wrath is cruel - anger is overwhelming

The Hebrew that is translated as “Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming” or similar in English is translated in Lélé idiomatically as Kulongo tɛñɛ cag-cag nɛ culo, kulongosɛ nɛ hayɛ kusu gbijag ɗɛ́ or “Excessively spilled guts [i.e. ‘letting it all out’] is wickedness, exalted guts is not dry strong body [i.e. restraint].“ (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

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 27:4

“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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 27:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 27:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Anger is painful and fury causes people to collapse,
    but envy is very tough (to endure).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Anger is hardhearted and frightening.
    But envy is even more dreadful than this.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A man who is angry is dangerous, but a man who is-jealous is more dangerous.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “A person who is easily-angered/hot-tempered is cruel and fearsome/dangerous, but the one who drinks is worse, because no one is able-to-escape/avoid him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “It is cruel to be angry with others, and our being angry sometimes destroys others,
    but being jealous of someone is often more cruel than that.” (Source: Translation for Translators)