“Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming”: This line is literally “Fierceness of wrath and flood of anger.” For “Wrath” and “anger” see 15.1. “Wrath” refers to vengeful anger. “Overwhelming” translates a word meaning “flood” and probably suggests destructiveness. See Good News Translation. Bible en français courant translates “anger is overwhelming” as “anger is an unleashed torrent.” In translation it may be necessary to personalize “Wrath” and “anger” by saying, for example, “A vengeful person filled with anger is cruel and destructive.”

“But who can stand before jealousy?”: In Hebrew this line is expressed in the form of a rhetorical question, and it is translated as a question in New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, and others, as well as Revised Standard Version. It may also be translated as a strong negative; for example, “Nobody can withstand jealousy.” “Stand before” means “to resist” or “succeed against.” Note Good News Translation “is nothing compared to. . ..” For “jealousy” see 6.34. Toy believes that “jealousy” refers here, as in 6.34, to the “jealousy of a husband.” Again, it may be necessary to speak of “a jealous person” or “a jealous husband” rather than the abstract “jealousy”. Contemporary English Version is a good model for this verse: “An angry person is dangerous but a jealous person is even worse.” Another way of expressing this is “A person who is cross hurts people and has no pity, but a jealous person is worse altogether.”

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 .