A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a devious man is hated.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who is quick to become angry will commit folly, and a crafty man is hated.
- KJV He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.
- NKJV A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions is hated.
- NASB A quick-tempered person acts foolishly, And a person of evil devices is hated.
- NLT Short-tempered people do foolish things, and schemers are hated.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A quick temper leads to folly, and scheming earns hatred. Both rash anger and calculated malice are condemned.
Overview
This proverb pairs two faults: the hot-tempered person who acts foolishly in the heat of the moment, and the crafty schemer whose calculated wrongdoing makes him hated. Together they warn against both impulsive and premeditated sin. Scripture commends instead the slow-to-anger character that reflects God's own patience (James 1:19-20).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 14:29A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
- Jas 1:19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Prov 29:22An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
- Eccl 7:9Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
- Prov 15:18A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- Prov 16:32He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.
- Prov 22:24Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,
- Prov 12:2The good man obtains favor from the LORD, but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.
- Esth 7:5–6Then King Xerxes spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”
- Jer 5:26–29For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
- Isa 32:7The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
- Esth 3:6And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
- Prov 12:16A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.
- Prov 6:18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 14:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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