The Meaning of Proverbs 19:19 Explained

Proverbs 19:19

KJV: A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.

YLT: A man of great wrath is bearing punishment, For, if thou dost deliver, yet again thou dost add.

Darby: A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment; for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.

ASV: A man of great wrath shall bear the penalty; For if thou deliver him , thou must do it yet again.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

A man  of great  wrath  shall suffer  punishment:  for if thou deliver  [him], yet thou must do it again. 

What does Proverbs 19:19 Mean?

Verse Meaning

An uncontrolled temper will repeatedly send its owner into fresh trouble. The implication is that it is futile to bail such a person out of the trouble he gets himself into with his temper.
"Whereas the son is corrected by parental discipline, the hothead must be corrected by allowing the consequences of his own foibles to punish him. The wise father does not interfere in the operation of the cause-consequence of the divinely established penal and remedial moral order. Ironically, the person who "rescues" the hothead becomes caught in the unhealthy dynamics of his way." [1]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 19

1  Life and Conduct

What do the individual words in Proverbs 19:19 mean?

- [A man of] great wrath will suffer punishment for if you rescue [him] and you will have to do it again
[גרל־] (גְּֽדָל־) חֵ֭מָה נֹ֣שֵׂא עֹ֑נֶשׁ כִּ֥י אִם־ תַּ֝צִּ֗יל וְע֣וֹד תּוֹסִֽף

[גרל־]  - 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אִבְחָה  
Sense: slaughter, flesh, meat, slaughtered meat.
(גְּֽדָל־)  [A  man  of]  great 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular construct
Root: גָּרֹל  
Sense: harsh, rough.
חֵ֭מָה  wrath 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: גָּרֹל  
Sense: harsh, rough.
נֹ֣שֵׂא  will  suffer 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
עֹ֑נֶשׁ  punishment 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹנֶשׁ  
Sense: fine, penalty, indemnity.
תַּ֝צִּ֗יל  you  rescue  [him] 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: נָצַל  
Sense: to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder.
תּוֹסִֽף  you  will  have  to  do  it  again 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: יָסַף 
Sense: to add, increase, do again.