Proverbs 19:11

A person’s wisdom ¹  makes him slow to anger, ²  and it is his glory ³  to overlook ⁴  an offense.

A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offence.

A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.

People with good sense restrain their anger; they earn esteem by overlooking wrongs.

Smart people know how to hold their tongue; their grandeur is to forgive and forget.

A man’s good sense makes him slow to wrath, and the overlooking of wrongdoing is his glory.

Those with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.

The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.

A person’s wisdom ¹  makes him slow to anger, ²  and it is his glory ³  to overlook ⁴  an offense.

¹ tn Or “prudence,” the successful use of wisdom in discretion. Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “good sense.”

² tn The Hiphil perfect of אָרַךְ (’arakh, “to be long”) means “to make long; to prolong.” Patience and slowness to anger lead to forgiveness of sins.

³ sn “Glory” signifies the idea of beauty or adornment. D. Kidner explains that such patience “brings out here the glowing colours of a virtue which in practice may look drably unassertive” (Proverbs [TOTC], 133).

⁴ tn Heb “to pass over” (so KJV, ASV); NCV, TEV “ignore.” The infinitive construct עֲבֹר (’avor) functions as the formal subject of the sentence. This clause provides the cause, whereas the former gave the effect – if one can pass over an offense there will be no anger.

sn W. McKane says, “The virtue which is indicated here is more than a forgiving temper; it includes also the ability to shrug off insults and the absence of a brooding hypersensitivity…. It contains elements of toughness and self-discipline; it is the capacity to stifle a hot, emotional rejoinder and to sleep on an insult” (Proverbs [OTL], 530).