He that is slow to anger is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
Proverbs pairs two men side by side: one who holds his temper and one who lets it fly. So when is anger ever right, and how does a person learn to slow down?
Temper as a Measure of Understanding
The proverb ties self-control to understanding. One commentator treats slowness of anger as something to work at, and adds a limit: the person who never feels anger at evil is missing something.
Again, cultivating slowness of anger is a sure sign of great moral understanding. Yet never to be angry before the Lord shows a complete lack of right feeling in the presence of evil. How slow He was Himself! Yet His anger could and did flare up for God's glory. The hasty of spirit only exposes his own folly.
Why Delay Is Wisdom
A writer on this verse points to the habit that makes haste dangerous: we misjudge how serious a situation really is.
One who has understanding will be careful to control his temper, that is, to be "slow to anger" (v. 29). For we must remember that circumstances may seem more serious than they really are. We should allow time to consider well whether we should be angry or not. If we act impulsively, we are by that very act giving folly a place of exaltation. Wisdom given by God will certainly keep us from such blunders.
The Damage a Hasty Tongue Does
Hasty anger comes out in speech, and words outlast the mood that produced them. One writer warns that being right is not reason enough to speak:
Then we are urged to be "slow to anger," to give "a soft answer" to an angry man. How necessary this is. It is not always wise to say things which in themselves may be quite true. What we say may rankle for years in a man's mind and fester mentally like a bad case of blood-poisoning.
God's Own Slowness
Scripture uses the same phrase of God Himself. Nahum says, "The LORD is slow to anger." One writer explains why God's patience and His feeling against evil belong together:
Are we not all apt to set these things against one another? But it is not so in truth. The stronger God's feeling against what destroys His own glory, the more fitting that He should be slow to act on His indignation. We should be slow too, though for quite different reasons. Indeed, slowness to anger is normally the proof of moral greatness. But there are extreme cases where waiting would show a lack of right feeling. Scripture shows us both the rule and the exceptions. Not that it is God's way, or even man's, that there should be slowness to feel; but to act on feeling is another thing.
Another writer adds the sober side: this patience has an end.
It is a solemn thought that, however great His patience, a day is coming which will prove that He does not put up with evil… He is not impatient, as our poor hearts are. He is slow to wrath — a wrath so much the more terrible because it is the justice of One who is never impatient.
Anger That Is Not Sin
Since God Himself can be angry, the proverb is not banning all anger. A writer on the same instruction in the New Testament separates hasty self-will from wrath that has a right occasion, and sets a limit on how long anger may last:
How often it is powerless and hasty self-will! We are now set apart to do His will, to obey as Christ obeyed. There is, of course, a right occasion for wrath. So the Lord looked around on those who misused the sabbath to oppose God's grace in an evil world. But we are urged to be slow to anger, and to let it soon be over. "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil" (Eph. 4:26-27).
Ruling Your Own Spirit First
Proverbs returns to this theme later. One commentator notes the irony in comparing the patient man with a conqueror:
Some unsaved men never learn to control their temper, despite the assurance that in doing so they are "better than the mighty." One who rules his spirit is wiser than a warrior who captures a city. For the warrior seeks to control others when he has not learned to control himself.
Summary
- Slow means wise. Slowness to anger is a sure sign of moral understanding. The person who flares up exposes his own folly.
- Slow to act, not slow to feel. Neither God nor man should be slow to feel evil — only slow to act on that feeling.
- Slow like God. God is slow to anger because His feeling against evil is strongest. His patience is the restraint of One who is never impatient, and it will end.
- Slow, then honest. There is a right occasion for wrath, but it must be short: do not let the sun go down on your anger.
- Slow, and self-ruled. Words spoken in haste can fester for years; the one who rules his own spirit is wiser than the man who captures a city.