Proverbs 18:8

“The words of a talebearer [are] as wounds, etc.] Or rather they are wounds; they wound the credit and reputation of the person of whom the tale is told; they wound the person to whom it is told, and destroy his love and affection to his friend; and in the issue they wound, hurt, and ruin the talebearer himself. Or, they are “as of those that are wounded”f518; they pretend to be affected with the case they tell, and to be grieved for the failings and infirmities of those they are secretly exposing, when at the same time they rejoice at them: or, they are “secret” hidden ones, as Aben Ezra interprets it; they are spoken secretly, and wound secretly, in a backbiting way: or, they are “smooth”…”

“(Compare Pro 16:28). as wounds--not sustained by the Hebrew; better, as "sweet morsels," which men gladly swallow. innermost . . . belly--the mind, or heart (compare Pro 20:27-30; Psa 22:14).”

“The first verse speaks of the immediate, the others of the remote, results of the “fool’s” temper. First, “contention,” then “strokes” or blows, then “destruction,” and last, “wounds.” Proverbs 18:8 Wounds - The word so rendered occurs here and in Proverbs 26:22 only. Others render it “dainties,” and take the verse to describe the avidity with which people swallow in tales of scandal. They find their way to the innermost recesses of man’s nature. return to 'Top of Page'”

“They go - They wound mortally. Proverbs 18:9”

“18:8 // 26:22 Rumors may be delicious to hear and repeat, but they are deadly.”

“words: Pro 12:18, Pro 16:28, Pro 26:20-22; Lev 19:16; Psa 52:2, Psa 64:3, Psa 64:4 talebearer: or, whisperer as wounds: or, like as when men are wounded innermost parts: Heb. chambers Proverbs 18:9”

“A pair of proverbs regarding the flatterer and the slothful: 8 The words of the flatter are as dainty morsels, And they glide down into the innermost parts. An "analogy, with an epexegesis in the second member" (Fl.), which is repeated in Pro 26:22. Ewald, Bertheau, Hitzig, and others, are constrained to interpret המו as introducing a contrast, and in this sense they give to מתלהמים all kinds of unwarrantable meanings. Ewald translates: a burning (להם, cogn. להב), and offers next: as whispering (להם, cogn. רעם, נהם); Ch. B. Michaelis, Bertheau, and others: as sporting (להם, cogn. להה); Hitzig: like soft airs (להם, cogn. Arab. hillam, flaccus, laxus). All these interpretations are without…”