Bible Strands
Proverbs 20:3
It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool will quarrel.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Solomon addresses the assembly of rulers and wise men, placing the instruction between a warning about provoking a king and a proverb about agricultural neglect. The moment occurs within a collection of practical directives on conduct and consequences.
The words — שֶׁבֶת (Shevet) means cessation or settlement, contrasted with מְרִיב (meriv) for strife, while יִתְגַּלֵּעַ (yitgallea) literally means he bursts out or erupts. The lexical pairing establishes a direct contrast between deliberate resolution and uncontrolled escalation.
The thread — The text’s emphasis on restraint runs through Proverbs 16:32, which ranks temper control above military conquest, and Proverbs 17:14, which equates starting a quarrel with breaking a dam. Proverbs 19:11 extends the pattern by linking insight to patience and the deliberate overlooking of offenses.
Why it lands — The text states that honoring oneself requires settling conflict rather than inflaming it, and that foolishness manifests as immediate agitation. It asks the reader to actively choose cessation over reaction when faced with opposition.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.
- Proverbs 17:14 To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- Proverbs 19:11 A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.
- Proverbs 14:29 A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
- Proverbs 18:6 A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.
- Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
- James 4:1 What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
- Proverbs 14:17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a devious man is hated.
- Proverbs 21:24 Mocker is the name of the proud and arrogant man—of him who acts with excessive pride.
- Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.