Proverbs 27:3-4
New English Translation
3 A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,
but vexation[a] by a fool is more burdensome[b] than the two of them.
4 Wrath is cruel and anger is overwhelming,[c]
but who can stand before jealousy?[d]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 27:3 tn The subject matter is the vexation produced by a fool. The term כַּעַס (kaʿas) means “vexation” (ASV); provocation” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); “anger” (KJV “wrath”) and usually refers to undeserved treatment. Cf. NLT “the resentment caused by a fool.” sn The same noun is used in 1 Sam 1:6, 16 for the “provocation” given to Hannah by Peninnah for being barren.
- Proverbs 27:3 sn The contrast is made between dealing with the vexation of a fool and physical labor (moving stones and sand). More tiring is the vexation of a fool, for the mental and emotional effort it takes to deal with it is more draining than physical labor. It is, in the sense of this passage, almost unbearable.
- Proverbs 27:4 tn Heb “fierceness of wrath and outpouring [= flood] of anger.” A number of English versions use “flood” here (e.g., NASB, NCV, NLT).
- Proverbs 27:4 tn The Hebrew term translated “jealousy” here probably has the negative sense of “envy” rather than the positive sense of “zeal.” It is a raging emotion (like “anger” and “wrath,” this word has nuances of heat, intensity) that defies reason at times and can be destructive like a consuming fire (e.g., 6:32-35; Song 8:6-7). The rhetorical question is intended to affirm that no one can survive a jealous rage. (Whether one is the subject who is jealous or the object of the jealousy of someone else is not so clear.)
Proverbs 27:3-4
English Standard Version
3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but (A)a fool's provocation is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before (B)jealousy?
Proverbs 27:3-4
New International Version
3 Stone is heavy and sand(A) a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?(B)
Proverbs 27:3-4
King James Version
3 A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.
4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
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