Proverbs 11:22

11:22 Like a gold ring ¹  in a pig’s snout ² 

is ³  a beautiful woman who rejects ⁴  discretion. ⁵ 

Proverbs 14:17

14:17 A person who has a quick temper ⁶  does foolish things,

and a person with crafty schemes ⁷  is hated. ⁸ 

Proverbs 14:29

14:29 The one who is slow to anger has great understanding,

but the one who has a quick temper ⁹  exalts ¹⁰  folly.

Proverbs 15:1

15:1 A gentle response ¹¹  turns away anger,

but a harsh word ¹²  stirs up wrath. ¹³ 

Proverbs 15:18

15:18 A quick-tempered person ¹⁴  stirs up dissension,

but one who is slow to anger ¹⁵  calms ¹⁶  a quarrel. ¹⁷ 

Proverbs 16:32

16:32 Better to be slow to anger ¹⁸  than to be a mighty warrior,

and one who controls his temper ¹⁹  is better than ²⁰  one who captures a city. ²¹ 

Proverbs 19:11

19:11 A person’s wisdom ²²  makes him slow to anger, ²³ 

and it is his glory ²⁴  to overlook ²⁵  an offense.

Proverbs 21:14

21:14 A gift given ²⁶  in secret subdues ²⁷  anger,

and a bribe given secretly ²⁸  subdues ²⁹  strong wrath. ³⁰ 

Proverbs 24:18

24:18 lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, ³¹ 

and turn his wrath away from him. ³² 

Proverbs 25:15

25:15 Through patience ³³  a ruler can be persuaded, ³⁴ 

and a soft tongue ³⁵  can break a bone. ³⁶ 

Proverbs 27:4

27:4 Wrath is cruel and anger is overwhelming, ³⁷ 

but who can stand before jealousy? ³⁸ 

Proverbs 29:8

29:8 Scornful people ³⁹  inflame ⁴⁰  a city, ⁴¹ 

but those who are wise turn away wrath.

Proverbs 29:22

29:22 An angry person ⁴²  stirs up dissension,

and a wrathful person ⁴³  is abounding in transgression. ⁴⁴ 

[11:22]  ¹ tn Heb “a ring of gold.” The noun זָהָב (zahav, “gold”) is a genitive of material; the ring is made out of gold.

[11:22]  ² tn Heb “in a snout of a swine.” A beautiful ornament and a pig are as incongruous as a beautiful woman who has no taste or ethical judgment.

[11:22]  ³ tn The verb “is” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[11:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “turns away [from].”

[11:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “taste.” The term can refer to physical taste (Exod 16:31), intellectual discretion (1 Sam 25:33), or ethical judgment (Ps 119:66). Here it probably means that she has no moral sensibility, no propriety, no good taste – she is unchaste. Her beauty will be put to wrong uses.

[14:17]  ⁶ sn The proverb discusses two character traits that are distasteful to others – the quick tempered person (“short of anger” or impatient) and the crafty person (“man of devices”). C. H. Toy thinks that the proverb is antithetical and renders it “but a wise man endures” (Proverbs [ICC], 292). In other words, the quick-tempered person acts foolishly and loses people’s respect, but the wise man does not.

[14:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “a man of devices.”

[14:17]  ⁸ tc The LXX reads “endures” (from נָשָׂא, nasa’) rather than “is hated” (from שָׂנֵא, sane’). This change seems to have arisen on the assumption that a contrast was needed. It has: “a man of thought endures.” Other versions take מְזִמּוֹת (mÿzimmot) in a good sense; but antithetical parallelism is unwarranted here.

[14:29]  ¹¹ 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.

[14:29]  ¹² 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.

[15:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “soft answer.” The adjective רַּךְ (rakh, “soft; tender; gentle”; BDB 940 s.v.) is more than a mild response; it is conciliatory, an answer that restores good temper and reasonableness (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 477). Gideon illustrates this kind of answer (Judg 8:1-3) that brings peace.

[15:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “word of harshness”; KJV “grievous words.” The noun עֶצֶב (’etsev, “pain, hurt”) functions as an attributive genitive. The term עֶצֶב refers to something that causes pain (BDB 780 s.v. I עֶצֶב). For example, Jephthah’s harsh answer led to war (Judg 12:1-6).

[15:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “raises anger.” A common response to painful words is to let one’s temper flare up.

[15:18]  ²¹ 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”).

[15:18]  ²² 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.

[15:18]  ²³ 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.

[15:18]  ²⁴ 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.

[16:32]  ²⁶ tn One who is “slow to anger” is a patient person (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). This is explained further in the parallel line by the description of “one who rules his spirit” (וּמֹשֵׁל בְּרוּחוֹ, umoshel bÿrukho), meaning “controls his temper.” This means the person has the emotions under control and will not “fly off the handle” quickly.

