What Does Proverbs 27:4 Mean in the King James?

Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

Proverbs 27:4 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The envy at the verse’s end is qin’ah, zeal with a claim in it, so the question is whether anyone can remain standing before its force.

THE MEANING

Wrath is cruel, and anger surges; envy reaches beyond the force of either. It confronts you with such intensity that the verse asks whether anyone can remain upright in its presence.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie that anger is the most overwhelming force: this verse names envy as harder to withstand.

THE ROOT

קִנְאָה

qin’ah

GROWS FROM

קנא

To be zealous or jealous; to carry ardent, claiming intensity.

“envy” in this verse is qin’ah. Qin’ah holds jealousy and zeal together: it is more than a passing wish for what someone else has. The verse treats that intensity as a force before which a person may lose the ability to stand.

ALSO GROWS

qana: To be jealous or zealous

קָנָא

The verb shows envy as active ardor, not simply a feeling of comparison.

qanna: Jealous, zealous

קַנָּא

This form preserves the root’s force of intense attachment and claim within the word translated “envy.”

THE PATTERN

Jealousy carries such force that it can overpower a person’s ability to remain steady.

For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

Proverbs 6:34 · KJVJealousy becomes a force that drives rage beyond restraint.

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

Song of Solomon 8:6 · KJVJealousy is pictured as a fire with a force as relentless as the grave.

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

James 3:16 · KJVEnvy unsettles the space around it, opening the way to confusion and harmful action.

THE THREAD

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

Song of Solomon 8:6 · KJV

The Hebrew word for “jealousy” here is ⁨קִנְאָה⁩ (qin’ah), the same word behind “envy” in Proverbs 27:4. Song of Solomon pairs it with fire, making vivid why Proverbs asks who can stand before it.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us