“A hot-tempered man stirs up strife”: “A hot-tempered man” is literally “a man of wrath.” “Wrath” is the same word used in verse 1. “A hot-tempered man” is a person who is quick-tempered or easily angered. He is the opposite of the person who is “slow to anger” in the next line. “Stirs up strife” means “causes arguments” or “. . . disputes.”

“But he who is slow to anger quiets contention”: Note that New Revised Standard Version avoids the strictly male language with “those who” in both lines of this verse. “Slow to anger”, as in 14.29, means that such a person does not become angry quickly. “Quiets contention” means “calms fighting people,” or “cools the hearts of quarrelers.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .