Proverbs 14:17

English Standard Version

¹⁷A man of ^(A)quick temper acts foolishly,
and a man of evil devices is hated.

Proverbs 14:17

New English Translation

¹⁷A person who has a quick temper^[a] will do foolish things,
and a person with crafty schemes^[b] will be hated.^[c]

Proverbs 14:17 sn The proverb discusses two character traits that are distasteful to others—the quick tempered person (“short of anger” or impatient) and the crafty person (“man of devices”). C. H. Toy thinks that the proverb is antithetical and renders it “but a wise man endures” (Proverbs [ICC], 292). In other words, the quick-tempered person acts foolishly and loses people’s respect, but the wise man does not.
Proverbs 14:17 tn Heb “a man of devices.”
Proverbs 14:17 tn The verb שָׂנֵא (saneʾ) is stative and as a Niphal is ingressive (“become hated”); its imperfect form should be future rather than present. tc The LXX reads “endures” (from נָשָׂא, nasaʾ) rather than “is hated” (from שָׂנֵא, saneʾ). This change seems to have arisen on the assumption that a contrast was needed. It has: “a man of thought endures.” Other versions take מְזִמּוֹת (m^ezimmot) in a good sense, but antithetical parallelism is unwarranted here.

²⁹Whoever is ^(A)slow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

²⁹Someone with great understanding is slow to anger,^[a]
but the one who has a quick temper^[b] exalts^[c] folly.

Proverbs 14:29 tn Or “Someone who is slow to anger [has] great understanding.” The translation treats the Hebrew nominal clause as having predicate-subject word order, similar to predicate position for adjectival clauses. But the issue of basic word order is debated.
Proverbs 14:29 tn Heb “hasty of spirit” (so KJV, ASV); NRSV, NLT “a hasty temper.” One who has a quick temper or a short fuse will be evident to everyone, due to his rash actions.
Proverbs 14:29 sn The participle “exalts” (מֵרִים, merim) means that this person brings folly to a full measure, lifts it up, brings it to the full notice of everybody.

English Standard Version (ESV)

New English Translation (NET)