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Proverbs 27:16

in Proverbs 27

restraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

He that would restrain her restraineth the wind; And his right hand encountereth oil.

KJV

Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.

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This verse in Proverbs 27

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind - You may as well attempt to repress the blowing of the wind, as the tongue of a scold; and to conceal this unfortunate propensity of a wife is as impossible as to hush the storm, and prevent its sound from being heard. The ointment of his right hand - You can no more conceal such a woman’s conduct, than you can the smell of the aromatic oil with which your hand has been anointed. The Hebrew is very obscure, and is variously translated.

This site's exposition

A constant dripping on a rainy day

on Proverbs 27:15-16

"A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike" repeats a comparison, the quarrelsome wife beside weather no roof keeps out. Verse 16 presses the figure further, since "restraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand."

This site's exposition

restraining her is like holding back the wind

Verse 15 began the comparison with a dripping roof. Clarke reads the two images as one point: restraining such a woman is like stopping the wind, and hiding her conduct like hiding scented oil. He adds that the Hebrew is obscure and variously translated.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

hideth--or, "restrains" (that is, tries to do it); is as fruitless an effort, as that of holding the wind. the ointment of his right hand--the organ of power (Ps 17:7; His right hand endeavors to repress perfume, but vainly. Some prefer: "His right hand comes on oil," that is, "cannot take hold." Such a woman cannot be tamed.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens

The point is the impossibility of concealment or restraint. A person cannot hide the wind, or clasp it in his hands. If he takes an unguent in his right hand, the odor betrays him, or it slips out. So, in like manner, the “contentious woman” is one whose faults it is impossible either to hide or check. The difficulty of the proverb led to a different reading, adopted by the versions, “The north wind is rough, and yet it is called propitious”; it clears off the clouds and brings fine weather.

The words behind it

6 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • צֹפְנֶ֥יהָ[those who] hide her

    tzofeneihaH6845 →32 times

  • צָֽפַן־he hides

    tzafan-H6845 →32 times

  • ר֑וּחַ[the] wind

    ruachH7307 →378 times

  • וְשֶׁ֖מֶןand oil

    veshemenH8081 →193 times

  • יְמִינ֣וֹright [hand] his

    yeminoH3225 →140 times

  • יִקְרָֽא׃it meets

    yikra'H7122 →139 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

1 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    John 12:3

    Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the…

    it leads to

    • Mark 14:3–9

      While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke open the…

    • John 11:2

      (Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.)

    • Luke 10:38–39

      As they traveled along, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

    • Luke 7:37–38

      When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume.

    • Matthew 26:6–13

      While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper,

Where this verse is studied

About Proverbs

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Proverbs: the study guide →Read Proverbs 27 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Proverbs 27 →