Proverbs 16:32
in Proverbs 16He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; And he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.
KJV
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
11 notes on this verseIf you are angry, be angry with yourselves, because you are roused, and you will not sin. For he who is angry with himself, because he has been so easily roused, ceases to be angry with another. But he who wishes to prove his anger is righteous only gets the more inflamed and quickly falls into sin. "Better is he," as Solomon says, "that restrains his anger than he that takes a city," for anger leads astray even brave men.
This site's exposition
He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior
“He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.” Even a conqueror's achievement measures smaller than the self-control an ordinary man can practice. The verse makes a man's own spirit the first battlefield.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Augustine of HippoTHE CATHOLIC AND MANICHAEAN WAYS OF LIFE 1:23.43 · Written before 430.
proposed
The Scriptures offer the example of a woman of astounding fortitude and oblige me now to speak of her. This woman chose to give over to the tyrant and executioner every one of her seven sons rather than to utter a single word of sacrilege. And after fortifying them with her exhortations, at the same time suffering cruelly in their tortures, she herself had to undergo what she had called upon them to endure. Could any patience be greater than this?Yet what marvel is it that the love of God pervading her inmost soul should have withstood the tyrant and the executioner, and bodily pain, and the weakness of her sex, and her own human emotions? Had she not heard the words: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints"? Had she not heard, "The one who is patient is better than the one who is the mightiest"?… She most assuredly knew these and many other divine precepts on fortitude written in the books of the Old Testament (which were the only ones then in existence) by the same Holy Spirit who wrote those in the New Testament.
That anger is less offensive which does not lead to indignant actions. In the words of Scripture, "He that conquers his anger is better than he who takes a city." So the injunction to control anger is extended, so that if we are already angry …
The type of anger which does not lead to deeds motivated by anger is easily forgiven, as Scripture says: "He that conquers his anger is better than he who captures a city." For this reason, the command to manage anger is given so that, if …
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistThe Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 9 · Written before 604.
proposed
Better is the patient than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh cities. For victory over cities is a less thing, because that which is subdued is without; but a far greater thing is that which is conquered by patience, since the mind itself is by itself overcome, and subjects itself to itself, when patience compels it to bridle itself within.
A commentator
Gregory the Dialogist40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 35 · Written before 604.
proposed
For Solomon again indicates how great is the height at which the virtue of patience excels, saying: "The patient man is better than the strong man, and he who rules his spirit than he who captures cities." It is therefore a lesser victory to capture cities, because what is conquered is external. But what is conquered through patience is greater, because the mind is overcome by itself, and it subjects itself to itself, when patience prostrates it in the humility of forbearance.
4 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Better is the patient man than the strong man, etc. It is a lesser victory to conquer cities, because they are conquered externally; but what is conquered by patience is greater, because the spirit conquers itself, and submits itself to itself, when patience brings it …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The third middle way is fortitude, which is concerned with fears and acts of valor. A man needs it in order to be neither fainthearted nor rash, but that he be able to bear frightful trials and even death. For some men do fall into …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city - It is much easier to subdue an enemy without than one within. There have been many kings who had conquered nations, and yet were slaves to their own passions. Alexander, who conquered the world, was a slave to intemperate anger, and in a fit of it slew Clytus, the best and most intimate of all his friends, and one whom he loved beyond all others. The spirit of this maxim is so self-evident, that most nations have formed similar proverbs.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ט֤וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| אֶ֣רֶךְ | ʾerekh | a [person] long of | H750 → | 15 times |
| אַ֭פַּיִם | ʾapayim | anger<s> | H639 → | 276 times |
| מִגִּבּ֑וֹר | migibor | more than a warrior | H1368 → | 158 times |
| וּמֹשֵׁ֥ל | umoshel | and [one who] rules | H4910 → | 81 times |
| בְּ֝רוּח֗וֹ | berucho | over spirit his | H7307 → | 378 times |
| מִלֹּכֵ֥ד | milokhed | more than [one who] captures | H3920 → | 121 times |
| עִֽיר׃ | ʾir | a city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
ט֤וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
אֶ֣רֶךְa [person] long of
ʾerekhH750 →15 times
אַ֭פַּיִםanger<s>
ʾapayimH639 →276 times
מִגִּבּ֑וֹרmore than a warrior
migiborH1368 →158 times
וּמֹשֵׁ֥לand [one who] rules
umoshelH4910 →81 times
בְּ֝רוּח֗וֹover spirit his
beruchoH7307 →378 times
מִלֹּכֵ֥דmore than [one who] captures
milokhedH3920 →121 times
עִֽיר׃a city
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 1:19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
it leads to
- Proverbs 14:29
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 17:27
A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a man of understanding maintains a calm spirit.
- Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- Proverbs 10:19
When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
- Proverbs 18:13
He who answers a matter before he hears it—this is folly and disgrace to him.
- Proverbs 14:29
Through
Proverbs 14:29A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
it leads to
- James 1:19
My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
- James 1:19
Through
Proverbs 19:11A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 15:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
On this verse
About Proverbs
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 1.21.96; Augustine of Hippo, THE CATHOLIC AND MANICHAEAN WAYS OF LIFE 1:23.43; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 5; Cassiodorus, Commentary (church-history corpus); Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 4:5; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 9; Gregory the Dialogist, 40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 35; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).