Proverbs 27:16

Whoever hides her hides the wind ¹  or grasps ²  oil with his right hand. ³ 

biblegateway Pro 27:16

restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.

biblegateway Pro 27:16

He who would restrain her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand.

biblegateway Pro 27:16

Trying to stop her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or hold something with greased hands.

biblegateway Pro 27:16

You can't turn it off, and you can't get away from it.

SABDAweb Pro 27:16

He who keeps secret the secret of his friend, will get himself a name for good faith.

bibleoremus Pro 27:16

to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in the right hand.

biblegateway Pro 27:16

Whoever restrains her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand.

biblegateway Pro 27:16

Whoever hides her hides the wind ¹  or grasps ²  oil with his right hand. ³ 

¹ tn The participle and verb both are from the root צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”). This combination could be translated “hiding her is [like] hiding the wind.”

¹ sn A contentious woman is uncontrollable. The wind can gust at any moment; so too the contentious woman can nag or complain without warning. If anyone can hide the wind he can hide her.

² sn The verb is the Qal imperfect of קָרָא (qara’); BDB 895 s.v. 5.b defines it here as “call for = demand, require,” but acknowledge that it is probably corrupt. R. B. Y. Scott interprets it to mean “grasping” oil in the hand, an expression he compares to the modern “butterfingers” (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes [AB], 163). Others have interpreted it to mean “betrays” – “ointment of his right hand betrays itself,” meaning its smell persists. However, the connection to the proverb does not seem obvious with that interpretation.

³ tc The LXX took an etymologizing approach to the whole verse and translated it “the north wind is a severe wind, but by its name is termed auspicious.” In this rendering the Hebrew text’s “oil” became “its name,” “right hand” became “auspicious,” and “grasp” became “called.”