C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on Proverbs 26:20

Pro 26:20

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.