“A king’s wrath is a messenger of” “death”: “Wrath” is equivalent to “fury” or “anger” and is the same term used in 15.1. “A messenger of death” is literally “messengers of death.” A similar expression occurs in Psa 78.49, where “messengers” are not simply beings sent to carry a message but rather are agents of God’s anger inflicting disease and death on his people. For an example of a royal messenger of death see 2 Kgs 6.32-33. The sense of this line is that an angry king can cause the death of someone, that is, someone is put to death because the king is angry. Contemporary English Version personalizes this line by saying “An angry ruler can put you to death.”

“And a wise man will appease it”: Although Revised Standard Version has “and” here, “but” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) or “so” (Contemporary English Version) is probably more natural in this context in English. It is also possible to drop the connecting word, leaving the contrast to come out in the content of the two lines themselves. “Appease”, which means here to cause the anger to be calmed, is literally “to cover.” The wise person will seek to quiet the king’s anger. In some languages this thought is expressed, for example, “A wise person will soften the king’s hard heart” or “It is wise to cool the king’s liver.” Note that Good News Translation has switched the two lines of the verse so that failure to do what is said in line 1 leads to the consequence in line 2.

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 .