21 Foolish behaviour is joy to the unwise; but a man of good sense makes his way straight.
It is sport to the foolish man to do evil, but the man of good sense takes delight in wisdom.
Take care then how you are living, not as unwise, but as wise;
The fear of the Lord is the best part of wisdom: all those who keep his laws are wise: his praise is eternal.
He who has a poor opinion of his neighbour has no sense, but a wise man keeps quiet.
The wise man, fearing, keeps himself from evil; but the foolish man goes on in his pride, with no thought of danger.
As one who is off his head sends about flaming sticks and arrows of death, So is the man who gets the better of his neighbour by deceit, and says, Am I not doing so in sport?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 15
Commentary on Proverbs 15 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
We take these verses together as forming a group which begins with a proverb regarding the good and evil which flows from the tongue, and closes with a proverb regarding the treasure in which blessing is found, and that in which no blessing is found.
Proverbs 15:1
1 A soft answer turneth away wrath,
And a bitter word stirreth up anger.
In the second line, the common word for anger ( אף , from the breathing with the nostrils, Proverbs 14:17) is purposely placed, but in the first, that which denotes anger in the highest degree ( חמה from יחם , cogn. חמם , Arab. hamiya , to glow, like שׁנה from ישׁן ): a mild, gentle word turns away the heat of anger ( excandescentiam ), puts it back, cf. Proverbs 25:15. The Dagesh in רּך follows the rule of the דחיק , i.e. , of the close connection of a word terminating with the accented eh, aah, ah with the following word ( Michlol 63b). The same is the meaning of the Latin proverb:
Frangitur ira gravis
Quando est responsio suavis