[16:32]  ²⁷ tn Heb “who rules his spirit” (so NASB).

[16:32]  ²⁸ tn The phrase “is better than” does not appear in this line in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism.

[16:32]  ²⁹ sn The saying would have had greater impact when military prowess was held in high regard. It is harder, and therefore better, to control one’s passions than to do some great exploit on the battlefield.

[19:11]  ³¹ tn Or “prudence,” the successful use of wisdom in discretion. Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “good sense.”

[19:11]  ³² 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.

[19:11]  ³³ 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).

[19:11]  ³⁴ 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.

[21:14]  ³⁶ sn The synonymous parallelism joins the more neutral term “gift” with the more specific “bribe.” D. Kidner notes that this underscores how hard it is to tell the difference between them, especially since they accomplish similar things (Proverbs [TOTC], 143).

[21:14]  ³⁷ tn The word כָּפָה (kafah) occurs only here; it means “to subdue,” but in New Hebrew it means “to overturn; to compel.” The BHS editors suggest a change to כָּבָה (kavah), “to be quenched,” based on Symmachus and Tg. Prov 21:14, but there is no substantial improvement in the text’s meaning with such a change.

[21:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “a bribe in the bosom” (so NASB). This refers to a gift hidden in the folds of the garment, i.e., given secretly (cf. NIV “a bribe concealed in the cloak”).

[21:14]  ³⁹ tn The repetition of the term “subdues” in the second line is supplied in the translation.

[21:14]  ⁴⁰ tc The LXX offers a moralizing translation not too closely tied to the MT: “he who withholds a gift stirs up violent wrath.”

[24:18]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and [it is] evil in his eyes.”

[24:18]  ⁴² sn The judgment of God should strike a note of fear in the heart of people (e.g., Lev 19:17-18). His judgment is not to be taken lightly, or personalized as a victory. If that were to happen, then the Lord might take pity on the enemies in their calamity, for he champions the downtrodden and defeated. These are probably personal enemies; the imprecatory psalms and the prophetic oracles present a different set of circumstances for the downfall of God’s enemies – even the book of Proverbs says that brings joy to the community.

[25:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “long of anger” or “forbearance” (so NASB).

[25:15]  ⁴⁷ tn The two imperfect verbs in this line may be nuanced as potential imperfects because what is described could happen, but does not do so as a rule.

[25:15]  ⁴⁸ tn The “tongue” is a metonymy of cause; and so the expression here refers to soft or gentle speech. This fits well with the parallel idea of patience (“long of anger”) – through a calm patient persuasion much can be accomplished. Some English versions relate this figure directly to the persuasion of a ruler in the previous line (cf. TEV “can even convince rulers”).

[25:15]  ⁴⁹ sn The idea of breaking a bone uses the hardest and most firm part of the body in contrast to the “softness of the tongue.” Both are figurative, forming a comparison. A gentle speech can break down any stiff opposition.

[27:4]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “fierceness of wrath and outpouring [= flood] of anger.” A number of English versions use “flood” here (e.g., NASB, NCV, NLT).

[27:4]  ⁵² tn The Hebrew term translated “jealousy” here probably has the negative sense of “envy” rather than the positive sense of “zeal.” It is a raging emotion (like “anger” and “wrath,” this word has nuances of heat, intensity) that defies reason at times and can be destructive like a consuming fire (e.g., 6:32-35; Song 8:6-7). The rhetorical question is intended to affirm that no one can survive a jealous rage. (Whether one is the subject who is jealous or the object of the jealousy of someone else is not so clear.)

[29:8]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “men of scorn”; NAB “Arrogant men”; ASV, NRSV “Scoffers”; NIV, NLT “Mockers.”

[29:8]  ⁵⁷ tn The verb means “to blow; to breathe” (BDB 806 s.v. פּוּחַ). In the Hiphil imperfect its meaning here is “to excite; to inflame” a city, as in blowing up a flame or kindling a fire. It is also used with “words” in 6:19 and 12:17 – they “puff out words.” Such scornful people make dangerous situations worse, whereas the wise calm things down (e.g., 2 Sam 20).

[29:8]  ⁵⁸ tn The term “city” is a metonymy of subject; it refers to the people in the city who can easily be set in an uproar by such scornful people.

[29:22]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “a man of anger.” Here “anger” is an attributive (“an angry man”). This expression describes one given to or characterized by anger, not merely temporarily angry. The same is true of the next description.

[29:22]  ⁶² tn Heb “possessor of wrath.” Here “wrath” is an attributive (cf. ASV “a wrathful man”; KJV “a furious man”).

[29:22]  ⁶³ tn Heb “an abundance of transgression.” The phrase means “abounding in transgression” (BDB 913 s.v. רַב 1.d]). Not only does the angry person stir up dissension, but he also frequently causes sin in himself and in others (e.g., 14:17, 29; 15:18; 16:32; 22:24).