Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
This proverb puts life and death inside the tongue. It then says that people feed on what their own speech produces. The verse raises two questions: how can ordinary talk carry weight like that, and who exactly ends up eating the fruit?
The weight of an ordinary word
One writer starts further back, with what the mouth reveals about the person speaking.
The mouth shows the heart, as the Lord tells us both of the good man and of the wicked. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. How weighty every word of ours is when we bring God into it! So life and death are in the power of the tongue, and so are the outcomes in both good and evil. All Scripture declares it; all experience confirms and illustrates it.
Two harvests from one tongue
The proverb names both outcomes. One writer links each one to the speech that produces it.
Evil words will bring evil results. But the tongue that speaks the words of life and love, as given in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a power for good, the power of life. What a harvest that will be in that day!
Another writer sees the same two-sided power in every good gift, not in the tongue alone.
How much might we speak of the wonderful power of the tongue on the other side! What a ministry of comfort and blessing is in it! But the best gifts, when perverted, are just as fruitful for evil as they are good when used rightly.
Who eats the fruit
The second half of the verse says those who love the tongue will eat what it grows. One writer applies this to those who preach the gospel. Their message worked two different ways on two sets of hearers.
The apostles served the new covenant. They used their tongues to bring the Word of God to others, and the results were serious. To "those who are perishing" they were "a fragrance from death to death." To believers they were "a fragrance from life to life" (2 Cor. 2:15-16). The latter are "those who love it."
The tongue no one can tame
If the tongue holds this much power, the honest question is whether anyone can control it. Commentators take the warning at full strength.
The tongue proves the incurable evil of the human heart. It does not have to be this poisonous. Yet even the most honourable believer has reason to take back, or at least regret, things he has let slip out.
That failure is not the end of the matter. The tongue follows the heart, so the cure works at the source rather than on the lips.
The subject of stumbling leads on to the tongue — the clearest sign of what is in the heart. It is set going with no effort, and it follows every impulse of the heart. All things, even wild beasts and serpents, have been tamed; but no one can tame the tongue; it is full of deadly poison. This is very strong, but it is true. Still, let us remember this. If we treat the flesh as dead in practice, and we live by the Spirit, the tongue will express His impulses — or it will stay silent, because grace has nothing to say.
No neutral speech
Because only two outcomes exist, talk that fails to help is not harmless. One writer draws the same line for a believer's daily speech.
The believer is not to say what is twisted, or join in the talk of fools. He is to speak as one who knows that both death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21). Our lips are no longer our own. They belong to Him who has bought us for Himself... We shall do well to remember that if our words do not build up, they do harm.
Words are kept on record
The proverb's warning is not only about effects felt now. Words are also collected for a future reckoning.
On the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. This is true even of careless words — words that are worthless or bear no fruit. How much more when the words are wicked!
Summary
- Source. The mouth shows the heart, so speech is never trivial — every word carries weight once we bring God into it.
- Power. The same small member carries life or death; the best gift, perverted, is as fruitful for evil as it is for good.
- Harvest. People eat what their tongue grows: the gospel spoken is a power of life, and evil words bring evil results.
- Cure. No one can tame the tongue. But where the flesh is treated as dead and the Spirit governs, the tongue speaks His impulses — or stays silent.
- Reckoning. Words that do not build up do harm, and even worthless words will be accounted for in the day of judgment.