Translation commentary on Proverbs 25:28

In this saying lack of control over emotions is said to leave a person defenseless and unprotected. Revised Standard Version reverses the Hebrew order of lines in this verse.

“A man without self-control”: This line is literally “a man who has no restraint over his ruach.” Ruach is also used in 14.29, where Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation translate it “temper.” In this verse Good News Translation has “anger.” We may translate this line, for example, “A person who cannot control his anger. . ..” In some languages this is expressed, for example, “If you cannot make your hot liver cool off. . .” or “If a person can’t hold his hot insides. . ..”

“Is like a city broken into and left without walls”: “Broken into” gives a picture of an attacking army making a breach or opening in the wall or defenses of a city. As a result, that part of the city is left without a protecting wall. Contemporary English Version translates “Losing self-control leaves you as helpless as a city without a wall.” In areas where a walled city is unknown, we may say, for example, “. . . as a city with nothing to protect it.”

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 25:28)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 25:28:

  • Kupsabiny: “If a person cannot guard/keep himself, his life is like a homestead where the fence has fallen down.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “A person who is not able to control himself
    is like a city that has no walls.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A man who can- not -control himself will- just easily -be-destroyed like a city that has no stoned-wall.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “A person who is not able-to-restrain himself (lit. his body) can-be-compared to a city that has-no fence.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “People who cannot control their tempers/quickly become very angry are unable to defend their behavior;
    that is like having a city without a wall around it, with the result that no one can defend it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)