Proverbs 15:32

15:32 The one who refuses correction despises himself, ¹ 

but whoever hears ²  reproof acquires understanding. ³ 

Proverbs 16:32

16:32 Better to be slow to anger ⁴  than to be a mighty warrior,

and one who controls his temper ⁵  is better than ⁶  one who captures a city. ⁷ 

[15:32]  ¹ sn To “despise oneself” means to reject oneself as if there was little value. The one who ignores discipline is not interested in improving himself.

[15:32]  ² tn Or “heeds” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “listens to.”

[15:32]  ³ tn The Hebrew text reads קוֹנֶה לֵּב (qoneh lev), the participle of קָנָה (qanah, “to acquire; to possess”) with its object, “heart.” The word “heart” is frequently a metonymy of subject, meaning all the capacities of the human spirit and/or mind. Here it refers to the ability to make judgments or discernment.

[16:32]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “who rules his spirit” (so NASB).

[16:32]  ⁶ tn The phrase “is better than” does not appear in this line in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism.

[16:32]  ⁷ 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.