14:29 The one who is slow to anger has great understanding,
but the one who has a quick temper 1 exalts 2 folly.
15:18 A quick-tempered person 3 stirs up dissension,
but one who is slow to anger 4 calms 5 a quarrel. 6
19:11 A person’s wisdom 7 makes him slow to anger, 8
and it is his glory 9 to overlook 10 an offense.
103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient 11 and demonstrates great loyal love. 12
5:1 Therefore, be 13 imitators of God as dearly loved children
1:19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! 14 Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.
1 tn Heb “hasty of spirit” (so KJV, ASV); NRSV, NLT “a hasty temper.” One who has a quick temper or a short fuse will be evident to everyone, due to his rash actions.
2 sn The participle “exalts” (מֵרִים, merim) means that this person brings folly to a full measure, lifts it up, brings it to the full notice of everybody.
3 tn Heb “a man of wrath”; KJV, ASV “a wrathful man.” The term “wrath” functions as an attributive genitive: “an angry person.” He is contrasted with the “slow of anger,” so he is a “quick-tempered person” (cf. NLT “a hothead”).
4 tn Heb “slow of anger.” The noun “anger” functions as a genitive of specification: slow in reference to anger, that is, slow to get angry, patient.
5 tn The Hiphil verb יַשְׁקִיט (yashqit) means “to cause quietness; to pacify; to allay” the strife or quarrel (cf. NAB “allays discord”). This type of person goes out of his way to keep things calm and minimize contention; his opposite thrives on disagreement and dispute.
6 sn The fact that רִיב (riv) is used for “quarrel; strife” strongly implies that the setting is the courtroom or other legal setting (the gates of the city). The hot-headed person is eager to turn every disagreement into a legal case.
7 tn Or “prudence,” the successful use of wisdom in discretion. Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “good sense.”
8 tn The Hiphil perfect of אָרַךְ (’arakh, “to be long”) means “to make long; to prolong.” Patience and slowness to anger lead to forgiveness of sins.
9 sn “Glory” signifies the idea of beauty or adornment. D. Kidner explains that such patience “brings out here the glowing colours of a virtue which in practice may look drably unassertive” (Proverbs [TOTC], 133).
10 tn Heb “to pass over” (so KJV, ASV); NCV, TEV “ignore.” The infinitive construct עֲבֹר (’avor) functions as the formal subject of the sentence. This clause provides the cause, whereas the former gave the effect – if one can pass over an offense there will be no anger.
11 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
12 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
13 tn Or “become.”
14 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.