angry

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “(was or became) angry” in English is translated in Kwere as “saw anger.” In Kwere, emotions are always paired with sensory verbs (seeing or smelling or hearing). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In Bariai it is “to have grumbling interiors” (source: Bariai Back Translation).

See also anger and feel (terror, pain, suffering, anxiety).

slow to anger

The phrase that is typically translated in English as “slow to anger” is rendered in Bawm with the idiom “be of a long mind” (source: David Clark) and in Akan as “his chest is slow to grow weed” (see anger) (source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.).

anger

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The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).

  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “be warm inside”
  • Mende: “have a cut heart”
  • Mískito: “have a split heart”
  • Tzotzil: “have a hot heart”
  • Mossi: “a swollen heart”
  • Western Kanjobal: “fire of the viscera”
  • San Blas Kuna: “pain in the heart”
  • Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “not with good eye”
  • Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
  • Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)

In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)

See also God’s anger and angry.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 15:18

“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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 15:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 15:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “A sinner stirs up quarrel/strife,
    and/but the one uses the lungs (is patient) cools down quarrel/strife.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Hot-headed people pick quarrels.
    People who have patience
    resolve disputes.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A hot-tempered head starts-up trouble/quarrel, but being-patient stops trouble/quarrel.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The one-who-characteristically-gets-angry, he causes-to-exist quarrels, but one-who-is-patient, he causes-to-exist harmony/reconciliation.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Those who quickly become angry cause arguments/quarreling,
    but those who do not quickly become angry cause people to act peacefully.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 15:18

15:18

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

18a
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,

18b but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.

15:18a

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as A hot-tempered man refers to someone who easily or quickly becomes angry or loses his temper. Such a person stirs up strife. This phrase means that he causes arguments or disagreements.

15:18b

but he who is slow to anger: In Hebrew, the phrase he who is slow to anger is literally “a ⌊person⌋ long of anger.” It refers to someone who is able to stay calm and control his temper.

calms dispute: Such a person settles or quiets a dispute or quarrel. According to most scholars, the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as dispute refers here to any kind of argument. It does not refer only to a legal dispute.

Some other ways to translate 15:18b are:

but those who are slow to anger calm contention (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
but those who control their tempers stop a quarrel (New Century Version)
-or-
but staying calm settles arguments (Contemporary English Version)

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