Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?
Parallel translations
- WEB Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
- KJV Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
- NKJV Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, But who is able to stand before jealousy?
- NASB Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, But who can stand before jealousy?
- NLT Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.
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
Wrath and anger are dangerous, but jealousy is even more relentless and consuming. It cautions us against the overwhelming, destabilizing power of envy.
Overview
The proverb escalates from cruel wrath to flooding anger, then names jealousy as harder still to withstand because it is fixed and unyielding. Scripture treats envy as a corrosive sin that destroys relationships and even drove men to crucify Christ (Matthew 27:18). The gospel cures jealousy by securing our identity and inheritance in Christ, freeing us from grasping at what others have.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 6:34For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
- Prov 14:30A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
- Jas 3:14–16But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- Acts 7:9Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
- Matt 27:18For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
- 1 Jn 3:12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.
- Job 5:2For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
- Acts 17:5The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.
- Gen 37:11And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
- Gen 26:14He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
- Jas 4:5–6Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
- Song 8:6Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all.
- Acts 5:17Then the high priest and all his associates, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They went out
- Rom 1:29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
- Jas 1:19–21My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 27:4 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.