Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
Parallel translations
- KJV Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
- BSB Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?
- 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 arouses the fury of the husband. He won’t spare in the day of vengeance.
- Prov 14:30The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.
- Jas 3:14–16But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
- Acts 7:9“The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him,
- Matt 27:18For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up.
- 1 Jn 3:12unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- Job 5:2For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
- Acts 17:5But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.
- Gen 37:11His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
- Gen 26:14He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him.
- Jas 4:5–6Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?
- Song 8:6Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh.
- Acts 5:17But the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy,
- Rom 1:29being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,
- Jas 1:19–21So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.