Bible Strands
Proverbs 25:28
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who does not control his temper.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The passage belongs to the collected proverbs compiled under King Hezekiah, positioned immediately after a warning against overindulgence and self-seeking glory. It addresses a general reader with a direct analogy concerning emotional restraint.
The words — The verse relies on פְּ֭רוּצָה (Pe.ru.tzah), literally “broken into,” and מַעְצָר (ma'.Tzar), literally “control.” These terms establish the parallel between a breached fortification and an unguarded mind.
The thread — The breached-wall image mirrors the physical repair work described in 2 Chronicles 32:5. The temper-versus-city contrast directly echoes Proverbs 16:32, which ranks emotional restraint above military conquest, and warns against close association with hot-tempered individuals in Proverbs 22:24.
Why it lands — The text states plainly that a person who cannot control his temper is as defenseless as a city with broken walls. It requires the reader to treat emotional discipline as essential structural integrity rather than a minor virtue.
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
He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
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 22:24 Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,
- 2 Chronicles 32:5 Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.
- Nehemiah 1:3 And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
- 1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?
- 1 Samuel 25:17 Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”