Bible Strands
Proverbs 30:33
For as the churning of milk yields butter, and the twisting of the nose draws blood, so the stirring of anger brings forth strife.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Agur addresses the reader in Proverbs 30, immediately following his instruction in verse 32 to silence oneself after foolish exaltation or evil plotting.
The words — מִיץ (mitz) literally means "squeezing" or "churning," while אַף ('af) denotes "nose," functioning as a concrete image for breath or anger.
The thread — The text's warning against provoking conflict runs through Proverbs 17:14, which commands abandoning a dispute before it breaks out, and Proverbs 29:22, which states that an angry man stirs up dissension.
Why it lands — The text states that deliberate provocations inevitably produce measurable conflict, just as mechanical pressure yields butter or blood. Readers must therefore recognize that stirring anger is not a passive reaction but an active cause that demands immediate restraint.
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
Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 17:14 To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- Proverbs 28:25 A greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.
- Proverbs 29:22 An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
- Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- Proverbs 16:28 A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
- Proverbs 26:21 Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.