Proverbs 27:4

4 Fury is cruel, and anger is a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

Proverbs 27:4 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 27:4

Wrath [is] cruel, and anger [is] outrageous
Or "an inundation" ^F24; it is like the breaking in of the sea, or a flood of mighty waters, which know no bounds, and there is no stopping them: so cruel and outrageous were the wrath and anger of Simeon and Levi, in destroying the Shechemites; of Pharaoh, in making the Israelites to serve with hard bondage, and ordering their male children to be killed and drowned; and of Herod, in murdering the infants in and about Bethlehem;

but who [is] able to stand before envy?
which is secret in a man's heart, and privately contrives and works the ruin of another, and against which there no guarding. All mankind in Adam fell before the envy of Satan; for it was through the envy of the devil that sin and death came into the world, in the Apocrypha:

``Nevertheless through envy of the devil came death into the world: and they that do hold of his side do find it.'' (Wisdom 2:24)

Abel could not stand before the envy of Cain; nor Joseph before the envy of his brethren; nor Christ before the envy of the Jews, his bitter enemies; and, where it is, there is confusion and every evil work, ( James 3:14 James 3:16 ) . An envious man is worse than an angry and wrathful man; his wrath and anger may be soon over, or there may be ways and means of appeasing him; but envy continues and abides, and works insensibly.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (Pjv) "inundatio", Michaelis, so Montanus, Vatablus, Tigurine version, "exundatio", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "inundatio salcans", Schultens.

Proverbs 27:4 In-Context

2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth- a stranger, and not your own lips.

3 A stone is heavy and sand, a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.

4 Fury is cruel, and anger is a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

5 Better an open reprimand than concealed love.

6 The wounds of a friend are trustworthy, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.