Proverbs 26:20

“Where no wood is, [there] the fire goeth out, etc.] Or “woods”f730; where there is a large quantity of wood or fuel, the fire is kept up; but where there is little, scarce any or none at all, it goes out of course; So where [there is] no talebearer, the strife ceaseth; or is silentf731: men cease to quarrel one with another; they hold their peace and are silent, when there are none to bring tales from one to another, or any whisperer or backbiter to suggest evil things of each other; or when such are discouraged on both sides, and their tales are not listened to; or when they are detected and thrust out of doors, as they deserve, then strife subsides, and peace ensues. Contention is like a…”

“The talebearers foster (Pro 16:28), and the contentious excite, strife.”

“26:20-21 A gossip and a quarrelsome person are both like fuel to the fire of trouble and discord.”

“Where no wood is: Heb. Without wood so: Pro 26:22, Pro 16:28, Pro 22:10; Jam 3:6 talebearer: or, whisperer ceaseth: Heb. is silent Proverbs 26:21”

“There now follow proverbs regarding the nirgân, the slanderer (vid., regarding the formation and import of this word at Pro 26:28): 20 Where the wood faileth, the fire goeth out; And where no tale-bearer, discord cometh to silence. Wood, as material for building or for burning, is called, with the plur. of its product, עצים. Since אפס is the absolute end of a thing, and thus expresses its no longer existing, so it was more appropriate to wood (Fleischer: consumtis lignis) than to the tale-bearer, of whom the proverb says the same thing as Pro 22:10 says of the mocker. Proverbs 26:21”