭מִתְלַהְלֵהַּ (kə·miṯ·lah·lê·ah)
Preposition-k | Verb - Hitpael - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 3856: To be rabid, to languish

shooting
הַיֹּרֶ֥ה (hay·yō·reh)
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 3384: To flow as water, to lay, throw, to point out, to teach

firebrands
זִקִּ֗ים (ziq·qîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2131: What leaps forth, flash of fire, a burning arrow, a bond

and deadly
וָמָֽוֶת׃ (wā·mā·weṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4194: Death, the dead, their place, state, pestilence, ruin

arrows,
חִצִּ֥ים (ḥiṣ·ṣîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2671: A piercer, an arrow, a wound, thunderbolt, the shaft of a, spear


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 26:18 Like a madman who shoots firebrands arrows (Prov. Pro Pr)
Proverbs 26:17
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