Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.
- KJV He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
- BSB A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
- NKJV He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.
- NASB One who is slow to anger has great understanding; But one who is quick-tempered exalts foolishness.
- NLT People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Patience reflects great understanding, while a quick temper displays folly. Self-control in anger is a mark of wisdom.
Overview
The slow-to-anger person shows depth of understanding, whereas the hasty-tempered one puts his folly on display. The proverb commends the patient self-mastery that wisdom produces. It reflects God's own patience and the fruit of the Spirit, which includes self-control and longsuffering (Galatians 5:22-23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Jas 1:19So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
- Eccl 7:9Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
- Prov 14:17He who is quick to become angry will commit folly, and a crafty man is hated.
- Prov 15:18A wrathful man stirs up contention, but one who is slow to anger appeases strife.
- Prov 19:11The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger. It is his glory to overlook an offense.
- Prov 16:32One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.
- Prov 25:28Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint.
- Num 12:3Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth.
- Prov 22:24–25Don’t befriend a hot-tempered man, and don’t associate with one who harbors anger:
- Matt 11:29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.
- 1 Cor 13:4–5Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
- Jas 3:17–18But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
- Prov 25:8Don’t be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?
- Eccl 10:6Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
- Prov 4:8Esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will bring you to honor, when you embrace her.
- Matt 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
- Dan 3:19–25Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
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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 14:29 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.