A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.
Parallel translations
- WEB The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger. It is his glory to overlook an offense.
- KJV The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
- NKJV The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
- NASB A person’s discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook an offense.
- NLT Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.
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
Wise discretion makes a person slow to anger, and overlooking an offense is to one's glory. Patient forbearance is a mark of honor.
Overview
This proverb commends the prudence that restrains anger and the magnanimity that passes over an offense, calling such forbearance one's 'glory.' It elevates patient, forgiving love above retaliation. The verse anticipates the gospel ethic of forgiveness and points to God Himself, who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Ps. 103:8), and to Christ, who overlooked our offenses to redeem us.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 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 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,
- Col 3:12–13Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
- Prov 15:18A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- Prov 20:3It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool will quarrel.
- Prov 12:16A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.
- Eph 4:32Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
- Rom 12:18–21If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.
- Matt 18:21–22Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
- Prov 17:14To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- Matt 5:44–45But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
- Prov 25:21If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
- Gen 50:15–21When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge? Then he will surely repay us for all the evil that we did to him.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 19:11 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.